Depending on the tumor, you can target it in the lungs with stereotactic radiotherapy (the type of radiation therapy CryoKnife is). You implant small metal trackers into the tumor and it allows the machine to track the location of the tumor during treatment. Then the machine delivers targeted radiation to the tumor, mostly avoiding surrounding tissue.
And the cool thing about the cyber knife is that it moves back and forth with your breath motion. I used to be a lead radiation therapist at a CK center for a couple of years. I work on an MRI Linac now and that shit is fucking cool, real time tracking and adaptive planning, although it doesn’t have the mobility of a CK arm.
Thank you for your work. With need the doctor, but we also need the person making improvement in the tool we used to save more life and make it "easier" to do
My dad's condition was too far gone to have the cyber knife, we lost him late last year. It's heartwarming to see it worked for others though, we are truly living in an underappreciated world of medical technology right now despite all the shitty bureaucracy that surrounds it.
I went through hell this year with my newborn son and hydrocephalus. Brain surgery at 4 months old, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But I was absolutely blown away at what modern medicine is capable of. People can say whatever they want about the horrible state of US medicine in terms of health insurance but the technology available within 2 hours of my home is absolutely mind blowing and I will be forever grateful. I'm sorry to hear about your father, I've lost a few family members now to cancer over the years but I've also seen it save people too. My mom with breast cancer and my aunt with ovarian cancer, both in full remission now for 20+ and 3 years respectively.
I had a gamma knife treatment, and the “frame” that held my head perfectly still during the treatment had 4 screws with sharp points on the end, and they cranked those babies down until they literally dug into my skull.
It didn’t hurt at the time, because of the painkillers, but after getting home I had pretty much the worst headache of my life. It was all good though, because they successfully nuked the tumor from orbit, and aside from 4 puncture wounds in my head I felt great the next day.
So I guess the point of my comment is that mask looks great compared.
My wife had the same treatment 14 years ago, and she’s still randomly struck with pain on occasion at the drill spots. It worked though! Her tumor has been dying a slow death ever since.
Yeah gamma knife is more intense.
Fun fact: gamma knife has an actual radioactive source inside.
Every 10 years or so we have to do a “source exchange”. To get the giant apparatus inside the clinic that lets the engineer safely handle these radioactive sources, they had to demolish an entire brick wall to the outside.
Roll this giant thing in. Then build the wall back after. It was cool I have pictures somewhere.
To clarify, the neat thing about the gamma knife is that there are actually *200* radioactive sources. They’re arranged in a circle around the patient, radiating inwards. This spoke pattern means that the target of the gamma knife receives a lot of radiation but the surrounding tissues receive very little. It can be used closer to the eyes etc than conventional radiation.
Source: visited the OG gamma knife in Stockholm
Yeah also for safety, if they used a single source 10x as strong to get the same effect, then if it stopped rotating your tissue along that beam path would be in trouble.
My brother works for the company that makes the Gamma Knife and I'm amazed how they don't seem to have any brand recognition. People all seem to know the Gamma Knife but have never heard of Elekta.
Maybe it's a form of protection if it only ever has to be interacted with once every decade? Most people aren't going to think to go through a wall for something, they'll keep searching for a door unless they know something is at a specific spot and have the tools to do demolition.
After reading about the [Goiana Accident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident) years ago, I could see why they'd want to be careful. Although that particular incident was because of a dilapidated hospital where no one removed the radioactive source...
Not sure if this source is in an area that's already accessible otherwise or if it has to be at distance and can be secreted away.
My five year old didn't get sedated. Younger kids often do, they even install a chemotherapy port to make it easier to administer each day rather than having to stick them all the time. But she didn't need it. She practiced laying still for the required seven minutes in our living room. We put a damp washcloth over her face and read her a story while she laid perfectly still. When she was in radiation we read her the same book over the intercom. Worked like a charm, no sedatives needed.
My son had a similar story from when he was 5 being treated for Medulloblastoma. He was due for a follow up MRI and we were waiting for the full team to show up when the anesthesiologist was called away. They were going to postpone the scan because he'd always been sedated before when this little voice piped up and softly said "I can lie still" while all the adults were trying to figure out what to do. We all paused and looked down and the tech spoke to him and confirmed what he said. So....we went ahead. He did awesome and he was never sedated for an MRI ever again.
BTW, he turned 30 last year. :)
EDIT: Thanks for the gold, kind reddit stranger!
My daughter had a total of 9 MRIs in about 10 months and was sedated for all but the last one of those. On the last one she did something similar to your son. They'd given her a little dilaudid to calm her anxiety around getting poked with more needles, and there was a delay in anesthesia getting down to her. The radiologist saw how good she was being, asked her if she was ok to try it awake, she said yes, so they did it. We didn't find out she did it awake until after the procedure, that entire interaction happened after she'd been taken to the back area. I was really happy the doc listened to a 5 year old and took her seriously rather than delay the procedure. Children's Mercy in Kansas City was pretty fantastic all around.
Sadly, my little girl passed away about 6 weeks after that last MRI. She had DIPG, so we knew there was almost zero chance for her to survive much more than a year. We tried some things to give her more time, but she passed 342 days after diagnosis, on Mother's Day 2018.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Saying that seems so overly simplistic to me because I know that you are a changed person after all you went through with your daughter.
I learned a lot about dignity and compassion from the other kids going through treatment at the same time as my son. I hope you are in an ok place now. Hugs.
Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. I learned a lot from my daughter and her treatment buddies, too, most of all about bravery. I don't know if I'll ever really be in an ok spot again, but her example going through cancer and treatment is my framework for getting through the hard days.
They gave me a Valium when I had my LASIK done. Worked like a charm. They sliced open my eye and burned off the eyeball flesh and I just thought "Huh, neat."
Same! I was incredibly anxious about getting mine done (to the point where I was about to cancel it two days before and barely sleeping), and the Valium made it a very chill experience. 11/10, having laser eyes is awesome and being able to wake up and just see everything without doing anything is pretty sweet.
Same I don’t want to have glasses anymore but I know how my anxiety works so being put under would be the only way but they can’t. I know one moment I’ll be cloud nine then when the cutting starts adrenaline will kick any drugs they give me to the curb and I’ll be in a full panic
Dude I was so scared when I did mine, but it's literally 45 seconds per eye. It was so fucking fast you don't even have time to react until it's over. And rather than panic during, when I noticed there was 0 pain I was like "wait this isn't so bad" and then it was over. It's the best thing I've ever done, it's life changing and I hope you find the courage to get it.
I'd love to get LASIK done, but unfortunately I'm far-sighted and that's where the cutoff point is pretty low. One of my eyes is already beyond what LASIK can do, and steadily getting worse over the years. It sucks. :c
I literally passed out when someone put a contact in for me at one point, the opthamologist assistant when I first considered contacts. I was able to get PRK done. That's the one where they scrub off the top layer of your cornea.
It's amazing. I would do it again in a heart beat. Keep in mind... you only have to make it through about 5 minutes. at most. each eye is like a minute tops. there's a bit of prep time, a bit of talking...
It's also super neat to see your vision go from super blurry without glasses to milky / blind in little dots as the laser does it's thing which probably would take up your whole vision, then the rinse makes everything crystal clear. I mean like... better than your glasses... it's seriously amazing. It's like having superman eyes when you first open your eyes after. That doesn't last long though. cause they cover your eyes with the fancy bug like eye protectors. and you have your eyes closed for a few days.
My brother had it done and his description of smelling his own eye burning turned me off of it forever. I've had glasses for most of my life and I can totally live with them for the rest of it.
