The History of the Gamma Knife

The History of the Gamma Knife presents the evolution of concepts and technology which ended in the production of the modern Gamma Knife. The story starts before the Second World War and links pioneers in Berkeley and Sweden. To the best of the author?s belief it is the first detailed, factually accurate account of the development of this important therapeutic method.

1. Background knowledge in the early days2. Some physics from 550 BC to AD 19483. Medical physics - particle accelerators - the beginning4. From particle accelerator to radiosurgery5. Stereotactic and radiosurgery concepts in sweden6. Stereotactic and radiosurgery research in sweden7. The journey from proton to gamma knife8. The earliest gamma unit patients9. Stockholm radiosurgery developing 1968–198210. From stockholm to pittsburgh11. Changing times and early debates12. The development of dose planning13. Changing the gamma knife14. Conclusion and possible future trends

Neurosurgeons, Radiation Oncologists, Medical Physicists, Investors and Administrators. The volume will serve as an outstanding reference for both those just entering the field and experts seeking an update on this fast moving area.

Jeremy Ganz was trained in neurosurgery at Queen Square London, Frenchay Hospital Bristol and Manchester Royal Infirmary. He emigrated to Norway in 1976 and was appointed staff surgeon in Bergen in 1979. In 1989 he was appointed chief of the Gamma Knife Center in Bergen, the fifth such center in the world. Since then he has travelled the world teaching Gamma Knife practice finishing in Cairo where he helped establish a Gamma Knife Center, where he worked for six years.

Since retirement he has published three books on Gamma Knife neurosurgery and one on epidural bleeding. Subsequently he has been interested in neurosurgical history, in particular the history of cranial surgery from Hippocrates to the present with two books and several papers on these topics.

• The author has been involved in Gamma Knife surgery since the early days and has written 3 books and many papers on the topic
• The author is fluent in Scandinavian languages and knows the original pioneers in the field and has consulted with them to ensure the story is accurate
• The book is written in an informal easy to read style
• The book fills a vacuum in the literature. There are many short accounts of a few pages but no hopefully definitive account of the story of the Gamma Knife. Also these short accounts all too often contain errors which hopefully are absent from the current text