What is the CyberKnife® System?
The CyberKnife System is a non-invasive treatment for cancerous and non-cancerous tumors and other conditions where radiation therapy is indicated. It is used to treat conditions throughout the body, including the prostate, lung, brain, spine, head and neck, liver, pancreas and kidney, and can be an alternative to surgery or for patients who have inoperable or surgically complex tumors. CyberKnife treatments are typically performed in 1 to 5 sessions. The CyberKnife System has more than two decades of clinical proof and has helped thousands of cancer patients.
True robotic delivery precision
The CyberKnife System is the only radiation delivery system which features a linear accelerator (linac) directly mounted on a robot to deliver the high-energy x-rays or photons used in radiation therapy. It uses real-time image guidance and a robot to deliver dose from thousands of beam angles, setting a new standard for delivery precision anywhere in the body and enabling stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) treatments for the full range of indications. The robot moves and bends around the patient, approaching the tumor from thousands of unique angles, significantly expanding the possible positions to concentrate radiation to the tumor while minimizing dose to surrounding healthy tissue.
Why does precision matter?
Radiation therapy is a treatment option for many types of tumors throughout the body. The precise and accurate delivery of radiation to the target is key to killing cancerous cells while minimizing dose to healthy tissues, which helps avoid post treatment side effects. Accurate and precise delivery also helps minimize irradiation of the healthy tissues surrounding tumors and the risk of side effects, which may lead to better quality of life for the patient both during and after treatment.
Real-time motion synchronization
Why does motion management matter? The patient breathes. The patient could change their position. The patient could cough. Muscles tense and relax. Fluids and gasses displace internal organs. The CyberKnife System is the only device designed to accommodate all forms of patient and tumor motion, even while the treatment is being delivered. With its motion adaptive delivery technology, the CyberKnife System enables smaller treatment margins around the tumor, minimizing the amount of healthy tissue exposed to high-dose radiation.Why does motion management matter? The patient breathes. The patient could change their position. The patient could cough. Muscles tense and relax. Fluids and gasses displace internal organs. The CyberKnife System is the only device designed to accommodate all forms of patient and tumor motion, even while the treatment is being delivered. With its motion adaptive delivery technology, the CyberKnife System enables smaller treatment margins around the tumor, minimizing the amount of healthy tissue exposed to high-dose radiation.
The CyberKnife System uses advanced technologies to track tumors anywhere in the body, while its unique robotic design keeps the radiation on target even while the tumor moves.
Before delivering the radiation beam, the CyberKnife System is the only device that verifies the exact tumor position and adjusts the robot to precisely target the tumor. This ensures radiation is delivered to where the tumor is, not to where it was moments before. Additionally, the CyberKnife System features Synchrony, the world’s only real-time adaptive delivery technology. Synchrony expands on the CyberKnife System’s unique motion synchronization capabilities to reduce margins and provide additional precision when treating tumors that move with respiration, such as lung tumors. The sophisticated motion synchronization technology eliminates the need to use uncomfortable patient restraints, or ask patients to hold their breath for example.
Why does motion matter?
Being able to precisely and accurately deliver radiation makes a difference in terms of controlling cancer and reducing the risk of side effects. But tumor or patient movement, including regular breathing, filling of the bladder, or gas in the bowel can shift the target by a centimeter or more. Tracking target movement — and synchronizing the delivery of radiation with that movement — helps to maximize treatment effectiveness, while minimizing dose to surrounding tissues, which can help reduce the incidence of side effects.