What should I know about Saint Elizabeth CyberKnife® Center?
What is CyberKnife®?
Saint Elizabeth CyberKnife® is a revolutionary new tool in the fight against cancer. Using intelligent robotics and highly advanced tracking technology, the CyberKnife Radiosurgery System targets tumors while constantly adjusting to your movements. The result is a painless procedure with minimal side effects and no recovery time.
With sub-millimeter accuracy, CyberKnife delivers beams of radiation into the tumor from hundreds of different angles, leaving the healthy surrounding tissue unharmed. You are awake and relaxed through your entire treatment session, which takes anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Afterward, you are free to leave. You will probably feel good enough to resume your normal daily activities.
Until now, radiosurgery could only treat tumors of the head and neck using uncomfortable procedures and equipment. CyberKnife changes all that—with its robotic arm, CyberKnife can reach anywhere on the body. Tumors that were once considered inoperable can now be treated. Patients who once had no options besides surgery can receive their treatment in the morning and have dinner with friends that night. CyberKnife is more than a tool on the road to recovery. It is the future of cancer therapy.
The Saint Elizabeth CyberKnife Center Treatment Process
Scanning Prior to treatment in the Saint Elizabeth CyberKnife® Center, you will undergo imaging procedures to determine the size, shape, and location of the tumor. The process begins with a standard high-resolution CT scan. For certain tumors, other imaging techniques, such as MRI, angiography, or PET may also be used.
Planning Following the scanning, the image data is then digitally transferred to the Saint Elizabeth CyberKnife Center treatment planning workstation, where the treating physician identifies the exact size, shape, and location of the tumor. A qualified clinician then uses the CyberKnife® software to generate a treatment plan to provide the desired radiation dose to the identified tumor location while avoiding damage to the surrounding healthy tissue. You do not need to be present during this step in the process.
Delivery During a Saint Elizabeth CyberKnife Center procedure, you lie comfortably on the treatment table, which automatically positions you. Anesthesia is not required, as the procedure is painless and non-invasive. The treatment generally lasts between 30 and 90 minutes and is typically completed in 1 to 5 visits.
Follow-up Follow-up imaging, generally performed with a combination of CT, MRI and/or PET scanning, is usually performed in the months following treatment to assess the tumor’s response to the delivered radiation.
