The Apollo Hospitals Group in India has introduced a robot radiotherapy machine, Cyberknife in the Asia Pacific.

The new treatment, which uses real time image guidance technology and computer-controlled robotics to deliver a very little dosage of radiation to kill cancer cells by reducing the course of treatment to less than a week with sub millimeter accuracy.

This saves the surrounding healthy tissue while adjusting for patient and tumour movements during treatment.

It is learnt that the cost of this hi-tech robotic radiosurgery system, Cyberknife is Rs 35 crore.

Now patients in Bahrain and across the Middle East can access this advanced technology as India is a few hours away from the region.

While talking over this new technology, Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, Executive Chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, said, “In our continuing endeavor to fight cancer, we have brought the most advanced CyberKnife in Asia Pacific. It is the world’s first and only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body with sub-millimeter accuracy. Undoubtedly the next frontier in cancer treatment.”

Dr. John.R.Adler, MD, professor of Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology at Stanford University Medical Centre, has developed the machine.

Sanjay Chandrasekar, senior consultant, radiation oncology said that the biggest advantage is that the cyberknife treatment procedure can be completed in a week's time, which is far less than that of the conventional cancer therapies. Moreover, cyberknife also does not trigger any side effects.

While the new technology is considered as a pain-free procedure, the patients would have to spend (Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakhs) double of what they would spend otherwise, Dr. Chandrasker added.

The new treatment can be used to treat tumors previously considered inoperable and most CyberKnife treatments can be performed even on an outpatient basis.

Medical specialists think that the new technology would be effectual for treating tumours in brain, spine, lung, prostate, pancreatic and other recurrent tumours.

This week, British doctors will make use of a robotic radiotherapy machine to treat cancer for the first time.