Robotic Radiosurgery

In radiosurgery, a precisely guided beam of radiation is used to irradiate a selected target volume. Since the development of this technique by Lars Leksell, radiosurgery has required the application of a stereotactic frame in order to guide the beams, thus limiting the use of this technique to treatment of intracranial lesions. Only recently the introduction of robotic radiosurgery delivering beams to the target using real-time image-guidance has changed this outlook. Frameless image-guided robotic radiosurgery has expanded the scope radiosurgical treatments to the entire body. Lesions in the spine, chest and abdomen can now be treated by delivering high-dose focal irradiation with very high precision. This review article gives an overview of the current clinical applications of robotic radiosurgery (intracranial, spine, extracranial) and describes its technical basis.