At your appointment, a head frame is placed on your head under local anesthesia, which provides mild sedation. The head frame is needed to develop a precise treatment plan and keeps the head in a fixed position to maximize accuracy during treatment.
Next, you will have diagnostic brain imaging (MRI, CT or angiogram). Information from the imaging study is transferred into the state-of-the-art Gamma Knife planning system. The team then develops a plan customized to treat your condition.
After this step, the patient is positioned in the Gamma Knife. Focused radiation targets the lesion, but not healthy brain tissue. The length of the treatment will vary depending on the condition being treated.
When the treatment is over, the patient is taken out of the machine and the head frame is removed. Typically you are observed for a period of time and then released. Some patients may be required to stay overnight in the hospital. Most individuals can return to normal pre-treatment activities within two or three days.