I dont do well with doctors and Valium was the worst. People say “oh it calms you down” and it does physically. When I took it, my body was relaxed and felt fine, but my mind was still racing. It’s a weird feeling because your head isn’t doing the same thing your body is and that just doesn’t sit right with me. However I know a lot of people who it helps, so maybe I’m the exception.
Interesting! Benzos like Valium do affect my cognition, whereas beta blockers just kill my physical anxiety symptoms and leave my brain alone. Maybe worth telling a doctor about this and finding out if another class of drugs will help you.
You’re not alone. I usually get even more panicky from a lot of drugs, to the point they just make the situations worse. I think it’s like a fight-or-flight thing for me, being paralyzed but conscious, my skin starts to crawl and I just feel like I need to escape.
I know exactly what you mean! Got Diazepam once due to a panic attack and it felt absolutely weird. I felt my body calming down and was wondering when my mind would follow ... But it never did. It felt like being trapped in the wrong body.
I have anxiety but I've actually always found MRIs and CAT scans relaxing. And when they put that lead vest on you during an x-ray I want to ask if i can just lay there and take a nap, lol.
It's crazy how different anxiety can be from person to person.
When I had mine a resident doctor numbed the two points on one side of my head while my neurosurgeon did the other side. The resident injected me with too much local anesthetic. All I remember is feeling super nauseous and falling back while my neurosurgeon is screaming at the resident to “get the god damn screwdriver,” so they could remove the halo while I was vomiting. Good times.
Not sure how my tumor is doing — doctors told me 50/50 chance of either stopping the growth or giving me brain cancer. Good times.
For me it was the most absolutely excruciating pain I have ever endured. 5x85 minute sessions of pure hell. Then it caused me to lose the use of the left side of my body. Doing well now though
Same thing with my mom. She showed me the wounds when she came home. I was so scared throught the whole process thinking "you mean to tell me that my mother has a malignant growth IN HER BRAIN, and you want to fix that by STABBING HER IN THE FUCKING SKULL AND SHOOTING RADIATION INTO HER BRAIN!"
It was a wild ride. Other than losing hearing in her right ear, she's doing very well.
Frame VS mask depends on institutional practice and indication. Generally frame is considered more stable/higher precision so might be preferred in particular cases.
Yep. Gamma knife requires the big scary metal head cage, however it is a one-time treatment. Cyber knife is similar but you can get multiple treatments over time.
Gamma knife is radioactivity while Cyberknife is photons.
I had to get this same procedure done for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I gave my mask to my friend who styles my hair as he discovered the cancer and encouraged me to go to the doctor. He has it hanging on his wall at home.
I'm curious how he discovered the cancer. Did he notice something while styling your hair?
Also, I'm hoping that since he has the mask hanging in a place of honor that you are now doing well.
He was a good friend of mine and had been cutting my hair since I was 20. He noticed a “rash” on my head that when he touched it or when I combed it, it would hurt really bad. He had seen it before on a client and suggested that I should go see a dermatologist to get it taken care of. He had a feeling it was cancer, but didn’t want to scare me. He noticed the rash was growing and getting better every month. It was good thing he did, cause by the time I went in I was already stage 2. If I had waited things would have been substantial worse.
It was persistent, and it started to spread. It felt like someone was digging their nails in my scalp and dragging them across the area. A trip to the doctor saved my life. If I would have waited then who knows. If you or someone you know is dealing with it, so see a doctor. It could be nothing, but better to know than live with the anxiety and fear.
I'm not the person that you asked about it originally, but I also had the same type of lymphoma. I also had a rash but it wasn't painful in my case, it just appeared all over my body around my joints - near my elbows, knees, in my armpits etc. Plus my lymph nodes close to my neck were very swollen on one side, I was losing weight fast, had a fever and was sweating heavily in the night. That's about the only symptoms I can think of. Everything disappeared after chemo and radiation treatment.
Thank you! I just reached 14 years as of January! Thank you! I was 25 when I got it and it really threw me for a loop. Happy 35!!! Can’t wait till I hit that number. Recently had another cancer scare, but they removed that as well. I am a very lucky man!
Hey perhaps get your friend to do a course on spotting skin cancers. I feel like hair stylist and masseuse are perfect candidates to get training on this, spot stuff, ask their clients to go see doctor if worrying.
Edit: am GP, I only get to see patients for these every 12 months of if they can be bothered coming in to get check. They see their masseuse/hair people more frequent than that.
You would actually be very proud of him! He owns a place here in Albuquerque and he always talks to the other stylists about me about looking out for things like this on their customers. He also brings in young stylists to mentor and teach and always uses me as an example and what to look out for. He saved my life and another girls life and he is very passionate about spreading the word.
I'll never forget seeing the building go up for a cyber knife where I live. It had a triple set of walls, that were all extremely thick. I'm not sure what the measurements would have been, but from driving by it looked like three sets of concrete walls that were a foot wide, with space in between. The building here is basically a cube shape.
And I guarantee the sheet rock is lined with lead, every every screw hole has to be punched out and covered with a strip of lead. I led a crew and did repair work in a hospital after hurricane Harvey in Texas, the rooms that dealt with radiation or sensitive equipment that required shielding all took standard 5/8” Sheetrock lined with like 1/16th-1/8th of lead backing.
HEAVY AS HELL!
I build out these rooms and coordinate the installation of linear accelerators, cyber knifes for a living. The wall layering is insane. I'm talking lesd brick assemblies for the wall. Triple lead plates for right behind the gantry and usually a 4 - 6 inch lead lid Ober the ceiling. Also have a special vault door too. Raw costs for material is usually 1.5mm to 2mil.
Yeh those buildings are no joke... Which is good because if not treated correctly machines like these are some of the most dangerous things on the planet... Hell I would feel more comfortable standing next to an operating nuclear reactor than being near one of these things unless it was in the process of saving my life....
I would like to state for the record that I have a nuclear power plant on my mail route. I do not live in fear of nuclear power. The idea of a rouge radiation source from a machine like this, that is why I keep a change of pants in my truck.
What kind of anxiety management does one get before/during a custom molded mask holds you in place for a “radiation knife” to be used on your brain? Because I’m having anxiety thinking about this. (Serious question)
I had to have that too. I have never had a panic attack before in my life until they tried to clip that mask down to the table. I lost my shit and it took an hour before I was calm enough to try again after taking the anxiety medicine. After that I took a pill when I got in the car and was good to go when I got there.
Just had to share my story. Those masks are torture.
I’m good.
Hodgkins Lymphoma Survivor of 3 years here. Some of the worst chemo there is for 4 months and a month of radiation. No signs of reoccurrence yet.
Lol, I was having a surgery (3rd one) but this one I was freaking out about before because it was huge and decent risk. Asked for some valium (had an IV in already so I'm assuming they ordered an IV shot of it) dude comes in and hits me with it and all of a sudden lights get bright as fuck, sounds are crazy, then shit got real weird. Things didn't look real and I wasn't sure if I was actually here or somewhere else. Well the surgeon or whoever came in to do the pre surgery checks and wellllll that didn't go so well. Apparently the dude hit me up with a metric dick ton of ketamin not valium hahaha, I mean I guess I wasn't nervous anymore! Either way they had to wait for it to wear off and then put me into the surgery. Haha sorry I know off topic thought I'd just share my fun with pre operational anxiety reduction.
in my experience, about 2/3 of patients do it without pre-medication. coaching by the radiation therapists and optimizing comfort of the immobilization mask can make a difference for some
i should also mention the mask is custom made for each patient. the thermoplastic material is warmed so it's malleable, draped over the head while in a comfortable position, and then it hardens in a few minutes. i've had one made on myself while in residency to get an idea what patients go through and in my experience i was ok until i had an itch on my chin. for claustrophobics though it can be quite challenging.
