Gamma Knife Icon

More than 80,000 patients undergo Gamma Knife surgery every year. Regarded as the gold standard in intracranial radiosurgery, it is preferred for its extreme accuracy, efficiency, and outstanding therapeutic response.

The Gamma Knife® Icon™ involves no incision, minimal pain, and greatly reduced risk for patients. Patients receive a mild sedative, thus eliminating the side effects and dangers of anesthesia. Both the success and safety of the Gamma Knife are remarkable. With more than two decades of documented achievement, no other neurosurgical tool is as impressive.

Return home the same day

This simple, painless procedure is safe and effective. You are treated in one session and because the procedure requires no incisions, you can usually return home the same day and resume normal activities after just a few days.

How the Gamma Knife Icon works

  • Despite its name, Gamma Knife does not involve a surgical incision or opening of the skull — it is named for its surgical precision
  • Low-dose radiation is delivered simultaneously through up to 192 beams that converge to deliver a highly effective dose of radiation
  • The specific way in which the beams are prescribed to dose a defined target in the brain results in exceptional precision
  • The dose fall off is very steep, which minimizes radiation of healthy tissue
  • Preserving healthy tissue reduces potential side effects to support quality of life post-treatment
  • Typically outpatient treatments are performed in single or multiple sessions, and most patients can return to routine activities within a day or two.

Unrivaled precision and accuracy

When it comes to sparing healthy brain and body tissue, no other radiosurgery technique can match Leksell Gamma Knife. Preserving tissue helps maintain normal function that can impact quality of life.

Icon is the sixth generation of the Gamma Knife system and is based on the company’s nearly 40 years of stereotactic radiosurgery innovation and decades of collaboration with neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists.

Advantages of the Leksell Gamma Knife Icon

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is unique in that no surgical incision is made to expose the inside of the brain, thereby reducing the risk and removing the trauma of surgical complications as well as eliminating the side effects and dangers of general anesthesia. Only mild sedation is required for the procedure. This procedure is particularly useful in older patients or those with other illnesses where conventional surgery would pose an unacceptably high risk.

  • The surgeon uses targeted gamma radiation to destroy diseased tissue in the brain and skull while preserving the surrounding healthy tissue.
  • The exposure is brief and only the tissue being treated receives a significant radiation dose, with minimal effect on the surrounding healthy tissue.
  • The “blades” of the Gamma Knife are 192 collimated beams of ionizing radiation programmed to target only an exact area with incredible precision — accurate to 0.1 mm at the radiation point.
  • Because the unit provides highly accurate irradiation of deep-seated targets, the Gamma Knife technology allows for the treatment of inoperable lesions.
  • The Gamma Knife Icon™ has the capability to treat intracranial as well as extracranial tumors.
  • The success rate of the Gamma Knife is unprecedented. There is absolutely no mortality and minimal morbidity.
  • Patients usually return home the same day. This effective single-session treatment is done in an outpatient surgical setting with periodic follow-up.
  • Patients can resume their previous activities almost immediately. Hospitalization is only required in exceptional circumstances. This results in a significant cost savings over conventional surgery.
  • Gamma Knife surgery involves a team of medical experts from neurosurgery, radiation oncology and radiation physics whose combined expertise and experience guide every procedure.
  • The procedure has been found to be 300 percent more accurate than other radiosurgery treatment options.
  • The accumulated experience of more than 30 years of Gamma Knife treatments allows for predictable outcomes with a high degree of accuracy.
  • The Gamma Knife has been proven safe and effective over the long term and is recognized and covered by insurance plans.

Conditions for which Gamma Knife treatment may be suitable

  • intracranial tumors
  • acoustic neuromas
  • brain cancer
  • chondrosarcomas
  • chordomas
  • craniopharynigiomas
  • gliomas
  • meningiomas
  • metastatic brain tumors
  • pineal region tumors
  • pituitary adenomas
  • arteriovenous malformations
  • trigeminal neuralgia
  • Parkinson’s tremor or rigidity
  • essential tremor
  • epilepsy

Contact Us

To make an appointment with a Cooper neurosurgeon to learn if the Gamma Knife is the right treatment for you, please call 855.30.NEURO (855.306.3876).