What is Gamma Knife?

Imagine undergoing brain surgery as an outpatient with reduced pain, a brief recovery period and no incision. Hoag Gamma Knife Center is the only facility in Orange County providing this effective treatment option for patients with brain disease.

Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute was the first center in Southern California to employ the revolutionary Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™—the newest, most efficient and precise radiosurgical device available. With an expanded treatment area and enhanced accuracy, this Gamma Knife technology benefits significantly more patients who can now be treated with Gamma Knife radiosurgery instead of a more invasive procedure.

The Hoag Neurosciences Gamma Knife Team

Developed in Sweden in the 1950s, the Gamma Knife has been in use in the United States for more than two decades, providing patients with a treatment option for brain disorders that were once only treatable by open skull surgery. With unsurpassed and proven clinical outcomes, the Gamma Knife is the gold standard in cranial radiosurgery.

In Gamma Knife radiosurgery, a focused dose of radiation is used to stop and/or reduce the growth of abnormal tissue. The Gamma Knife radiation distorts the DNA mapping of the cells and renders them unable to divide. The 192 beams of radiation are focused on the abnormal tissue area with the area of intersection conforming to the size and shape of the target. Each of the individual beams provides a relatively small, harmless dose of radiation. Only at the point where the narrow beams converge is the radiation at its most powerful, therefore preventing injury to surrounding healthy tissue.

Equipped with the most advanced radiosurgical device available, Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, Hoag’s treatment system takes Gamma Knife radiosurgery one step further.

Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion delivers the most efficient and precise radiosurgery treatments to date. With an expanded treatment area and enhanced accuracy, this sophisticated system allows Hoag clinicians to treat tumors that were unreachable using previous technology. Gamma Knife treatments take place in a single day without an incision, allowing patients to quickly resume their normal activities.