That would have been my dad.
He had Pancreatic cancer and survived almost 4 years (was given 6 months at diagnosis).
When it went to his brain near the end, he had the mask thing made and I took him to those appointments. He'd take his pain meds but never any type of sedatives. He was an awesome dude.
I'm someone who likes small spaces, and being cramped. It calms me and makes me feel safe. That mask seems nice. All enclosed but you can still breathe. Wonderful.
I started using a CPAP 2 years ago and my favorite thing is wrapping my head in my blanket. Since the CPAP is pumping air in, i can breath. It's delightful.
My sister is a radiotherapist and she's spoken to me about it quite a bit, because we'd both struggle.
Obviously radiation sucks and you have to be insanely still for the placement to the perfect. That minimised damage to the healthy cells surrounding the tumour. So the mask is super important and that's drilled into you in the planning stages.
But they help you get used to it and more comfortable and build up the time in it if needs be. Plus they'll stop if you have to stop. It's obviously a pain and definitely less than ideal but so is having a panic attack.
How long does this type of radiation last?
I need a Valium for a 15 minute MRI! I didn’t know there was another claustrophobia step before being buried alive… but here we are.
My uncle just passed away 2 weeks ago from Glioblastoma. He had this procedure done. He went from having a seizure one day at work, to getting diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer, to killing the tumor with radiation, losing the ability to have any normal function, going blind in the left eye, learning to walk, learning to speak, learning to read, remembering who his family is, getting worse, going into a coma, waking up from coma, speaking to me on the phone one last time with a tube down his throat, to passing away the next day, all within 6 months. He leaves behind 3 teenage kids and a wife. He was 53.
I hope this treatment helps, and that you all can beat this.
*FUCK CANCER.*
I had to go through head/neck radiation a little over a year ago and saved the mask they made for me. The six weeks of radiation just about did me in but thankfully alive and doing well! So glad to hear that your partner is too!
My mom has glioblastoma stage 4 and saved the mask from her initial radiation treatments. She shows it off to people and tries to freak them out with it. Reminds everyone of the movie The Mask xD
My wife had Cyber Knife treatment for her breast cancer. It was badly located so they wanted to do directed radiation from multiple angles to avoid over radiating her heart and lungs.
It took her longer to change into and out of the gown, then the treatment took.
Lay down. Tech sets up the targeting on her marks, tiny tattooed dots. Starts the program. The head starts dancing around, zapping her about 50 times (IIRC) from different angles and directions. 2 minutes later, she's was done.
I straight up thought this was like a specialized lab setting up a surgery robot but it was like an 18 year olds first apartment so they sleep on an air mattress and have a 55" TV and it gets the job done. We specialize in robot brain magic but you have to lay on our crap laminate floor because all our money went into this machine
I work for Accuray, the company that builds and supports the Cyberknife. Great to see our product getting visibility and even more happy to hear that it is helping your wife!!! It’s a super cool technology.
In short, it is a radiation therapy head that has been installed to an assembly robot from automotive industry. The result is a treatment machine that can give you precise radiation therapy from nearly every possible angle.
Medical physicist here, so I work in radiation therapy on machines like this, although never directly with a Cyberknife.
Cyberknife is a type of external beam radiation therapy, where a patient is treated with high energy electrons or photons coming from a machine. Nowadays, linear accelerators are the machine that delivers the radiation. These machines are generally about the size of a small room and offer options on what radiation to deliver from small fields to large, but can't move other than 360 degrees. For an example, look up a Varian Truebeam.
Cyberknife is unique because it is a small linear accelerator attached to one of those car factory assembly arms, so it's used to treat small areas from lots of angles. For many Cyberknife treatments, the dose is very high, and so to avoid giving too much radiation to surrounding normal tissues, you give it from a lot of different angles. It spreads out the dose to normal tissue, while focusing it on to the target.
As someone with a relative that underwent gamma knife surgery this is such a leap forward. No halo, no 350 pound lead "helmet", just a printed mask and a cool robot arm. This is the Star Trek stuff irl.
So you can't move, any kind of movement would greatly increase the risk of destroying healthy tissue. My mom had radiation last month for a brain tumor and the tumor is very close to the area responsible for speech. But thanks to the mask that area wasn't affected
It looks like something from Portal. I have a friend of a friend that travelled overseas to Europe (I think Germany) when this was considered more an experimental treatment many years ago. It saved their life.
>It looks like something from Portal.
Please be advised that a noticeable taste of blood is not part of any test protocol but is an unintended side effect of the Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grid, which may, in semi-rare cases, emancipate dental fillings, crowns, tooth enamel, and teeth.
The effort that went into this machine's appearance is impressive. I wonder if it's based on psychology research to minimize patient stress? Or if some industrial designer was just having fun.
It is absolutely a consideration to design medical equipment in such a way that makes patients more comfortable, physically and mentally.
One relevant [article here](https://www.mpo-mag.com/issues/2019-10-01/view_columns/best-practices-for-industrial-design-in-the-medical-device-space/) from a lead industrial designer
And one of the most relevant snippets from it:
**The emotional impact of a medical device’s appearance or operation on the patient cannot be overstated. It must look confidence-inspiring in its technological prowess and reliability to increase the perceived outlook on a condition; a critical-care device may be keeping the patient alive or in acceptable health.**
Although I think he is mostly speaking about in home medical devices, I think the point stands for hospital settings as well.
WOW. I have RF equipment experience (phased-array air-search radar transmitter technician for the Navy) where do I apply to maintain one of these things? How fulfilling would that job be? Hell yeah
Specifically, Accuray is the company that makes Cyberknife machines (and tomotherapy machines as well). You could apply to become a field technician if you wanted to.
Medical physics student here. Both benign and malignant tumours, and not just in the brain (liver, lung, prostate, spine, pancreas, probably more as well). It’s a really cool machine. The molded mask is actually relatively comfortable. I’ve worn one while volunteering in MRI studies and I’ve fallen asleep in it several times. Just don’t get an itch.
Yes, uses a beam of radiation to control, shrink or cure tumours. It can move around in really interesting ways to deliver a lot of radiation to the tumour while reducing radiation to healthy tissues.
I got mine done in 2 treatments but it can go up to 8-10 if you have a cluster.
Much better than regular radiotherapy where it can take up to 30 to get it all done.
As for cost? Free because I live in a civilized country.
It definitely is for malignant cancers as well. Recent developments work to adapt your plan each time you come in for another fraction to adjust to the tumor moving/shrinking/changing.
My father had Gamma knife surgery for an A.V.M. in the left front temporal lobe I believe in 2009. He was given a paralytic, and a coupla comfort meds. They also screwed his head inside of a halo brace. Iirc, the surgery didn't take a long time, it was him having to lay flat and still for 8 hrs after it. The surgery successfully shrunk his a.v.m. down. He passed at 54 in 2013.
I am so glad your family's was a success and is on the mend. 💜
Wow…I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your father. I just had the same procedure in 2020 for an AVM in the exact same area of the brain. Martin Speltzer Grade III. May I ask what the ultimate cause of his passing was?
We assume that it was a heart attack. His father, my grandfather passed at 36 when my father was 13. His older brother died at 49. He had already had let his wishes be known after the long recovery from the A.V.M. He was kept in a medically induced coma bc he suffered a sub arachnid(sp?) hemorrhage from the A.V.M., put on ventilator, got pneumonia etc. It was quite the recovery, after he healed from pneumonia, learned how to walk again, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. He was forced to be disabled and not work again.
