World expert leads Singapore’s gamma knife center

Medical Tribune July 2008 SFXIII
David Brill

Singapore’s new gamma knife radiosurgery center, due to open in early July, is to be headed by one of the world’s leading experts on the technology.

Dr. Bengt Karlsson, who has been working with gamma knife technology since 1986, will be present at the opening ceremony and expects to relocate permanently to Singapore by late autumn. His exact role at the center was still to be confirmed at the time of writing but it appears likely that he will be the center’s new director or co-director.

“I believe that we can enhance the reputation of the gamma knife center to be one of the very best in the world,” said Karlsson, who is currently based at West Virginia University in the US.

“Our aim is to have a treatment quality that meets the highest expectations, and I am thrilled to have been given the opportunity to participate in this.”

Karlsson has used gamma knife treatment for more than 4,000 patients, having previously served as director of the centers at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden and Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany. He has also been involved with developing the technology in Singapore and has helped train local doctors to become proficient with the system.

“He’s a mentor for most of the neurosurgeons here for gamma knife radiosurgery,” said Dr. Yeo Tseng Tsai, medical director of the new center, adding that he was looking forward to working with Karlsson in future.

The new center was built by ParkwayHealth at a cost of around S$1.7 million. Singapore has been without a gamma knife machine since the closure of the previous center at Singapore General Hospital in August 2007.

“When the gamma knife was down and some of the neurosurgeons had to use the other systems it was obvious that they were not happy,” said Yeo.

“This gives us access to gold standard radiosurgery again, which has been missing for the last year or so.”

Yeo expects the center to treat around 100 patients a year – primarily those with benign well-defined brain tumors but also some cases of arteriovenous malformations, trigeminal neuralgia and rarer types of tumor.

Private patients will typically pay around S$23,000 to S$25,000 per procedure.

Gamma knife surgery uses converging beams of radiation to target tumor cells while sparing the surrounding healthy brain tissue. The technique is attractive for patients as it is quick and non-invasive, and does not require hospitalization.