Clinical overview

A new approach to radiosurgery
The CyberKnife® is a state-of-the-art stereotactic radiosurgery system that offers a new approach to treating tumors and lesions - even if they have been diagnosed as inoperable. The CyberKnife Center at Southwest Washington Medical Center is the first facility in the entire metropolitan area and southwest Washington to offer this groundbreaking technology.

CyberKnife technology delivers radiation energy for the non-invasive treatment of benign and malignant tumors throughout the body, arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) and functional disorders. CyberKnife is the first and only robotic radiosurgery device that uses a linear accelerator mounted on a computer-controlled robotic arm to treat tumors and lesions that are unreachable or untreatable with conventional surgery or other stereotactic radiosurgery methods.

The CyberKnife^® Stereotactic Radiosurgery System with DTS is cleared in the U.S. to provide radiosurgery of lesions anywhere in the body when radiation treatment is indicated.

Two revolutionary technologies
The CyberKnife system combines two revolutionary technologies - advanced image guidance and robotics.

First, an image guidance system that use cruise missile technology tracks and verifies tumor location and enables automatic compensation for patient movement during treatment delivery.

Second, a multi-jointed robotic arm with six degrees of freedom provides unmatched maneuverability in targeting tumors. A high-energy x-ray source mounted on the robotic arm precisely locates the position of the tumor in the body and delivers pinpoint radiation from more than 1200 angles, with sub-millimeter accuracy.

Customized treatment plans
CyberKnife allows for customization of each patient's treatment plan. Its flexible arm makes a wider range of treatment plans possible, including either forward or inverse treatment planning.

Comfort and convenience for your patients
CyberKnife technology provides a number of advantages over conventional radiotherapy for your patients, including:

• Improved comfort due to the elimination of the invasive head frame
• Procedure is done on an outpatient basis
• Short or no recovery time
• Treatment in one to five 60 to 90 minutes sessions
• Ability to treat multiple tumors at different locations during a single treatment
• Focused, maximum radiation to the tumor without affecting healthy tissue
• Treatment for tumors that are inoperable by conventional surgery and other stereotactic radiosurgery methods
• Reduction in the risk of complications such as infections, hemorrhage and the loss of hearing/feeling sometimes associated with conventional surgery
• Proven accuracy

CyberKnife's accuracy represents a major advance in radiosurgery. Digital radiographic images of anatomical features or implanted fiducials (markers) are used to precisely target the radiation. The focused radiation beams converge at the tumor to maximize the amount of radiation that reaches the tumor and minimize exposure to surrounding healthy tissues.

Flexibility of approach
The CyberKnife system:

• is capable of treating lesions that are difficult to reach with conventional systems — such as meningiomas and nasopharynx cancers, and metastases
   
• provides access to lesions in the low posterior fossa, foramen magnum, and spine
   
• has the ability to treat tumors close to critical structures

Fractionation of treatment
The CyberKnife system does not require use of an invasive, stereotactic frame, making immobilization and localization easier. Therefore, it permits fractionated treatments. Larger lesions — often unsafe to treat with single-session radiosurgery — can be treated over several sessions with lower prescribed doses.

For information on clinical applications and case studies, visit Accuray's Clinical Applications information site.