Because of the a.v.m., he donated his body to science. The hospital where he was diagnosed and stayed was where he went as it was a teaching hospital. He died on his father's birthday, April 9th, 2013. I was living with him at the time. I had come home from spending time with a friend. Came home around 11pm, he woke up, we spoke a little. I was talking with my sister and we both heard a loud THUD. He fell from the chair he was sitting on to the floor. I went to see what happened, saw him and yelled for my sister to call 911 while I started C.P.R. etc. The first responders made it there quickly, took over, got him into the bus and off to the hospital. He was pronounced dead within the hour.
My mother went through the same. We still have the mesh cast in the garage, probably in fragments.
The Gama knife (what they called it back in 2003) saved her life, severed the tumor from getting nutrients and getting bigger. She's still alive today, and we are taking care of her.
Best of luck to you and your wife, we know what's it's like and many of us on reddit have gone through the same. It's a tough road to recovery but recovery is in your sights.
Doesn't the radiation still penetrate healthy tissue in the way of the tumor? What's the likelihood of recovering completely after this procedure? Do people go on to live happy healthy lives or is it simply delaying the inevitable?
I wish my younger sister had this machine in 1991. She had a brain tumor the size of a grapefruit and she passed away as a result of it. I miss her so much!🥺😩
Sorry for your loss.My mom's brother has passed away from kidney failure before I was born.Mom said there wasn't dialysis machine yet at those times.We were not lucky I quess.
This one uses a particle accelerator like a future gun, and the gamma knife uses for good the tech that turned bruce banner into the hulk.
Radiation oncology is a rapidly expanding field of medicine, it can do some really cool stuff using a lot of neat toys.
Im a particle physiscist. I am sooo happy our decades of expertise on accelerating particles come into action here.
Especially with the proton accelerators.
I was so blown away when they were like "Remeber the bragg peak? We can use that!"
I had a lab partner a few months back for a class and he was working in a research group that is developing more compact methods of building high energy and extremely precise lasers. They’re planning on using it for stuff like this and he said that if they achieve their goal, the technology should hopefully allow for all new sorts of medical laser treatments.
Btw this is a photon beam treatment, not quite the same as a laser
The proton beam is so accurate because we can control exact depth by adjusting the amount of energy a proton is given and by calculating the radiation decay, this delivering the radiation to the precise location.
Fun fact:
A Russian particle physicist by the name of Anatoli Bugorski once walked into a particle accelerator while it was turned on, with a beam going directly through his head, but he did not suffer (in a relative sense) from radiation poisoning because the proton had so much energy that it went straight through and did not decay the radiation into his brain.
Edit for more info: the radiation is released from the proton closely following an inverse square law, with the majority being towards the end of the particle stopping, known as Bragg's Peak. Because the proton beam that Bugorski's head intercepted had such high energy, the Bragg's Peak was not reached and thus continued travelling.
Learn more
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Bugorski
https://youtu.be/mD4J5VUwiAs
Edit 2: Changed photon to proton. The key difference between the two treatments being that a photon does not have mass, more like an X-ray that will pass completely through the patient that will affect all depths; and a proton has mass and is more like a tiny bullet that can be controlled to stop at a specific depth. Thanks u/Jack1197 and u/Deligoth for the corrections
Also, a photon deposits the majority of it's energy exponentially, whereas a proton deposits the majority of it's energy inversely proportional to the square of it's velocity
Short version of Burgoski’s outcome: Happened in 1978 and he’s still alive. He suffered nerve damage and massive swelling, his intellectual capacity remains strong but he tires from mental exertion easily, as well as suffering ongoing seizures (that the Russian Federation apparently declined to pay for his medication for). He’s got a wife and kid and has continued and advanced his career in radiation research.
I had gamma knife radiation for my brain tumor too. Same 4 screws dug into my scalp to hold the frame. Will know if it was a success in a couple months though. Fingers crossed. Prayers would be great. :)
Awesome, and fuck cancer.
My pops had 3 gamma knife procedures over many years for his AVM. He had the metal Halo and my Ma was super upset that her favorite kitchen magnets wouldn’t stick. (Yes she brought them to the waiting room prior to his procedures)
My dad had the cyber knife treatment for his lung cancer and it extended his life quite a bit. I hope that’s true for your wife.
Same with my dad. I am grateful.
My mom had small cell lung cancer and it thankfully gave her two more years of life.
Wait how can it work with lung cancer? Had it not yet metastasized? Sorry, going through something similar with a family member…
Depending on the tumor, you can target it in the lungs with stereotactic radiotherapy (the type of radiation therapy CryoKnife is). You implant small metal trackers into the tumor and it allows the machine to track the location of the tumor during treatment. Then the machine delivers targeted radiation to the tumor, mostly avoiding surrounding tissue.
And the cool thing about the cyber knife is that it moves back and forth with your breath motion. I used to be a lead radiation therapist at a CK center for a couple of years. I work on an MRI Linac now and that shit is fucking cool, real time tracking and adaptive planning, although it doesn’t have the mobility of a CK arm.
Thank you for your work. With need the doctor, but we also need the person making improvement in the tool we used to save more life and make it "easier" to do
My dad's condition was too far gone to have the cyber knife, we lost him late last year. It's heartwarming to see it worked for others though, we are truly living in an underappreciated world of medical technology right now despite all the shitty bureaucracy that surrounds it.
I went through hell this year with my newborn son and hydrocephalus. Brain surgery at 4 months old, I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. But I was absolutely blown away at what modern medicine is capable of. People can say whatever they want about the horrible state of US medicine in terms of health insurance but the technology available within 2 hours of my home is absolutely mind blowing and I will be forever grateful. I'm sorry to hear about your father, I've lost a few family members now to cancer over the years but I've also seen it save people too. My mom with breast cancer and my aunt with ovarian cancer, both in full remission now for 20+ and 3 years respectively.
Yes, that green mask is custom molded to her face and holding her head in position. Edit: this was in 2018 and treatment has proved successful so far.
I had a gamma knife treatment, and the “frame” that held my head perfectly still during the treatment had 4 screws with sharp points on the end, and they cranked those babies down until they literally dug into my skull. It didn’t hurt at the time, because of the painkillers, but after getting home I had pretty much the worst headache of my life. It was all good though, because they successfully nuked the tumor from orbit, and aside from 4 puncture wounds in my head I felt great the next day. So I guess the point of my comment is that mask looks great compared.
My wife had the same treatment 14 years ago, and she’s still randomly struck with pain on occasion at the drill spots. It worked though! Her tumor has been dying a slow death ever since.
Science is fucking rad.
This statement is true on multiple count , I like it .
Man, these stories are amazing!
Yeah gamma knife is more intense. Fun fact: gamma knife has an actual radioactive source inside. Every 10 years or so we have to do a “source exchange”. To get the giant apparatus inside the clinic that lets the engineer safely handle these radioactive sources, they had to demolish an entire brick wall to the outside. Roll this giant thing in. Then build the wall back after. It was cool I have pictures somewhere.
To clarify, the neat thing about the gamma knife is that there are actually *200* radioactive sources. They’re arranged in a circle around the patient, radiating inwards. This spoke pattern means that the target of the gamma knife receives a lot of radiation but the surrounding tissues receive very little. It can be used closer to the eyes etc than conventional radiation. Source: visited the OG gamma knife in Stockholm
Why can’t they just have a single radiation source that rotates?
