What Is CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery?
The CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System transmits small beams of radiation into a tumor and minimizes healthy tissue's exposure to radiation. Learn more about the benefits of CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery and how it works.
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Transcript: What Is CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery?
Early Radiation Treatment
In the past, radiation treatment consisted of single, large doses of radiation that damaged the DNA within the cancer cells of a tumor, thereby killing those cells. However, those large doses of radiation also traveled through the surrounding healthy tissue, exposing the normal cells to a significant amount of radiation, and killing them as well.What Is the CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System?
The CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System uses computer-assisted, non-surgical technology to transmit small beams of radiation from several different angles into a tumor thereby minimizing the exposure of surrounding healthy tissue. Based on CT scan data of a tumor, and the skeletal structure of the body as a reference frame, a high speed computer-controlled robotic arm is used to track patient and tumor positions during treatment.How the CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System Works
Instead of one large dose of radiation, the Cyberknife's robotic arm can maneuver and emit single, small-dose radiation beams that can enter the body from up to 1200 different angles. The goal is to maximize tumor exposure by hitting the tumor with greater amounts of small-dose beams. All the while, the surrounding healthy tissue remains unaltered, because radiation beams that travel through the healthy tissue consist of such a small dose of radiation.Benefits of the CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System
The CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System is an entirely new approach to radiosurgery that eliminates the need for a rigid stereotactic frame, enables painless treatment of tumor sites anywhere in the body and can still be done on an outpatient basis.Copyrighted animations provided by Blausen Medical.
