Your Treatment Day

Your appointment will be early in the morning. We encourage you to bring a family member or friend with you because there will be some down time between the imaging studies and your treatment. During this time your head will remain in a head frame to ensure pinpoint accuracy of the treatment. Don't worry, we will likely administer a sedative through an IV to ensure that you are comfortable and relaxed.

Gamma Knife treatment has four steps:

1. Placement of the head frame

2. CT, MRI or angiography imaging

3. Treatment plan

4. Treatment

Placement of the head frame

The frame holds your head in the exact position for treatment. You will wear it all day until after your treatment. Tiny pins hold the frame in place. This part of the treatment ensures the accuracy of the beams and is one reason why Gamma Knife is the gold standard of radiosurgery.

CT, MRI or angiography imaging

Imaging tells the doctors the exact size, shape and location of the treatment area in your brain. We put a coordinate box on the head frame during imaging. This helps us locate the treatment area exactly so we can plot it on the computer. We take the box off after we have the image we need.

Treatment plan

The doctors review your images and create your personal treatment plan. No two treatment plans are alike. Your team of doctors bases your plan on your medical condition and the images just taken. The team uses a special computer to calculate exactly how we should treat you.

Treatment

The treatment is silent and totally painless. You lie down on the treatment couch. We attach the head frame to the helmet in the Gamma Knife unit. You are awake during the procedure. When it is time for your treatment, the couch moves into the dome section of the equipment.

Your treatment will last anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour. The time depends on the size and shape of the treatment area. Your team will tell you beforehand how long your treatment will take.

Because radiation is involved, the doctors and nurses can’t stay in the same room with you. But you will not be alone. Your doctors and nurses will monitor you throughout the painless treatment. You can talk to them at any time through audio and video connections.

We will remove the head frame when your treatment is completed.

If you have questions about Gamma Knife radiosurgery, please contact the Gamma Knife Center at 877-9GAMMA9(942-6629).

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