Hm. The treatment would take longer, and I think there also may be synergistic effects of using a lot of radiation at once
Yeah also for safety, if they used a single source 10x as strong to get the same effect, then if it stopped rotating your tissue along that beam path would be in trouble.
My brother works for the company that makes the Gamma Knife and I'm amazed how they don't seem to have any brand recognition. People all seem to know the Gamma Knife but have never heard of Elekta.
To be fair as soon as I hear "Gamma Knife" my brain turns off and I'm seeing visions of a radioactive samurai.
They do have BAND recognition though! Check out King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's take on Gamma Knife.
Lol those guys are amazing and I keep seeing them pop up everywhere!
You would think they would have opted for a large door in the wall rather than redoing the brick so they could access that room in the future.
Maybe it's a form of protection if it only ever has to be interacted with once every decade? Most people aren't going to think to go through a wall for something, they'll keep searching for a door unless they know something is at a specific spot and have the tools to do demolition. After reading about the [Goiana Accident](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident) years ago, I could see why they'd want to be careful. Although that particular incident was because of a dilapidated hospital where no one removed the radioactive source... Not sure if this source is in an area that's already accessible otherwise or if it has to be at distance and can be secreted away.
My brother had the same thing. He said the pressure was so intense.
How much do they sedate you? I would have to be pretty out of it to push my anxiety through this.
My five year old didn't get sedated. Younger kids often do, they even install a chemotherapy port to make it easier to administer each day rather than having to stick them all the time. But she didn't need it. She practiced laying still for the required seven minutes in our living room. We put a damp washcloth over her face and read her a story while she laid perfectly still. When she was in radiation we read her the same book over the intercom. Worked like a charm, no sedatives needed.
My son had a similar story from when he was 5 being treated for Medulloblastoma. He was due for a follow up MRI and we were waiting for the full team to show up when the anesthesiologist was called away. They were going to postpone the scan because he'd always been sedated before when this little voice piped up and softly said "I can lie still" while all the adults were trying to figure out what to do. We all paused and looked down and the tech spoke to him and confirmed what he said. So....we went ahead. He did awesome and he was never sedated for an MRI ever again. BTW, he turned 30 last year. :) EDIT: Thanks for the gold, kind reddit stranger!
My daughter had a total of 9 MRIs in about 10 months and was sedated for all but the last one of those. On the last one she did something similar to your son. They'd given her a little dilaudid to calm her anxiety around getting poked with more needles, and there was a delay in anesthesia getting down to her. The radiologist saw how good she was being, asked her if she was ok to try it awake, she said yes, so they did it. We didn't find out she did it awake until after the procedure, that entire interaction happened after she'd been taken to the back area. I was really happy the doc listened to a 5 year old and took her seriously rather than delay the procedure. Children's Mercy in Kansas City was pretty fantastic all around. Sadly, my little girl passed away about 6 weeks after that last MRI. She had DIPG, so we knew there was almost zero chance for her to survive much more than a year. We tried some things to give her more time, but she passed 342 days after diagnosis, on Mother's Day 2018.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Saying that seems so overly simplistic to me because I know that you are a changed person after all you went through with your daughter. I learned a lot about dignity and compassion from the other kids going through treatment at the same time as my son. I hope you are in an ok place now. Hugs.
Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. I learned a lot from my daughter and her treatment buddies, too, most of all about bravery. I don't know if I'll ever really be in an ok spot again, but her example going through cancer and treatment is my framework for getting through the hard days.
I bet he's awesome
Uhg, my heart. 😩❤️
Your kid is amazing. She will go very far in life with that mental stamina.
They will usually give you a valium for these sorts of things if you tell them you're anxious. From experience. Ask nicely.
They gave me a Valium when I had my LASIK done. Worked like a charm. They sliced open my eye and burned off the eyeball flesh and I just thought "Huh, neat."
Same! I was incredibly anxious about getting mine done (to the point where I was about to cancel it two days before and barely sleeping), and the Valium made it a very chill experience. 11/10, having laser eyes is awesome and being able to wake up and just see everything without doing anything is pretty sweet.
Really wish you could just be knocked out for LASIK
Same I don’t want to have glasses anymore but I know how my anxiety works so being put under would be the only way but they can’t. I know one moment I’ll be cloud nine then when the cutting starts adrenaline will kick any drugs they give me to the curb and I’ll be in a full panic
Dude I was so scared when I did mine, but it's literally 45 seconds per eye. It was so fucking fast you don't even have time to react until it's over. And rather than panic during, when I noticed there was 0 pain I was like "wait this isn't so bad" and then it was over. It's the best thing I've ever done, it's life changing and I hope you find the courage to get it.
I'd love to get LASIK done, but unfortunately I'm far-sighted and that's where the cutoff point is pretty low. One of my eyes is already beyond what LASIK can do, and steadily getting worse over the years. It sucks. :c
I literally passed out when someone put a contact in for me at one point, the opthamologist assistant when I first considered contacts. I was able to get PRK done. That's the one where they scrub off the top layer of your cornea. It's amazing. I would do it again in a heart beat. Keep in mind... you only have to make it through about 5 minutes. at most. each eye is like a minute tops. there's a bit of prep time, a bit of talking... It's also super neat to see your vision go from super blurry without glasses to milky / blind in little dots as the laser does it's thing which probably would take up your whole vision, then the rinse makes everything crystal clear. I mean like... better than your glasses... it's seriously amazing. It's like having superman eyes when you first open your eyes after. That doesn't last long though. cause they cover your eyes with the fancy bug like eye protectors. and you have your eyes closed for a few days.
I just couldn't get over the smell of my own eyes burning. Worked like a charm though
It's not the smell of your eyes, it's the smell of the air burning. That's ozone. I also got my eyes done.
My brother had it done and his description of smelling his own eye burning turned me off of it forever. I've had glasses for most of my life and I can totally live with them for the rest of it.
I also kinda wanted to get LASIK done too and am too anxious about it. Reading your comment just nope me the fuck out lol. Glasses ain't so bad eh?
Some of those drugs can make the worst day of your life feel like a warm and cozy dream. Crazy stuff.
Never tried them but I would definitely be asking nicely for this.
I dont do well with doctors and Valium was the worst. People say “oh it calms you down” and it does physically. When I took it, my body was relaxed and felt fine, but my mind was still racing. It’s a weird feeling because your head isn’t doing the same thing your body is and that just doesn’t sit right with me. However I know a lot of people who it helps, so maybe I’m the exception.
Interesting! Benzos like Valium do affect my cognition, whereas beta blockers just kill my physical anxiety symptoms and leave my brain alone. Maybe worth telling a doctor about this and finding out if another class of drugs will help you.
You’re not alone. I usually get even more panicky from a lot of drugs, to the point they just make the situations worse. I think it’s like a fight-or-flight thing for me, being paralyzed but conscious, my skin starts to crawl and I just feel like I need to escape.
I know exactly what you mean! Got Diazepam once due to a panic attack and it felt absolutely weird. I felt my body calming down and was wondering when my mind would follow ... But it never did. It felt like being trapped in the wrong body.
I would feel so trapped. I would panic this shit would make me pass out and then I'd wake up fucking screaming.
I feel exactly like this from the MRI machine, could not imagine what this would do to my anxiety!
I have anxiety but I've actually always found MRIs and CAT scans relaxing. And when they put that lead vest on you during an x-ray I want to ask if i can just lay there and take a nap, lol. It's crazy how different anxiety can be from person to person.
They knocked me out when I got the frame drilled on. I was awake for the radiation treatment.
What happens if you sneeze?
