ABSTRACT
Stereotactic radiosurgery combines stereotactic localization with multiple cross-fired beams from a highly collimated radiation source. This noninvasive method has proven to be an effective alternative to conventional neurosurgery, cranial irradiation, and brachytherapy for selected small cranial tumors and arteriovenous malformations. Current stereotactic techniques rely on a rigid frame fixed to a patient’s skull for head immobilization and target localization. However, such a frame-based system results in numerous limitations to treatment options, including: (1) existing cranial fixation systems only allow treatment of intracranial or, at most, high cervical lesions, (2) a fixed frame limits the treatment degrees of freedom, whereas the metal components of current frames produce imaging artifacts on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and (3) the discomfort associated with skeletal fixation makes treatment of children difficult and fractionation cumbersome.
