NHS - Gamma Knife

 

 

 

Welcome to the National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery

SHEFFIELD , the Birthplace of GammaKnife Radiosurgery in the UK. Operating Since 1985.

  HOME OF THE WORLD'S FIRST

Leksell GammaKnife 'ESPRIT'

                        An ISO9001:2015 Quality Assured service

                               Our Quality Policy :

  • 1   We are committed to maintaining a safe environment for patients and staff in order to ensure the highest standards of care.

  • 2   We strive to continually evaluate patient and service needs in order to deliver the highest quality radiosurgical treatments and improve our patient experience.

  • 3   We ensure the continuous development and improvement of our Quality System in order to proudly uphold our ISO 9001 certification.
  • 4   We employ a highly trained team of competent, compassionate staff and we encourage training and education opportunities for on-going professional development for the whole team.

Accuracy and precision is Quality Assured

and maintained within an accredited

BSi Quality System
                  
                                         FS 99444               

Stereotactic Radiosurgey is a highly accurate and specialised treatment  delivered using a Gamma Knife. The Gamma Knife is not a knife in the conventional sense, but uses a focused array of intersecting beams of gamma radiation to treat lesions within the brain. The technique was invented by a Swedish neurosurgeon, Professor Lars Leksell. 

 

 

 This provides an alternative method of treatment for a number of conditions, for which open neurosurgery may be either not practicable or carry a high risk of complications. Within the central body of the Gamma Knife there is an array of 192 separate cobalt sources each of which produces a fine beam of gamma radiation. 

 

 

The sources are evenly distributed over the surface of the hemispherical source core with beams directed towards a common focal spot at the centre. (see What Is a Gamma Knife in the Treatment section)

The resultant intensity of radiation at the focus is extremely high whilst only a short distance from the focus it is very low. This enables a high dose of radiation to be delivered to the target whilst sparing the adjacent healthy brain tissue.