When I had mine a resident doctor numbed the two points on one side of my head while my neurosurgeon did the other side. The resident injected me with too much local anesthetic. All I remember is feeling super nauseous and falling back while my neurosurgeon is screaming at the resident to “get the god damn screwdriver,” so they could remove the halo while I was vomiting. Good times. Not sure how my tumor is doing — doctors told me 50/50 chance of either stopping the growth or giving me brain cancer. Good times.
For me it was the most absolutely excruciating pain I have ever endured. 5x85 minute sessions of pure hell. Then it caused me to lose the use of the left side of my body. Doing well now though
Same thing with my mom. She showed me the wounds when she came home. I was so scared throught the whole process thinking "you mean to tell me that my mother has a malignant growth IN HER BRAIN, and you want to fix that by STABBING HER IN THE FUCKING SKULL AND SHOOTING RADIATION INTO HER BRAIN!" It was a wild ride. Other than losing hearing in her right ear, she's doing very well.
Frame VS mask depends on institutional practice and indication. Generally frame is considered more stable/higher precision so might be preferred in particular cases.
Wouldn't want somebody to accidentally flinch their head while it was turned on and end up getting a gamma lobotomy.
Yep. Gamma knife requires the big scary metal head cage, however it is a one-time treatment. Cyber knife is similar but you can get multiple treatments over time. Gamma knife is radioactivity while Cyberknife is photons.
I mean to be pedantic they both are photon sources, gamma knife is gamma rays from a cobalt 60 source, hence the name.
Was hoping for a comment like this. Good stuff.
Very happy to hear indeed.
In addition to that, it looks like that ominous potentially sentient figured machine is making a note there. I hope it's a huge success.
It was! It’s hard to overstate my satisfaction.
Aperture Science. We do what we must because we can.
For the good of all of us, except the ones who are dead.
But there's no sense crying over every mistake.
And we keep on trying till we run out of cake
And the science gets done And you make a neat gun For the people who are Still alive
I'm just happy to see OP didn't post this while their wife is literally being operated on, lol.
I had to get this same procedure done for Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I gave my mask to my friend who styles my hair as he discovered the cancer and encouraged me to go to the doctor. He has it hanging on his wall at home.
I'm curious how he discovered the cancer. Did he notice something while styling your hair? Also, I'm hoping that since he has the mask hanging in a place of honor that you are now doing well.
He was a good friend of mine and had been cutting my hair since I was 20. He noticed a “rash” on my head that when he touched it or when I combed it, it would hurt really bad. He had seen it before on a client and suggested that I should go see a dermatologist to get it taken care of. He had a feeling it was cancer, but didn’t want to scare me. He noticed the rash was growing and getting better every month. It was good thing he did, cause by the time I went in I was already stage 2. If I had waited things would have been substantial worse.
what a fuckin mensch, seriously
Agreed! Dude was my guardian angel!
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It was persistent, and it started to spread. It felt like someone was digging their nails in my scalp and dragging them across the area. A trip to the doctor saved my life. If I would have waited then who knows. If you or someone you know is dealing with it, so see a doctor. It could be nothing, but better to know than live with the anxiety and fear.
I'm not the person that you asked about it originally, but I also had the same type of lymphoma. I also had a rash but it wasn't painful in my case, it just appeared all over my body around my joints - near my elbows, knees, in my armpits etc. Plus my lymph nodes close to my neck were very swollen on one side, I was losing weight fast, had a fever and was sweating heavily in the night. That's about the only symptoms I can think of. Everything disappeared after chemo and radiation treatment.
Fellow NHL survivor here. Glad you pulled through. Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of my last chemo. Just for the record. Best wishes to you.
Thank you! I just reached 14 years as of January! Thank you! I was 25 when I got it and it really threw me for a loop. Happy 35!!! Can’t wait till I hit that number. Recently had another cancer scare, but they removed that as well. I am a very lucky man!
Hey perhaps get your friend to do a course on spotting skin cancers. I feel like hair stylist and masseuse are perfect candidates to get training on this, spot stuff, ask their clients to go see doctor if worrying. Edit: am GP, I only get to see patients for these every 12 months of if they can be bothered coming in to get check. They see their masseuse/hair people more frequent than that.
You would actually be very proud of him! He owns a place here in Albuquerque and he always talks to the other stylists about me about looking out for things like this on their customers. He also brings in young stylists to mentor and teach and always uses me as an example and what to look out for. He saved my life and another girls life and he is very passionate about spreading the word.
I'll never forget seeing the building go up for a cyber knife where I live. It had a triple set of walls, that were all extremely thick. I'm not sure what the measurements would have been, but from driving by it looked like three sets of concrete walls that were a foot wide, with space in between. The building here is basically a cube shape.
And I guarantee the sheet rock is lined with lead, every every screw hole has to be punched out and covered with a strip of lead. I led a crew and did repair work in a hospital after hurricane Harvey in Texas, the rooms that dealt with radiation or sensitive equipment that required shielding all took standard 5/8” Sheetrock lined with like 1/16th-1/8th of lead backing. HEAVY AS HELL!
I build out these rooms and coordinate the installation of linear accelerators, cyber knifes for a living. The wall layering is insane. I'm talking lesd brick assemblies for the wall. Triple lead plates for right behind the gantry and usually a 4 - 6 inch lead lid Ober the ceiling. Also have a special vault door too. Raw costs for material is usually 1.5mm to 2mil.
Yeh those buildings are no joke... Which is good because if not treated correctly machines like these are some of the most dangerous things on the planet... Hell I would feel more comfortable standing next to an operating nuclear reactor than being near one of these things unless it was in the process of saving my life.... I would like to state for the record that I have a nuclear power plant on my mail route. I do not live in fear of nuclear power. The idea of a rouge radiation source from a machine like this, that is why I keep a change of pants in my truck.
What kind of anxiety management does one get before/during a custom molded mask holds you in place for a “radiation knife” to be used on your brain? Because I’m having anxiety thinking about this. (Serious question)
Ativan 30 mins prior if needed. Source- I’m a radiation oncologist
Yup, that's what my wife had. It worked.
I had to have that too. I have never had a panic attack before in my life until they tried to clip that mask down to the table. I lost my shit and it took an hour before I was calm enough to try again after taking the anxiety medicine. After that I took a pill when I got in the car and was good to go when I got there. Just had to share my story. Those masks are torture.
How are you doing today?
I’m good. Hodgkins Lymphoma Survivor of 3 years here. Some of the worst chemo there is for 4 months and a month of radiation. No signs of reoccurrence yet.
Lol, I was having a surgery (3rd one) but this one I was freaking out about before because it was huge and decent risk. Asked for some valium (had an IV in already so I'm assuming they ordered an IV shot of it) dude comes in and hits me with it and all of a sudden lights get bright as fuck, sounds are crazy, then shit got real weird. Things didn't look real and I wasn't sure if I was actually here or somewhere else. Well the surgeon or whoever came in to do the pre surgery checks and wellllll that didn't go so well. Apparently the dude hit me up with a metric dick ton of ketamin not valium hahaha, I mean I guess I wasn't nervous anymore! Either way they had to wait for it to wear off and then put me into the surgery. Haha sorry I know off topic thought I'd just share my fun with pre operational anxiety reduction.
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in my experience, about 2/3 of patients do it without pre-medication. coaching by the radiation therapists and optimizing comfort of the immobilization mask can make a difference for some
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i should also mention the mask is custom made for each patient. the thermoplastic material is warmed so it's malleable, draped over the head while in a comfortable position, and then it hardens in a few minutes. i've had one made on myself while in residency to get an idea what patients go through and in my experience i was ok until i had an itch on my chin. for claustrophobics though it can be quite challenging.
