Gamma Knife Cleared for use in China

The Leksell Gamma Knife® Icon™ developed by Swedish company Elekta has received clearance from the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA), enabling health care providers to offer this stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) imaging platform. With automatic delivery correction and dose evaluation for ultra-precise dose delivery, as well as the availability of frameless treatments, Icon is capable of treating virtually any target in the brain, regardless of type, location or volume.

In China, more than 100,000 people are reportedly diagnosed each year with brain cancer; other traditional indications for Gamma Knife radiosurgery include benign lesions, such as meningiomas; arteriovenous malformations and other vascular disorders; and functional disorders, such as trigeminal neuralgia.

Anming Gong, Elekta’s Executive Vice President Region China, says: “Icon is the result of almost 50 years of innovation and decades of collaboration with surgeons and radiation oncologists around the globe. We are very pleased that the latest development of the world’s only SRS system designed specifically to target brain tissue will now be available to patients in China.”

To date, more than 1.1 million people around the world have received Gamma Knife radiosurgery and the technology is consistently commended for its excellent clinical performance. “The new Gamma Knife Icon system has innovative features that allow for greater potential to protect the patient’s quality of life, both during treatment and after recovery,” Gong adds. “Unlike surgery, there is no hospitalisation, convalescence or rehabilitation required and patients typically return to their regular lives within a few days after treatment. With Leksell Gamma Knife, more patients can receive the best brain care possible.”