Cyberknife System

The CyberKnife® represents an entirely new approach to radiosurgery. The CyberKnife is not a knife at all, but a sophisticated radiation tool that, like the surgeon’s scalpel, can effectively eradicate tumors and lesions. The CyberKnife can perform this surgery with:

  • No incision
  • No blood
  • No anesthesia
  • No pain
  • No recovery or rehabilitation time

Incorporating a compact, lightweight linear accelerator mounted on a robotic arm, the CyberKnife provides the surgeon unparalleled flexibility in targeting tumors and lesions. Advanced image guidance technology tracks patient and target position during treatment, ensuring accuracy without the used of an invasive stereotactic head frame. The CyberKnife with its Dynamic Tracking Software is cleared to provide radiosurgery for lesions anywhere in the body when radiation treatment is indicated. The CyberKnife has often been used to radiosurgically treat otherwise untreatable tumors or inoperable tumors. Moreover, this system treats tumors at body sites, most of which are unreachable by other stereotactic systems.

The CyberKnife is ideally suited for patients who:

  • Have a condition diagnosed as inoperable
  • Are too young or advanced in age for frame-based radiosurgery
  • Want or need an alternative to traditional open surgery
  • Have received the maximum allowable dose of radiation
  • Do not want to undergo a treatment using a stereotactic frame
  • Do not want an additional operation to remove a recurrent or residual tumor
  • Can benefit from the newly evolving applications for conditions previously not considered for radiosurgery
  • Can receive radiosurgery treatment as adjunct therapy to traditional oncology care

The first CyberKnife prototype was installed for clinical use at Stanford University Medical Center in 1994, under the direction of neurosurgeon Dr. John Adler. In 2001, the FDA approved radiosurgery treatments with the CyberKnife for lesions anywhere in the body. To date, over 10,000 patients have been treated with the CyberKnife. Research is ongoing at major medical centers as more indications for treatment are explored. CyberKnife procedures are not experimental and are covered by Medicare and major insurance carriers. Treatments can cost 20% to 45% less than conventional surgery. The CyberKnife Center of Miami offers outpatient services, making the procedure more cost-effective than a regular hospital admission.

The simple outpatient treatment process includes:

Planning: CT scanning and advanced treatment planning are utilized

Positioning: The patient lies on a table with only a face mask or body mold used for immobilization

Verification: The image-guided system verifies tumor location and compares it to previously stored data

Targeting: When tumor movement is detected, the robotic arm is repositioned with a fraction of a second.

Repeat: This verification process is repeated prior to delivery of each radiation beam

Treatment: Hundreds of finely collimated radiation beam deliver precision radiosurgery to the tumor

Completion: Following the CyberKnife treatment, the patient goes home.

SYNCHRONY- What it means for our patients

On June 2004, the CyberKnife Center of Miami became the fourth Center in the nation to install the Synchrony system. With this recent installation, patients no longer have to hold their breath during a procedure and treatments of upper and lower body tumors are facilitated. The average CyberKnife session lasts about 90 minutes, but with Synchrony this time has been cut in half. Synchrony permits higher doses of radiation to be used and this leads to the effective ablation of tumors and a higher success rate. The Synchrony system, unlike traditional radiation systems, simultaneously tracks both the movement of the tumor and breathing patterns of the patient. The robotic arm adjusts and compensates for these movements- ensuring more accurate treatment and eliminating the breadth-holding requirement. Synchrony precisely tracks tumors near the lungs, heart and soft tissue areas that are susceptible to breathing movements. Patients with lung, breast, bladder, pancreas, liver, prostate, gynecological and other soft tissue tumors can now be treated in less time. This means, treatment sessions are shorter, patients are not fatigued from having to hold their breadth and they get to go home sooner.

Cyberknife System