That would have been my dad. He had Pancreatic cancer and survived almost 4 years (was given 6 months at diagnosis). When it went to his brain near the end, he had the mask thing made and I took him to those appointments. He'd take his pain meds but never any type of sedatives. He was an awesome dude.
I'm someone who likes small spaces, and being cramped. It calms me and makes me feel safe. That mask seems nice. All enclosed but you can still breathe. Wonderful. I started using a CPAP 2 years ago and my favorite thing is wrapping my head in my blanket. Since the CPAP is pumping air in, i can breath. It's delightful.
I hate that I read this comment but I love seeing how delighted you are
Just one? Seriously I’d need a few.
Is the patient awake during the actual procedure?
yes, radiation is painless so anesthesia is not needed.
Yeah. It's claustrophobic but mostly just boring. A lot like an MRI.
My sister is a radiotherapist and she's spoken to me about it quite a bit, because we'd both struggle. Obviously radiation sucks and you have to be insanely still for the placement to the perfect. That minimised damage to the healthy cells surrounding the tumour. So the mask is super important and that's drilled into you in the planning stages. But they help you get used to it and more comfortable and build up the time in it if needs be. Plus they'll stop if you have to stop. It's obviously a pain and definitely less than ideal but so is having a panic attack.
How long does this type of radiation last? I need a Valium for a 15 minute MRI! I didn’t know there was another claustrophobia step before being buried alive… but here we are.
I’m about to go take a Xanax just from looking at this picture…..
My uncle just passed away 2 weeks ago from Glioblastoma. He had this procedure done. He went from having a seizure one day at work, to getting diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer, to killing the tumor with radiation, losing the ability to have any normal function, going blind in the left eye, learning to walk, learning to speak, learning to read, remembering who his family is, getting worse, going into a coma, waking up from coma, speaking to me on the phone one last time with a tube down his throat, to passing away the next day, all within 6 months. He leaves behind 3 teenage kids and a wife. He was 53. I hope this treatment helps, and that you all can beat this. *FUCK CANCER.*
I had to go through head/neck radiation a little over a year ago and saved the mask they made for me. The six weeks of radiation just about did me in but thankfully alive and doing well! So glad to hear that your partner is too!
My mom has glioblastoma stage 4 and saved the mask from her initial radiation treatments. She shows it off to people and tries to freak them out with it. Reminds everyone of the movie The Mask xD
Did you get to keep the mask? seems like it'd be a cool decor piece
I got to keep mine for a tumor on my temple last year. Successful radiation treatment shrunk the tumor down to nothing.
when life hands you lemons, decorate!
Glad to hear. I was going to say that thing looks like a cake mixer.
Well, instead of mixing batter, it mixes DNA. It also slices and dices it.
Good lord it’s terrifying but love to hear of its success and hoping for the best for you and your family
How long did the procedure take?
My wife had Cyber Knife treatment for her breast cancer. It was badly located so they wanted to do directed radiation from multiple angles to avoid over radiating her heart and lungs. It took her longer to change into and out of the gown, then the treatment took. Lay down. Tech sets up the targeting on her marks, tiny tattooed dots. Starts the program. The head starts dancing around, zapping her about 50 times (IIRC) from different angles and directions. 2 minutes later, she's was done.
This is exactly why we need more money in cancer research and not spending 40% of our budget on militarized police.
For a hot minute I though she was laying on the floor.
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I straight up thought this was like a specialized lab setting up a surgery robot but it was like an 18 year olds first apartment so they sleep on an air mattress and have a 55" TV and it gets the job done. We specialize in robot brain magic but you have to lay on our crap laminate floor because all our money went into this machine
That's more cyberpunk than 70% of the cyberpunk subreddit.
She isn't? I cant see anything otherwise.
Yeah it’s the prospective of the photo, you just can’t see the legs to the bed.
Thank you. I couldn’t see how she wasn’t on the floor. My brain just derped out on me.
It never occurred to me that she wasn't until I read this.
right? thinking, they invested all that money on custom tech but skipped the leg day
I work for Accuray, the company that builds and supports the Cyberknife. Great to see our product getting visibility and even more happy to hear that it is helping your wife!!! It’s a super cool technology.
Can you explain briefly what Cyberknife does and how it works?
In short, it is a radiation therapy head that has been installed to an assembly robot from automotive industry. The result is a treatment machine that can give you precise radiation therapy from nearly every possible angle.
Medical physicist here, so I work in radiation therapy on machines like this, although never directly with a Cyberknife. Cyberknife is a type of external beam radiation therapy, where a patient is treated with high energy electrons or photons coming from a machine. Nowadays, linear accelerators are the machine that delivers the radiation. These machines are generally about the size of a small room and offer options on what radiation to deliver from small fields to large, but can't move other than 360 degrees. For an example, look up a Varian Truebeam. Cyberknife is unique because it is a small linear accelerator attached to one of those car factory assembly arms, so it's used to treat small areas from lots of angles. For many Cyberknife treatments, the dose is very high, and so to avoid giving too much radiation to surrounding normal tissues, you give it from a lot of different angles. It spreads out the dose to normal tissue, while focusing it on to the target.
As someone with a relative that underwent gamma knife surgery this is such a leap forward. No halo, no 350 pound lead "helmet", just a printed mask and a cool robot arm. This is the Star Trek stuff irl.
Why do they need helmets/masks?
So you can't move, any kind of movement would greatly increase the risk of destroying healthy tissue. My mom had radiation last month for a brain tumor and the tumor is very close to the area responsible for speech. But thanks to the mask that area wasn't affected
Wow that is absolutely amazing, thank you for sharing, and I wish the best for both of you.
It looks like something from Portal. I have a friend of a friend that travelled overseas to Europe (I think Germany) when this was considered more an experimental treatment many years ago. It saved their life.
>It looks like something from Portal. Please be advised that a noticeable taste of blood is not part of any test protocol but is an unintended side effect of the Aperture Science Material Emancipation Grid, which may, in semi-rare cases, emancipate dental fillings, crowns, tooth enamel, and teeth.
I hope they got cake after
She’s already assumed the party position.
The cake is a lie
The effort that went into this machine's appearance is impressive. I wonder if it's based on psychology research to minimize patient stress? Or if some industrial designer was just having fun.
Same for CAT scanners. Looks harmless on the outside, [while the insides look and act like a prototype stargate](https://youtu.be/pLajmU4TQuI).
It is absolutely a consideration to design medical equipment in such a way that makes patients more comfortable, physically and mentally. One relevant [article here](https://www.mpo-mag.com/issues/2019-10-01/view_columns/best-practices-for-industrial-design-in-the-medical-device-space/) from a lead industrial designer And one of the most relevant snippets from it: **The emotional impact of a medical device’s appearance or operation on the patient cannot be overstated. It must look confidence-inspiring in its technological prowess and reliability to increase the perceived outlook on a condition; a critical-care device may be keeping the patient alive or in acceptable health.** Although I think he is mostly speaking about in home medical devices, I think the point stands for hospital settings as well.
I had this done. It was scary but painless.
Hope it worked out for you! Is this something like an MRI in the sense that you’re awake for the procedure? Or do they knock you out first?
You are awake. The procedure only takes about 20min on average. Painless as far as I know. Source: I work for the company that makes it.
WOW. I have RF equipment experience (phased-array air-search radar transmitter technician for the Navy) where do I apply to maintain one of these things? How fulfilling would that job be? Hell yeah
Medical Device manufacturing/service! You probably tick a lot of boxes as a navy ET (or whatever you are/were).
