What to expect during your Gamma Knife
experience
The day of treatment (continued)
Imaging
After the head frame is securely attached, you are
taken to an imaging
area. If you have a tumor, an MRI and/or CT is performed, which shows
the location of the tumor in relation to the head frame.
If you are having
treatment for an AVM, a catheter is inserted into an artery in your groin
and directed fluoroscopically to the arteries that supply blood to the
AVM.
Contrast dye is
injected into the catheter and X-rays are taken that show the blood vessel
malformation in your brain in relationship to the head frame.
At this point you will be able to relax—with your family if you wish—for at least an hour. During this time, your neurosurgeon and his team work together to computer-plan your treatment. They decide how many individual shots to deliver the lesion(s), and the appropriate radiation dosage for the lesion. This information is programmed into the computer.
Treatment
When the final treatment plan is printed out, your neurosurgeon explains to you how many treatments to expect and the
duration of each treatment. Each treatment is calculated to allow the
proper amount of time so that the proper level of radiation is applied.
The precision of the Gamma Knife unit and the computer planning for
targeted areas makes sure that healthy tissue does not receive unnecessary
dosages of radiation.
At this point the staff and physicians will leave the room and go to the central area to administer your treatment. You can talk with your physician through a microphone that is attached to you. The staff monitors you at all times via a video camera.
A bell chimes to alert you that the bed is about to move, and then the bed moves backwards into the treatment hood. You can hear a click as the helmet locks into place. You experience silence during
