Fort Sanders Regional Gamma Knife Center

The Fort Sanders Regional Gamma Knife Center features the Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™, a non-invasive, state-of-the-art, stereotactic radiosurgery system used to treat brain tumors and other neurological disorders.

The Gamma Knife® Icon™ is an alternative or supplemental treatment to traditional brain surgery, eliminating some of the risks of a traditional craniotomy, such as bleeding or brain damage. Neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists work together to develop an individualized treatment plan for each patient and their disease or disorder.

Located at Thompson Cancer Survival Center, the Gamma Knife program uses the latest in diagnostic imaging and 3D treatment planning software to deliver finely focused beams of gamma radiation to small targets inside the brain. The beams converge at a point to treat the affected tissue, while minimizing the damage of healthy brain tissue.

Issues Commonly Treated with Gamma Knife

Gamma Knife is commonly used to treat things like: 

• Single and multiple metastatic brain tumors (cancer that has spread to the brain)
• Primary malignant brain tumors
• Benign brain tumors such as meningiomas, acoustic neuromas, pituitary adenomas
• Vascular diseases such as arteriovenous malformations (AVMs)
• Functional diseases such as trigeminal neuralgia (facial pain)

Candidates for Gamma Knife Treatment

Are you wondering if you may be eligible for this type of treatment? You may be if you:

• Have a brain tumor
• Have a vascular disorder
• Are not a candidate for conventional neurosurgery or radiation therapy
• Need additional therapy after you have already undergone surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation

Gamma Knife may also be recommended for you if you have:

• Tumors or vascular malformations that are surgically inaccessible
• Risk factors that make surgery inadvisable
• Recurrent tumors

Benefits of the Gamma Knife Procedure

There are a host of benefits to this technology, such as: 

• The Gamma Knife procedure is performed in an outpatient setting with considerably shorter treatment times and minimized complications. 
• Most patients leave the center on the same day.
• The Gamma Knife® Icon™’s attached CT scanner provides the most accurate motion tracking during treatment as well as integrated imaging, ensuring radiation is delivered only to the affected area. 
• While Gamma Knife treatment often can take place in a single session, the Gamma Knife® Icon™ accommodates multiple sessions, enabling treatment of larger tumor volumes, targets close to critical brain structures, and new or recurring brain metastases.
• Gamma Knife therapy may also be suggested as an adjunct to standard neurosurgical therapy or as the preferred course of treatment when further traditional therapy is not recommended.

Learn More

• Frequently Asked Questions
• Gamma Knife Advantages
• Gamma Knife History
• Gamma Knife Team
• Helpful Resources
• Physician Referral Information
• Covenant Health Brain Tumor Centers