Patient Benefits

How is the CyberKnife system different from other stereotactic radiosurgery systems?

Stereotactic radiosurgery, despite its name, is a non-surgical procedure that uses precisely targeted radiation to treat certain types of tumors and other inoperable medical disorders.

Stereotactic radiosurgery, previously was limited to treatment of tumors and lesions of the head. CyberKnife's advanced robotics and image guidance has the precision and accuracy to treat abnormalities anywhere in the body.

The CyberKnife system uses the combination of a robotics and real-time image guidance technology to deliver concentrated and accurate beams of radiation to intracranial and extracranial targets, many of which are inoperable. The robotic arm is highly flexible, allowing access to tumors in difficult-to-reach locations.

The CyberKnife system is able to position the patient without the use of an invasive stereotactic head frame, and compensates for patient movement during treatment, constantly ensuring accurate targeting.

Because the CyberKnife is non-invasive, it has significantly fewer complications than traditional open surgery and can often achieve comparable or better outcomes.

Other benefits to the patient may include:

• No incision
• Painless
• Bloodless Procedure
• No sedation during treatment
• Little or no recovery time
• Performed as an outpatient procedure
• Improved comfort with the elimination of the invasive head frame for brain tumor treatment
• Lower risk/fewer complications than traditional open surgery
• Radiation beams may be focused to avoid critical organs and minimize dose to to healthy tissue
• Dosage distributions adjusted to minimize radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue
• Treatment of lesions untreatable by open surgery or other radiosurgical systems
• Lesions that have previously undergone the maximum allowed dose of radiation to other organs can also be treated