Cancer Treatment Group
tel: (219) 945-1050 • fax: (219) 738-6681
news and media
Gamma Knife vs. Cyber Knife
| Gamma Knife | Cyber Knife |
| Designed exclusively for non-invasive brain surgery. Results in 100x less radiation to the body than the CyberKnife, thereby decreasing the chance of radiation-induced complications to healthy tissue. | Not designed exclusively for non-invasive brain surgery. Developed for full body use. Single source linear accelerator with robotic arm to compensate for patient movement during treatment. |
| Radiologic accuracy better than 0.3mm. | 1 mm accuracy. Radiation outside of the target area is 2x-6x greater than with gamma knife. |
| Rigid immobilization to prevent head movement using a lightweight stereotactic head frame fixed to the outer skull. Provides exact MR and CT correlation from planning to radiosurgical delivery in 3D. | Non-rigid immobilization reduces head movement by using a thermoplastic face mask that is shrink-wrapped to the table during treatment. Provides relative MR and CT correlation from planning to treatment delivery in 3D. The moving target and moving radiation source are inherently less accurate that a fixed target and fixed source. |
| Treatment delivered during one session. | Single or multiple treatments, possibly over a period of days to weeks. |
| Target position is confirmed 10 times per second. | Target position confirmed once every 10 seconds. |