Scientists have developed a robot radiotherapy machine known as Cyberknife to treat cancer. Cyberknife has various advantages over traditional radiotherapy devices.

In case of Cyberknife only three sittings of powerful radiations are required as compared to 20 sessions of low-dose radiations required in traditional treatment. The recovery time is also very less in this case.

According to sources, “The cyberknife works by delivering multiple beams of high dose radiationdefine from a wide variety of angles using a robotic arm. X-ray cameras monitor the patient’s breathing and re-position the radiotherapy beam in order to minimise damage to healthy tissue.”

Cyberknife will start treating patients in London, UK, from February 2009. Fifteen countries including the USA, Germany, Italy and Japan have the Cyberknife.

The process offers high level of accuracy and can help in case of tumours to be treated that are in difficult or dangerous to treat positions, such as near the spinal cord.

Moreover, the recovery time in this case is less since there is no open surgery. The patient can be discharged the same day without any side effects of surgery.

This treatment is quite expensive. It costs between £20,000 and £25,000.