Gamma Knife radiosurgery revolutionized the treatment of human brain diseases when it was introduced more than four decades ago. The UW Medicine Gamma Knife Center at Harborview offers the latest in Gamma Knife technology: the Perfexion and the Perfexion Extend system.
This minimally invasive radiosurgery technology treats patients with abnormalities that are located within the brain. It is a one-day, outpatient procedure that requires little or no anesthesia, offers a fast recovery time and is safer and less costly than surgery or whole-brain radiation.
Over 500,000 Gamma Knife procedures have been performed worldwide since the technology first became available in 1968. It is used to treat blood vessel problems, such as arteriovenous malformations or AVMs, brain tumors, including acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, pituitary tumors, cancers that originate in the brain, and cancerous lesions that have metastasized from distant areas of the body. It may be used to treat lesions that are close to critical structures. A small percentage of patients are treated to relieve functional disorders such as unmanageable pain, tremor and epilepsy.