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recently, the department of radiotherapy of harbin medical university cancer hospital (hmu cancer hospital) has achieved an important milestone: using elekta icon™ gamma knife system to successfully provide non-invasive and high-precision treatment for more than 1,000 brain tumor patients. this marks the wide recognition and application of gamma knife in the field of tumor radiotherapy in china, and further promotes its development trend of "going beyond neurosurgery and empowering multi-disciplinary tumors".

a group photo of all staff in the brain radiotherapy ward. the picture comes from the hospital.

as the leading specialized tumor diagnosis and treatment center in china, the radiotherapy center of harbin medical university cancer hospital has specialized wards featuring the treatment of tumors in different parts of the body, such as brain, head and neck, chest, abdomen, breast, and gynecological tumors. it was the first to introduce elekta icon™ gamma knife equipment in the three northeastern provinces, becoming the first radiotherapy center equipped with an image-guided gamma knife treatment system that can perform non-invasive mask fixation. it is also the only diagnosis and treatment center in the three northeastern provinces with a brain tumor radiotherapy ward, further enhancing its comprehensive strength in the field of tumor subspecialty radiotherapy. in clinical practice, elekta icon™ gamma knife not only improves the accuracy of treatment, but also optimizes the overall treatment process, ensuring that patients have a smoother and more comfortable medical experience, and continuously enabling harbin medical university cancer hospital to lead the development of regional medical care and provide patients with better quality and more efficient treatment services.

breaking through the boundaries of the divine, the scope of application is gradually expanding

gamma knife is a non-invasive stereotactic radiosurgery device, first invented in 1968 by professor lars leksell, a neurosurgeon at karolinska institutet in sweden and founder of elekta. although the name of the elekta leksell gamma knife is "knife", it is different from the traditional scalpel and does not require an incision on the patient's head. its principle is like focusing sunlight with a magnifying glass. nearly 200 beams of gamma rays are focused on the target with sub-millimeter precision, and the deep intracranial lesions are irradiated with multi-angle and high-dose radiation to achieve the irreversible biological effect of lesion damage. the intensity of each beam of high-energy radiation is low and will not harm healthy tissues along the path. although it is not a real "knife", it is more precise and sharper. it can quietly enter the deep brain and remove the lesions tightly. the range of its irradiation treatment is very clearly demarcated from normal tissues, and the edges are like knife cuts, so it is figuratively called the "gamma knife". compared with craniotomy, the gamma knife treatment process is usually completed within one day. the patient can remain awake throughout the treatment and can quickly return to normal work and life after the treatment without complications such as bleeding, infection, and cerebrospinal fluid leakage.

elekta icon™ gamma knife

elekta icon™ gamma knife frameless mask positioning

when the radiation oncology department of harbin medical university cancer hospital introduced the elekta icon™ gamma knife, there were only four of the devices nationwide. since it was officially put into use, it has provided patients with high-quality treatment options, improved their quality of life, and truly brought "smart and precise radiotherapy" into the homes of the people.

"when brain metastases are located in important motor and language function areas, especially when they are close to key parts such as the optic nerve, we must protect important tissue structures to the greatest extent and choose a treatment mode that causes the least damage to surrounding tissues." professor yu lili, head of the brain radiotherapy ward at harbin medical university cancer hospital, said: "if the diagnosis and treatment center is equipped with different radiotherapy machines and gamma knife equipment, then the gamma knife is usually our first choice because it can treat tumors with extremely high precision and make the dose line around the tumor drop very steeply, which means less damage to surrounding normal tissues. we are proud that our hospital has introduced the country's leading elekta icon™ head gamma knife equipment, which can enable patients with brain metastases to truly experience the survival and life benefits brought by advanced treatment equipment and innovative treatment concepts."

safe, accurate and efficient, technological advantages help precision radiotherapy

this year, harbin medical university cancer hospital was successfully selected as one of the first batch of cooperative units of the "tumor precision radiotherapy special skills training project" of the talent exchange service center of the national health commission. in today's era of tumor immunity and targeted treatment, improving the precision treatment of tumor lesions, reducing radiation side effects, and improving the overall treatment experience of patients are the current development trends of tumor radiotherapy. harbin medical university cancer hospital has used the icon™ gamma knife system to date and has treated more than a thousand patients with brain metastases. it is not only a microcosm of the global application of the gamma knife, but also represents the beginning of the era of "minimally invasive radiotherapy" for brain metastases.

image from the hospital

in fact, since its launch, elekta's leksell gamma knife treatment technology has undergone seven generations of innovation and served more than one million patients worldwide. it has been recognized as the continuously innovative and undisputed gold standard for cranial stereotactic radiosurgery. according to global clinical development trends, the leksell gamma knife treatment of single and multiple brain metastases has become an industry consensus.

gamma knife technology has been widely promoted and applied in china, and has accompanied and witnessed the continuous innovation and development of china's tumor radiotherapy centers. through the collaboration of multidisciplinary teams, radiotherapy centers can give full play to the advantages of gamma knife and promote radiotherapy to a more precise and personalized direction. in the future, with the further improvement of technology and the accumulation of clinical experience, gamma knife will play a more important role in radiotherapy centers and bring good news to more patients.