Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:54:0
AHN Staff
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) - A knifeless technology developed by a Canadian surgeon is being tried out in Ottawa and Hamilton on brain surgery and cancer patients after a successful initial run in Quebec.
The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery treatment - developed by Dr. John Sinclair - uses targeted radiation to destroy tumors in the body. Since it does not use a scalpel, it spares patients of invasive operations, of being cut inside, reduces their stay at intensive care units and allows for shorter recovery time.
It used a robotic arm, which can move around the patient. It has a tracking system that uses x-ray to ensure the radiation beam hits the patient at the precise area that needs treatment.
A medical procedure using CyberKnife will finish in two to three days, versus about 35 daily treatments using conventional radiation treatment. A bonus is that the procedure does not have side effects for many different types of cancer, Sinclair said.
In November, Cancer Care Ontario offered the CyberKnife at the Juaavinski Cancer Center beginning spring 2010. The center's foundation raised $1 million to cover the cost of the CyberKnife.
Juravanski Cancer Center President Dr. Bill Evans said in a statement, "The Juravinski Cancer Centre is renowned for our expertise in clinical trials and evaluating shorter, more effective radiation treatments for cancer patients. We're looking forward to developing further research into the use of this technology to decrease treatment time for patients with cancers of the prostate and breast."
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