What is Cyberknife?
Cyberknife is a robotic radiosurgery system introduced by the American neurosurgeon John R. Adler. It is a unique system for its potential and precision in the treatment of tumors. Cyberknife allows the treatment of different types of tumors, whether or not they are difficult to treat surgically or endovascularly.
Why is it used?
Cyberknife is used for the treatment of tumor pathologies (brain neoplasms, metastases, malignant meningiomas, pulmonary neoplasms) and non-tumor pathologies (trigeminal neuralgia, epilepsy, spinal cord lesions) that are difficult to treat with traditional methods.
What does Cyberknife consist of?
The system consists of a robotic arm that moves a linear accelerator which generates highly focused beams of ionizing radiation. It is also equipped with a guidance system during treatment and two diagnostic X-ray sources centered on the patient.
The treatment is completely painless.
Preparation for Cyberknife
The patient undergoing Cyberknife treatment undergoes different preparation phases depending on the type of pathology:
- Patients suffering from intracranial pathologies: a non-invasive immobilization system is made up of a thermoplastic mask that is molded over the patient’s face and helps limit head movements during treatment;
- Patients with extracranial disorders: the system uses the spine as a reference.
Patients then undergo CT and MRI scans of the affected area, and further examinations necessary for correct recognition of the volume to be treated and surrounding organs that should not be affected. Thanks to these examinations, the radiation therapist can set up the radiosurgery session and then program the Cyberknife.
What is demonstrated during treatment?
The treatment involves the administration of irradiation beams to the patient’s treatment area, which is positioned in such a way as to allow the system to correctly identify the lesion. During the treatment, the patient does not experience any pain. In fact, no anesthesia is required. A session lasts approximately 60 minutes.