Description of the laboratory's activity
In the 1960s, Swedish neurosurgeon Lars Leksell created the Gamma Knife, a technique to focus high dose radiation focused in intracranial targets with submillimeter accuracy. Gamma Knife is a radio-neurosurgical approach used as an alternative to open microsurgical procedures in many neurosurgical conditions, combining stereotactic image guidance with high-precision robotic beam delivery.
Equipment & Expertise
The Gamma Knife radio-neurosurgery platform was established in CHUV in June 2010. The first model used was Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion. Since 2016, our hospital is equipped with the latest model, Leksell Gamma Knife ICON. The Gamma Knife Center is directed and coordinated by Professor Marc Levivier, who is the current President of the International Stereotactic Radiosurgery Society.
Mission & Services
Gamma Knife radio-neurosurgery is an ambulatory procedure, which includes frame attachment or mask immobilisation (allowing for hypo-fractionated procedures), acquisition of imaging, target determination and further treatment planning, stereotactic radiation and clinical and radiological follow-up. The clinical applications of Gamma Knife radio-neurosurgery include benign and malignant conditions of the brain and skull-base, vascular malformations and functional procedures. Our Gamma Knife Center serves as a source for clinical and translational research. During the past 12 years, more than 130 peer-reviewed papers have been published. Internal collaborations are primarily with the Neuroradiology, Radiotherapy or ENT departments, as well as with EPFL (Prof. Jean-Philippe Thiran, Prof. Van de Ville). International collaborations include the CHU Timone in Marseille (France), Oxford University (United Kingdom), and Roger Salengro Hospital in Lille (France). Numerous prizes have rewarded our projects, including, among others, the Excellence Prize of the University of Lausanne in 2019 (Dr Tuleasca, PD&MERc for his MD-PhD project related to the radiobiology of radiosurgical thalamotomy for tremor).
Directed by Prof Marc Levivier
