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Ray of Hope For The Cancer Afflicted – Robot Aided Surgery
The globally acclaimed cancer treatment system is now within easy reach in India too. The cancer stricken have reason to be optimistic, all credit to the globally renowned, unique complete body non-invasive robot guided radio surgery system called the Cyberknife.
For many years, the currently subsisting radiation treatments entailed prolonged course of action and the use of agonizing braces or manacles. The inimitable side effects are guaranteed damage to the healthy organs during treatment. Some tumours were fatal or the peril of undertaking surgery was huge, leaving the patient no way out.
This advanced stereotactic robot guided surgery aims at tumours with impeccable exactness. It delivers elevated doses of emission, while routing clear of healthy tissues. What makes this treatment so exceptional and different from traditional systems, is its effectual motion tracking capacity, on similar lines to speed directed missile systems. This procedure synchronises the movement of the robotic arm with the patient’s breathing patterns so that tumours can be treated with millimetre exactness. There are some tumours too multifarious to be operated on by traditional techniques, like those that develop in the spinal cord, pancreas, lungs, liver and prostrate. These tumours are successfully treated upon non-invasively and painlessly.
The treatment significantly decreases the treatment time from about more than a month to just about a week, with a session a day that would go on for half to more than an hour. The superlative level of exactness leads to fewer side effects, thus the person concerned can swiftly catch up with his routine task with great ease.
The initial step of the procedure involves the insertion of miniature gold seeds into the tumour using CT scan. This is used to identify the exact location of the tumour during the treatment. A time period of seven days is set aside to ensure the proper positioning of the gold seeds.
The process in the treatment involves set-up and image scanning. In this the patient is properly positioned on a customised body cradle for unswerving placement. A synchrony vest is attached to the patient to associate breathing patterns and chest movement. The data generated herewith is what facilitates exact and safe delivery of radiation. The patient with the vest worn, then goes through an array of CT scans to aid the Cyberknife team to establish the real size, shape and location of the tumour. The CT scan is needed to completely monitor the location of the tumour to the adjoining organs.
During the final course of the treatment, the patient is fitted with the Synchrony vest and cradle and placed properly. The Cyberknife’s computer managed robot arm then spans through the patient’s body to deliver radiation to the exact location.
This treatment is truly a boon to mankind, many of whom had lost hope to survive from this deadly disease.
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