The History of the Gamma Knife

The book 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.

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

1. Background knowledge in the early days 2. Some physics from 550 BC to AD 1948 3. Medical physics - particle accelerators - the beginning 4. From particle accelerator to radiosurgery 5. Stereotactic and radiosurgery concepts in sweden 6. Stereotactic and radiosurgery research in sweden 7. The journey from proton to gamma knife 8. The earliest gamma unit patients 9. Stockholm radiosurgery developing 1968–1982 10. From stockholm to pittsburgh 11. Changing times and early debates 12. The development of dose planning 13. Changing the gamma knife 14. Conclusion and possible future trends