According to the American Brain Tumor Association, more than 700,000 Americans currently live with brain tumors. But an exciting new treatment called GammaTile® therapy, along with Gamma Knife radiosurgery, is offering more hope to patients.
Melvin Field, MD, is the medical director of the Minimally Invasive Brain Surgery program at AdventHealth. He has assembled a world-class medical team that uses these advanced technologies to treat complex brain tumors with great success. But, it’s their team approach to surgery that is making the biggest difference.
“When Gamma Knife is performed, three highly experienced medical team members are always involved and collaborating on every detail of the patient's care plan,” says Dr. Field. “This personalized approach to care, coupled with the precision of these new technologies, brings great benefits to all our patients.”
How does GammaTile work?
GammaTile is a small implant that delivers radiation therapy to the area where the brain tumor was removed. The number of tiles used will depend on the size and location of the patient’s tumor. After the tiles are placed, GammaTile immediately begins delivering an even dose of radiation to the target area. Over time, the body naturally absorbs the tile.
“It only takes about five minutes for me to place the tiles, then we close up the incision,” explains Dr. Field. “Most patients don’t require a longer stay in the hospital, hair loss is minimized and the need to possibly travel for radiation treatment after surgery is eliminated.
How does Gamma Knife work?
“Gamma Knife is the gold standard for minimally invasive, precision radiosurgery for specific disorders of the brain,” says Dr. Field. “We use a very specialized frame that allows us to precisely localize an area of the brain that needs to be treated. We then focus multiple beams of radiation on a tumor, and virtually no dose of radiation to the surrounding healthy tissues. The accuracy of this system is less than one millimeter.”
“AdventHealth is the only hospital in Central Florida to offer Gamma Knife, and we've been offering this treatment since 1996 — with constant upgrades to improve the preciseness of our treatments,” Dr. Field explains.
To schedule an appointment, call our brain services coordinator at
Call407-303-7944, email us or click here for more information.
