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A high-tech robot, digital x-rays and fast computers are all coming together to make life easier for local people and spare them painful surgery. It's called the cyberknife.
About six months ago, Gladys Haire started seeing double and having headaches. She was shocked to find out she had a brain tumor.
"Oh terrible, and he said that the surgery would be awful, he told me not to have it," says Haire.
Then, her doctor learned the Cyberknife was coming to UT Medical Center. It's a non-invasive, high-energy radiation treatment that can destroy tumors without surgery.
"You don't have any blood loss," says neurosurgeon Dr. William Snyder, Jr. "There's not a risk of infection. You don't have to retract on the brain to do this, but you certainly go home much quicker. Go home the same day."
Before the procedure, patients get a CT scan and MRI. Then, they lie down on the table with a plastic mask on their face to keep their head still. The robot delivers a thin beam of radiation.
Gladys was done in about 30 minutes.
"No, no pain or nothing. I almost went to sleep," says Haire.
The computer keeps track of where the tumor is by using the patient's bones for reference. It adjusts for any patient movement, to make sure the beam is always hitting the right spot.
"With a gamma knife, or with any other linear accelerator system, you have to put a frame on with four pins and they walk around with a frame. Everything�s got to be done that day," says Dr. Snyder.
The robot moves the beam so it's directed at the tumor. No other area gets too much radiation.
Gladys is doing much better these days. She's not seeing double anymore, and she's feeling great.
"And I did real well," she says. "I'm still doing good."
The cyberknife is also used to treat tumors in other parts of the body.
