Gamma Knife at St. Joseph

Welcome to South Sound Gamma Knife^® at St. Joseph

Gamma Knife is a proven technology which gives doctors the option of using a highly focused form of pinpoint cobalt radiation to treat many disorders of the brain without ever making an incision, or negatively affecting healthy brain tissue. Over 300,000 patients have received Gamma Knife treatment, worldwide.

This leading-edge technology is now considered the “gold standard of care” for non-invasive treatment of many brain tumors (some previously considered inoperable), vascular malformations, and neurological disorders. The Gamma Knife focuses 201 tiny beams of radiation on one computer-mapped focal point (target) in the brain and is accurate within one half the width of a human hair. Gamma Knife is typically a one-time four-hour single session treatment. Patients do not lose their hair, and generally return to normal activities within 48 hours. Since there are no incisions or general anesthetic, patients have almost no pain or side effects.

One Patient's Story

With tremors eased, Elsie enjoys a better life
Elsie Leiker has essential tremors. She also has a curio cabinet full of collectible china teacups and saucers, but they’re no longer gathering dust.

For at least 20 years, Elsie’s body has trembled, most noticeably in her right arm. Drinking hot liquid without a straw had become impossible for Elsie. But Gamma Knife treatment at South Sound Gamma Knife at St. Joseph restored her ability to enjoy the finer things in life. >read more

South Sound Gamma Knife, at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, WA is the only Gamma Knife facility located between Seattle, WA and Portland, OR. It offers patients throughout the region a specially designed new facility, state-of-the-art technology, and an unparalleled multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists, radiation physicists, and support staff, all of whom are at the very tops of their professions.

>Information for Referring Physicians