Radiosurgery is a non-invasive surgical procedure that uses special equipment to deliver high-energy particles, such as x-rays, to treat illnesses such as cancerous and non-cancerous brain and spinal tumors, as well as arteriovenous malformations and trigeminal neuralgia. Radiosurgery is often a good treatment option for patients with complex tumors, multiple tumors, or for tumors whose location makes conventional surgery impossible. BMC is one of the few centers in New England to offer the Cyberknife robotic system for radiosurgery.
Conditions we treat with radiosurgery include:
- Acoustic neuroma
- Arteriovenous malformations or AVM
- Brain tumors
- Cerebral aneurysms
- Liver cancer
- Lung cancer
- Pituitary tumors
- Prostate cancer
- Trigeminal neuralgia
During radiosurgery with the Cyberknife® robot, our neurosurgeons use computers and advanced imaging equipment to focus the radiation dose precisely on a location where a tumor is located. The robotic arm moves around the patient during the treatment, delivering the energy in a series of highly focused beams, each one centered on the abnormal tissue. Many such beams are used, each delivered at slightly different angles.
Each beam passes through a different area of normal tissue on its way to the abnormal tissue. The abnormal tissue receives much more total radiation dose than any individual area of the surrounding normal tissue does. This results in less injury to the normal tissue than conventional radiation.
Radiosurgery is typically performed in one or more outpatient sessions, does not require anesthesia, is pain-free, leaves no scars, and generally allows you to return to your normal activities immediately after treatment.