Asan hospital adopts new Gamma knife

The Asan Medical Center has adopted the cutting-edge Gamma knife device, “Perfexion” for its Gamma Knife Center.

The center, which has recently marked 5,000 cases of operation for the first time in the nation, said the device will enhance accuracy and sophistication in the surgery room.

Gamma Knife is a radiosurgical treatment that delivers a dose of gamma radiation to the target with surgical precision, according to gammaknife.org.

The patient wears a specialized helmet that is fixed to the skull so that the brain tumor remains stationary at the target point of the gamma rays. An ablative dose of radiation is sent through the tumor while surrounding brain tissues are relatively spared in one session.

The procedure minimizes the risks of infection and complications because it involves minimal cutting of the flesh and therefore less bleeding, which is considered to be of great benefit to patients.

“With the state-of-the-art device we will shorten the waiting time for the patients and minimize the patients’ pain,” Kim Chang-jin, head of the center, said in a press release.

(baejisook@heraldcorp.com)