Advances in technology for intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery

Abstract

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) refers to a single radiation treatment delivering a high dose to an intra-cranial target localized in three-dimensions by CT and/or MRI imaging. Traditionally, immobilization of the patient's head has been achieved using a rigid stereotactic head frame as the key step in allowing for accurate dose delivery. SRS has been delivered by both Cobalt-60 (Gamma Knife) and linear accelerator (linac) technologies for many decades. The focus of this review is to highlight recent advances and major innovations in SRS technologies relevant to clinical practice and developments allowing for non-invasive frame SRS.