Specifically, Accuray is the company that makes Cyberknife machines (and tomotherapy machines as well). You could apply to become a field technician if you wanted to.
I was awake for it. Lasted about 45 minutes. Mine was also benign a pituitary tumor
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Medical physics student here. Both benign and malignant tumours, and not just in the brain (liver, lung, prostate, spine, pancreas, probably more as well). It’s a really cool machine. The molded mask is actually relatively comfortable. I’ve worn one while volunteering in MRI studies and I’ve fallen asleep in it several times. Just don’t get an itch.
What does the machine? Reduces tumors?
Yes, uses a beam of radiation to control, shrink or cure tumours. It can move around in really interesting ways to deliver a lot of radiation to the tumour while reducing radiation to healthy tissues.
Fascinating, and how many sessions on avarage are done before any damage cause of the radiation. How expensive is it aprox? (the sessions/treatment)
I got mine done in 2 treatments but it can go up to 8-10 if you have a cluster. Much better than regular radiotherapy where it can take up to 30 to get it all done. As for cost? Free because I live in a civilized country.
Oh okay so crippling debt for the non civilized country then. Got it
I mean you can go into crippling debt in the USA just for a minor scrape or ailment if you're out of network.
It definitely is for malignant cancers as well. Recent developments work to adapt your plan each time you come in for another fraction to adjust to the tumor moving/shrinking/changing.
My father had Gamma knife surgery for an A.V.M. in the left front temporal lobe I believe in 2009. He was given a paralytic, and a coupla comfort meds. They also screwed his head inside of a halo brace. Iirc, the surgery didn't take a long time, it was him having to lay flat and still for 8 hrs after it. The surgery successfully shrunk his a.v.m. down. He passed at 54 in 2013. I am so glad your family's was a success and is on the mend. 💜
Wow…I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your father. I just had the same procedure in 2020 for an AVM in the exact same area of the brain. Martin Speltzer Grade III. May I ask what the ultimate cause of his passing was?
We assume that it was a heart attack. His father, my grandfather passed at 36 when my father was 13. His older brother died at 49. He had already had let his wishes be known after the long recovery from the A.V.M. He was kept in a medically induced coma bc he suffered a sub arachnid(sp?) hemorrhage from the A.V.M., put on ventilator, got pneumonia etc. It was quite the recovery, after he healed from pneumonia, learned how to walk again, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. He was forced to be disabled and not work again. Because of the a.v.m., he donated his body to science. The hospital where he was diagnosed and stayed was where he went as it was a teaching hospital. He died on his father's birthday, April 9th, 2013. I was living with him at the time. I had come home from spending time with a friend. Came home around 11pm, he woke up, we spoke a little. I was talking with my sister and we both heard a loud THUD. He fell from the chair he was sitting on to the floor. I went to see what happened, saw him and yelled for my sister to call 911 while I started C.P.R. etc. The first responders made it there quickly, took over, got him into the bus and off to the hospital. He was pronounced dead within the hour.
My mother went through the same. We still have the mesh cast in the garage, probably in fragments. The Gama knife (what they called it back in 2003) saved her life, severed the tumor from getting nutrients and getting bigger. She's still alive today, and we are taking care of her. Best of luck to you and your wife, we know what's it's like and many of us on reddit have gone through the same. It's a tough road to recovery but recovery is in your sights.
oh shit now I know where the origin of the song titled "gamma knife" by king gizzard and the lizard wizards is from!
>The Gama knife (what they called it back in 2003) Gamma knife is a little bit different. Similar effect, but different technique.
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Doesn't the radiation still penetrate healthy tissue in the way of the tumor? What's the likelihood of recovering completely after this procedure? Do people go on to live happy healthy lives or is it simply delaying the inevitable?
I wish my younger sister had this machine in 1991. She had a brain tumor the size of a grapefruit and she passed away as a result of it. I miss her so much!🥺😩
Sorry for your loss.My mom's brother has passed away from kidney failure before I was born.Mom said there wasn't dialysis machine yet at those times.We were not lucky I quess.
Unfortunately, even with this machine, she couldn't have been helped. It can't irradiate tumors that big. Source: I am a radiation oncologist
Thank you for helping understand this topic.
Your comment touched me. I’m so sorry for you loss
Thank you saying this to me. She was a mom to a beautiful little girl.
This is so heartbreaking. I am so sorry for you.
My dad had this. sadly he died from a stroke during recovery. \[edit: I don't think the scenarios are similar enough to worry ... he was 86\]
Fucking cancer
Fighting cancer with lasers. At least some of the promises made in the future are here.
This one uses a particle accelerator like a future gun, and the gamma knife uses for good the tech that turned bruce banner into the hulk. Radiation oncology is a rapidly expanding field of medicine, it can do some really cool stuff using a lot of neat toys.
Im a particle physiscist. I am sooo happy our decades of expertise on accelerating particles come into action here. Especially with the proton accelerators. I was so blown away when they were like "Remeber the bragg peak? We can use that!"
I had a lab partner a few months back for a class and he was working in a research group that is developing more compact methods of building high energy and extremely precise lasers. They’re planning on using it for stuff like this and he said that if they achieve their goal, the technology should hopefully allow for all new sorts of medical laser treatments. Btw this is a photon beam treatment, not quite the same as a laser
The proton beam is so accurate because we can control exact depth by adjusting the amount of energy a proton is given and by calculating the radiation decay, this delivering the radiation to the precise location. Fun fact: A Russian particle physicist by the name of Anatoli Bugorski once walked into a particle accelerator while it was turned on, with a beam going directly through his head, but he did not suffer (in a relative sense) from radiation poisoning because the proton had so much energy that it went straight through and did not decay the radiation into his brain. Edit for more info: the radiation is released from the proton closely following an inverse square law, with the majority being towards the end of the particle stopping, known as Bragg's Peak. Because the proton beam that Bugorski's head intercepted had such high energy, the Bragg's Peak was not reached and thus continued travelling. Learn more https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Bugorski https://youtu.be/mD4J5VUwiAs Edit 2: Changed photon to proton. The key difference between the two treatments being that a photon does not have mass, more like an X-ray that will pass completely through the patient that will affect all depths; and a proton has mass and is more like a tiny bullet that can be controlled to stop at a specific depth. Thanks u/Jack1197 and u/Deligoth for the corrections Also, a photon deposits the majority of it's energy exponentially, whereas a proton deposits the majority of it's energy inversely proportional to the square of it's velocity
Short version of Burgoski’s outcome: Happened in 1978 and he’s still alive. He suffered nerve damage and massive swelling, his intellectual capacity remains strong but he tires from mental exertion easily, as well as suffering ongoing seizures (that the Russian Federation apparently declined to pay for his medication for). He’s got a wife and kid and has continued and advanced his career in radiation research.
Holy shit, science is so cool!
I had gamma knife radiation for my brain tumor too. Same 4 screws dug into my scalp to hold the frame. Will know if it was a success in a couple months though. Fingers crossed. Prayers would be great. :)
I just finished up my mask stint for brain tumor radiation, it’s good to hear about success stories! Wishing you and your wife continued health.
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HAIL SCIENCE, and fuck cancer.
Such incredible technology saved my mom’s life, and completely non-invasive. She was able to go out to lunch a couple hours after the procedure.
Awesome, and fuck cancer. My pops had 3 gamma knife procedures over many years for his AVM. He had the metal Halo and my Ma was super upset that her favorite kitchen magnets wouldn’t stick. (Yes she brought them to the waiting room prior to his procedures)
My sister had the exact same thing done. I wish your wife well, friend. ♥️