Stanford Celebrates 20th Anniversary of CyberKnife Technology

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Just about 30 years ago, Stanford neurosurgeon John Adler, MD, traveled to the Karolinksa Institute in Sweden, home to Lars Leksell, MD, and a device Leksell had invented called the Gamma Knife. Leksell had long been a visionary figure in neurosurgery, and Adler – inspired by the device that enables non-invasive brain surgery - began to imagine a next step, driven by the addition of computer technology.

Coming up with an idea, of course, can happen in a matter of minutes. Adler had no idea that it would take 18 years before his next step, the CyberKnife, would treat its first patient. Stanford Hospital was the first to own a CyberKnife, and Adler unhesitatingly admits that without the agreement of hospital administrators to purchase that very first device – designed to treat tumors, brain and spine conditions, as well as cancers of the pancreas, prostate, liver and lungs - its development would not have been completed.

This year, Adler and his Stanford colleagues are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the CyberKnife. Stanford has two, one of just a handful of medical centers with that distinction, and it has accumulated the longest and largest history of patient care with the device. To honor Adler and those Stanford physicians who continue to explore its ever-lengthening list of applications to patient care, a new video featuring Adler was created. It’s a quick glimpse of the determination – and luck – required to make that leap from inspired idea to groundbreaking therapy.

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