Singapore Gamma Knife Centre

Last updated

The Singapore Gamma Knife Centre is a medical facility specialising in gamma knife radiosurgery.

Contents

History

Construction of the Singapore Gamma Knife Centre was funded by the Health Corporation of Singapore (HCS) and the Singapore Technologies Precision Engineering (STPE). The project was the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, and the budget totalled to around ten million dollars. The centre's official opening ceremony was held on 5 March 1996, [1] [2] although surgeries at the centre only began on 27 November 1996. [3] [lower-alpha 1] As it did not involve incision of the brain, the public welcomed the introduction of gamma knife radiosurgery to Singapore. [4]

Operations

The facility is based in the Balestier Road-based ParkwayHealth Day Surgery & Medical Centre. [3] An independent medical centre, any member of the public, local or foreigner, is entitled to make use of it. [5] The centre promotes itself as "Asia's leading gamma knife centre" and "the only gamma knife facility in Singapore". [3]

Notes

  1. The centre's official website erroneously gives the date as 27 November 1995. This would have been before the centre even opened.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neurosurgery</span> Medical specialty of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system

Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vestibular schwannoma</span> Medical condition

A vestibular schwannoma (VS), also called acoustic neuroma, is a benign tumor that develops on the vestibulocochlear nerve that passes from the inner ear to the brain. The tumor originates when Schwann cells that form the insulating myelin sheath on the nerve malfunction. Normally, Schwann cells function beneficially to protect the nerves which transmit balance and sound information to the brain. However, sometimes a mutation in the tumor suppressor gene, NF2, located on chromosome 22, results in abnormal production of the cell protein named Merlin, and Schwann cells multiply to form a tumor. The tumor originates mostly on the vestibular division of the nerve rather than the cochlear division, but hearing as well as balance will be affected as the tumor enlarges.

Lars Leksell (1907–1986) was a Swedish physician and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He was the inventor of radiosurgery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radiosurgery</span> Surgical Specialty

Radiosurgery is surgery using radiation, that is, the destruction of precisely selected areas of tissue using ionizing radiation rather than excision with a blade. Like other forms of radiation therapy, it is usually used to treat cancer. Radiosurgery was originally defined by the Swedish neurosurgeon Lars Leksell as "a single high dose fraction of radiation, stereotactically directed to an intracranial region of interest".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stereotactic surgery</span> Medical procedure

Stereotactic surgery is a minimally invasive form of surgical intervention that makes use of a three-dimensional coordinate system to locate small targets inside the body and to perform on them some action such as ablation, biopsy, lesion, injection, stimulation, implantation, radiosurgery (SRS), etc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore General Hospital</span> Hospital in Singapore

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is an academic health science centre and tertiary referral hospital in Singapore. It is located next to the Bukit Merah and Chinatown districts of the Central Region, close to the Outram Community Hospital (OCH), which functions as a supplementary community and rehabilitation hospital to SGH for newly-discharged patients. There is also the Outram Polyclinic to complement outpatient care. All of these institutions are operated by SingHealth, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Health (MOH).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National University Hospital</span> Hospital in Singapore , Singapore

The National University Hospital (NUH) is a tertiary referral hospital and academic medical centre in Singapore, located in Kent Ridge. It is a 1,160-bed tertiary hospital serving more than 670,000 outpatients and 49,000 inpatients and serves as a clinical training centre and research centre for the medical and dental faculties of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

The following lists events that happened during 1996 in Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SingHealth</span> Group of healthcare institutions in Singapore

Singapore Health Services, commonly known as SingHealth, is Singapore's largest group of healthcare institutions. The group was formed in 2000 and consists of four public hospitals, three community hospitals, five national specialty centres and a network of eight polyclinics. The Singapore General Hospital is the largest hospital in the group and serves as the flagship hospital for the cluster.

Mount Alvernia Hospital is a 319-bed general acute care hospital with tertiary medical capabilities and two multi-disciplinary medical specialist centres situated on Thomson Road, Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hemangioblastoma</span> Medical condition

Hemangioblastomas, or haemangioblastomas, are vascular tumors of the central nervous system that originate from the vascular system, usually during middle age. Sometimes, these tumors occur in other sites such as the spinal cord and retina. They may be associated with other diseases such as polycythemia, pancreatic cysts and Von Hippel–Lindau syndrome. Hemangioblastomas are most commonly composed of stromal cells in small blood vessels and usually occur in the cerebellum, brainstem or spinal cord. They are classed as grade I tumors under the World Health Organization's classification system.

Elekta is a global Swedish company that develops and produces radiation therapy and radiosurgery-related equipment and clinical management for the treatment of cancer and brain disorders. Elekta has a global presence in more than 120 countries, with over 40 offices around the world and about 4,700 employees.

The Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago was a medical center from 1987 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Singapore General Hospital</span>

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is Singapore's first general hospital and also its oldest and largest hospital. It is located along Outram Road, in the heart of a medical hub known as the Outram Campus (comprising several medical institutions including the Health Promotion Board and Health Sciences Authority). The hospital's history spans nearly two centuries and can be traced back to the British colonial era of 19th century Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raffles Medical Group</span> Private healthcare provider in Asia


Raffles Medical Group (RMG), is a private healthcare provider in Asia, operating medical facilities in thirteen cities in Singapore, China, Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central neurocytoma</span> Medical condition

Central neurocytoma (CNC) is an extremely rare, ordinarily benign intraventricular brain tumour that typically forms from the neuronal cells of the septum pellucidum. The majority of central neurocytomas grow inwards into the ventricular system forming interventricular neurocytomas. This leads to two primary symptoms of CNCs, blurred vision and increased intracranial pressure. Treatment for a central neurocytoma typically involves surgical removal, with an approximate 1 in 5 chance of recurrence. Central neurocytomas are classified as a grade II tumor under the World Health Organization's classification of tumors of the nervous system.

James R. Doty, M.D., FACS, FICS, FAANS is a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University and founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, an affiliate of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute. He is the author of a self-help book called Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart. Doty is also the Senior Editor of the Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science (2017).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Westchester Hospital</span> Hospital in New York, United States

Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH), now known as Northwell Health, is a not-for-profit, 245-bed, all-private-room facility in Mount Kisco, New York. Founded in 1916, it serves residents of Northern Westchester, Putnam County and southern Dutchess County, as well as parts of Fairfield County, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre</span> Hospital in New Delhi, India

Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre (RGCIRC) is a non-profit medical facility and research institute based in Delhi, India specialising in cancer treatment and research. It is one of the largest medical centers for cancer treatment in Asia. RGCIRC is a project of Indraprastha Cancer Society and Research Centre, a not-for-profit public society. The institute was founded in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">B. K. Misra</span> Neurosurgeon

Dr. Basant Kumar Misra is a neurosurgeon specialising in treating brain, spine, cerebrovascular and peripheral nervous system disorders, injuries, pathologies and malformations. He is the Vice-President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies, and the former President of the Asian Australasian Society of Neurological Surgeons, and the Neurological Society of India. He is a recipient of Dr. B. C. Roy Award, the highest medical honour in India.

References

  1. "Opening of the Gamma Knife Centre" (PDF). NAS. 5 March 1996. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. "$10m centre to treat brain lesions setup". The Business Times . 6 March 1996. p. 3.
  3. 1 2 3 "About us". Singapore Gamma Knife Centre. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  4. "No hole in the head". The Straits Times . 6 March 1996. p. 1.
  5. Lim, Rebecca (6 March 1996). "Centre specialising in brain surgery open to all". p. 1.

1°19′20″N103°50′38″E / 1.3221°N 103.8440°E / 1.3221; 103.8440