Sponsored by
January 3, 2007
Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak has added a sophisticated brain treatment tool known as the Gamma Knife. It's a $3.5-million machine that aims precise doses of radiation at tumors and regions affected by neurological disorders.
The hospital hopes to use the technology to study its effect on disorders like Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The Gamma Knife sends extremely focused beams of radiation, instead of a scalpel, to reach areas deep within the brain.
Patients wear a helmet that directs radiation that dissolves and cuts through tissue without affecting surrounding areas of the brain. The procedure minimizes complications and speeds recovery.
Though the treatments are short, typically 20-80 minutes, they require a day in the hospital for recovery. Most insurance covers the treatment.
The purchase of the machine will make Beaumont a competitor with other leading brain programs in metro Detroit.
Some of those hospitals are the Detroit Medical Center's Harper University Hospital, the first in the area with the Gamma Knife, purchased in 1995, and Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. That hospital has an extensive brain tumor and neurological program for treating cancer, epilepsy and other disorders.
Contact PATRICIA ANSTETT at 313-222-5021 or panstett@freepress.com.