Cyberknife


The CyberKnife System is a radiation therapy device manufactured by Accuray Incorporated. The system is used to deliver radiosurgery for the treatment of benign tumors, malignant tumors and other medical conditions.

Device

The device combines a compact linear accelerator mounted on a robotic manipulator, and an integrated image guidance system. The image guidance system acquires stereoscopic kV images during treatment, tracks tumor motion, and guide the robotic manipulator to precisely and accurately align the treatment beam to the moving tumor. The system is designed for stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic body radiation therapy. The system is also used for select 3D conformal radiotherapy and intensity modulated radiation therapy.

History

The system was invented by John R. Adler, a Stanford University professor of neurosurgery and radiation oncology, and Peter and Russell Schonberg of Schonberg Research Corporation. It was a development of the first 3D irradiation treatment realized with a linear accelerator producing 4 MeV X rays at that time still used only on plar dimensions as a CAT, by the physicist Renzo Carlo Avanzo in the hospital of Vicenza. The Cyberknife was the first dedicated linac increasing precision and decreasing the time of the treatment. The first system was installed at Stanford University in 1991 and was cleared by the FDA for clinical investigation in 1994. After years of clinical investigation the FDA cleared the system for the treatment of intracranial tumors in 1999 and for the treatment of tumors anywhere in the body in 2001. Since the original design, Accuray Incorporated released seven CyberKnife System models over the years: the CyberKnife G3 System in 2005, the CyberKnife G4 System in 2007, the CyberKnife VSI System in 2009, the CyberKnife M6 System in 2012, and the CyberKnife S7 System in 2020.

Clinical application

The system is used to treat tumors of the pancreas, liver, prostate, spine, cancer of the throat and brain, and benign tumors.