History of the Gamma Knife
In the 1950s, Swedish professors Lars Leksell at the Karolinska Institute, and Borje Larsson of the Gustaf
Werner Institute, University of Uppsala in Stockholm, Sweden began to
investigate combining proton beams with stereotactic (guiding) devices
capable of pinpointing targets within the brain. This approach was
eventually abandoned because it was complex and costly, and instead, in
1967, the researchers arranged for construction of the first Gamma Knife
device using cobalt-60 as the energy source. Leksell termed this new
surgical technique "stereotactic radiosurgery." The prototype unit,
used for 12 years in Sweden, was specifically designed for functional
neurological surgery, that is, for treatment of patients with pain,
movement disorders, and
even certain emotional disorders that were not responsive to conventional
psychiatric treatment.
Realizing the potential of stereotactic radiosurgery for treating brain
tumors, Professor Leksell and his colleagues built a second Gamma Knife in
1975. It was installed at the Karolinska Institute and became an integral
part of the neurosurgical service there. The third and fourth units, built
in the early 1980s, were installed in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and
Sheffield, England.
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