A gamma knife is a device used to treat brain tumors with a high dose of radiation therapy in one day. The device was invented by Lars Leksell a Swedish neurosurgeon in 1967 at the karolinska institute in Sweden. The gamma knife device contains 201 cobalt-60 sources of approximately 30 curies each, placed in a circular array in a heavily shielded assembly. The device aims gamma radiation through a target point in the patient’s brain. The patient wears a specialized helmet that is surgically fixed to their skull so that the brain tumor remains stationary at the target point of the gamma rays.
Estidotmy 24 September 2008
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