Making lesions in the brain to relieve the distress of mental illness has had a checkered career due to a mixture of misuse and also caution about making permanent lesions in the brain where there was no physical abnormality. However, over the last ...

This chapter considers current controversies and observations from the past for which no current explanation is available.

Over 30 years it has been demonstrated that Gamma Knife thalamotomy is a valuable method of treating the tremor of Parkinson's Disease and Essential Tremor. It is also effective against the tremor associated with Multiple Sclerosis. To date Gamma Kn...

GKNS has been introduced as an alternative to microsurgery for the treatment of certain types of focal epilepsy. It was first noted that epilepsy associated with AVMs often improved before the obliteration of the vascular lesion. It was subsequently...

Spontaneous Trigeminal Neuralgia is a painful condition of the face which may require interventional treatment if medicines fail to control the pain. These include microvascular decompression (MVD) and GKNS. The former is moderately more effective b...

The dosimeters used to measure radiation dose produce a value which has to be calibrated to be in keeping with the values in an approved laboratory, which will be one of an international network of such laboratories at the center of which is the Bur...

Dural Arteriovenous Malformations (DAVFs) are rare vascular malformations involving the dura and cerebral veins. They occur in a variety of locations but in general the cavernous sinus lesion is more frequent among Asian patients while the transvers...

The treatment of arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) has evolved over the last 10 years. It is now possible to see that obliteration continues for up to 10 years and that the final obliteration rate may be between 85% and 90%. Improved imaging has ma...

There have been advances in both the hardware and software used in GKNS. The first major change in hardware had been Gamma Knife PERFEXION which introduced in 2006 had given more space for treatment, and removed the need for helmets, facilitating th...

The most important imaging technology for GKNS continues to be magnetic resonance. The introduction of 3 Tesla machines permits quicker studies with better signal to noise ratio. The more powerful magnet increases the chances of heating the points o...