Which is better, Gamma Knife or CyberKnife

In recent years, the incidence of brain tumors has been increasing. Brain tumors are a common disease in neurosurgery. They are very harmful to human health. Tumors need to be treated in time, otherwise they will seriously affect daily life and work, and may even affect people's life safety. However, with the continuous advancement of technology, gamma knife and CyberKnife are used in the treatment of brain tumors. Which one is better?

Which is better, Gamma Knife or CyberKnife?

Gamma Knife and CyberKnife each have their own advantages. Generally speaking, CyberKnife technology is faster, does not even require hospitalization after treatment, is more effective, and is more advanced. However, Gamma Knife technology is mature, and some tumors remaining in the skull base can be removed more cleanly by Gamma Knife. In terms of price, CyberKnife is more expensive, while Gamma Knife is cheaper.

What is Gamma Knife?

Gamma knife is a type of radiotherapy that uses auxiliary devices such as collimators and light-limiting barrels to focus the gamma rays emitted by a cobalt-60 radiation source, so that the dose reaches a very high level locally in the tumor, while the dose to the surrounding normal tissue is relatively small, thereby achieving the purpose of eliminating the tumor and protecting normal tissue. In general, gamma knife is only suitable for benign and malignant lesions with relatively limited lesions. The size of the lesions usually does not exceed 3 cm, and they are preferably round or oval in shape.

What is CyberKnife?

CyberKnife uses X-rays, but its design is more flexible. The treatment machine can be freely adjusted at multiple angles. In addition to being able to translate and rise and fall like a normal treatment bed, the treatment bed can also make appropriate rotational movements. An image tracking system is used to monitor changes in the patient's position or tumor position in real time during treatment, and to adjust bed position, irradiation angle and other parameters at any time, so that high-dose irradiation areas can be more accurately placed on the tumor target area, and tumors can be more accurately irradiated to protect normal tissues. It has unparalleled advantages for lesions located near key organs such as the brainstem and spinal cord.

How does CyberKnife outperform Gamma Knife?

1) The rays are more dispersed; Gamma Knife has 201 rays, CyberKnife has more than 1,500 rays.

2) Ray optimization: Gamma Knife uses 201 fixed rays, CyberKnife uses a computer to select the most suitable 100-300 rays from more than a thousand rays. In terms of the choice of ray thickness, Gamma Knife only has four diameters: 4mm, 8mm, 14mm, and 18mm, while CyberKnife has 12 diameters of rays ranging from 5-60mm to choose from. Therefore, the dose distribution in the target area is more conformal and uniform, and no hot spots or cold spots will appear.

3) Radiotherapy does not require a metal head frame, eliminating the pain of head frame installation, the inconvenience of wearing it on the head for hours, and the surgical process of removing it at the end.

4) Gamma Knife has blind spots in treating head lesions. Lesions near the skull periphery and skull base cannot be irradiated by radiation, and lesions in the ENT area and below the neck cannot be treated. CyberKnife can treat lesions in various parts of the body.

5) Gamma Knife can only treat lesions smaller than 3 cm and give a single high-dose treatment; CyberKnife can irradiate tumors of various sizes 1-5 times, up to 15 cm or larger.

6) When the Gamma Knife irradiates different center points of the target area, it cannot detect whether the screw or the target area has moved; the CyberKnife frequently uses two X-rays during the irradiation process to detect whether the target area has moved, and it also has the function of automatically judging movement and correcting the irradiation direction.

7) The most outstanding function of CyberKnife is its Synchrony system, which can overcome the movement of tumors with breathing. It allows patients to receive 4D dynamic irradiation under natural breathing. It is especially useful for thoracic and abdominal tumors, such as primary and metastatic tumors of the lung, liver, pancreas, kidney, adrenal gland, prostate, and pelvic cavity. This is the only radiotherapy or radiosurgery system in the world that allows patients to receive 4D dynamic treatment while breathing naturally.