The earliest gamma unit patients

Prog Brain Res. 2014:215:77-84. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-444-63520-4.00008-9.

Abstract

The inventors were very excited and drove the first patient from Stockholm over 100 km for the first treatment. The treatment was a technical success. The new machine was transported to Sophiahemmet (a private Stockholm hospital) and installed. A further eight patients were treated and assessed. At the start, there was no computerized treatment planning program, but this was soon developed and named KULA after the Swedish word for a sphere, since the actual treatment unit was spherical. The term Gamma Knife was first used later by the Pittsburgh group.

Keywords: Studsvik; first gamma unit patient; loading gamma unit; technical terms.

Publication types

  • Historical Article
  • Portrait
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Brain Neoplasms / surgery*
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Neurology / history*
  • Radiosurgery / history*