History of the CyberKnife
A team of physicians, physicists, and engineers developed the CyberKnife, coming together to form the company Accuray, Inc. The CyberKnife was first approved by the FDA for intracranial application in 1999, and then received full-body clearance in 2001. Since its inception the CyberKnife has treated in excess of 120,000 patients, at over 230 centers around the world.
The CyberKnife combines two systems: a compact, lightweight linear accelerator mounted on a robotic arm that sends the radiation to the patient; and an image guidance system that tracks the tumor’s location within the body - in real time - to direct the radiation to the precise location where it is needed.
The guidance system uses the patient’s skeletal structure or implanted radio-opaque markers as a point of reference, continuously re-imaged throughout the entire treatment, re-acquiring the target volume and adjusting the beam within millimeter tolerance up to 100 or more times during each treatment session. In fact, it is the only system that can correct according to the information given while tracking tumor position continually during treatment.
The robotic arm that delivers the radiation is so maneuverable that physicians may treat a lesion from up to 1600 non-coplanar targeting angles. This means they may use it to treat tumors and other lesions anywhere in the body without open surgery, including some that were previously untreatable.
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