Lars Leksell
Born	November 23rd 1907 Fassberg, Sweden
Died	1986 (aged 78) Switzerland
Profession	Surgeon, Physician
Institutions	University of Lund
Specialism	Neurosurgery, Neurophysiology
Known for	Invention of Radiosurgery. Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Faßberg is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation In Medicine, a surgeon is a person who performs Surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive Medical treatment that involves the cutting of a A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health Lund University (Lunds universitet located in Lund in southernmost Sweden is one of Sweden 's most prestigious Universities and one of Scandinavia Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating those central, Peripheral nervous system and spinal column diseases amenable to surgical Neurophysiology (from Greek grc νεῦρον neuron, "nerve" grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία Radiosurgery, also known as stereotactic radiotherapy is a Medical procedure which allows non-invasive treatment of benign and malignant conditions avascular malformations
Years active	1935-1974
Education	Karolinska Institute

Lars Leksell (1907-1986) was a Swedish physician and Professor of Neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Karolinska Institutet (often translated from Swedish into English as the Karolinska Institute, and in older texts often as the Royal Caroline A physician, medical practitioner or medical doctor who practices Medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human Health Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating those central, Peripheral nervous system and spinal column diseases amenable to surgical Karolinska Institutet (often translated from Swedish into English as the Karolinska Institute, and in older texts often as the Royal Caroline ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. He was the inventor of radiosurgery. Radiosurgery, also known as stereotactic radiotherapy is a Medical procedure which allows non-invasive treatment of benign and malignant conditions avascular malformations

Life and work

Lars Leksell was born in Fassberg, Sweden on November 23rd 1907. Faßberg is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of Year 1907 ( MCMVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year He graduated in Medicine at the Karolinska Institute in 1935 and began training in neurosurgery in the same year. Medicine is the art and science of healing It encompasses a range of Health care practices evolved to maintain and restore Human Health by the He became a professor of surgery at University of Lund in 1958. Lund University (Lunds universitet located in Lund in southernmost Sweden is one of Sweden 's most prestigious Universities and one of Scandinavia From 1960 until his retirement, in 1974, he was Professor of Neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, succeeding Herbert Olivecrona, who was the department's founder in 1920. He died in 1986. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar)

Professor Lars Leksell was one of the first to develop a stereotactic apparatus exclusively for human functional neurosurgery in 1949, following the pioneering work of American neurosurgeons Ernest A. Stereotactic surgery or stereotaxy is a Minimally-invasive form of surgical intervention which makes use of a three-dimensional Coordinates system Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating those central, Peripheral nervous system and spinal column diseases amenable to surgical Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Spiegel and Henry T. Wycis in 1947. It was based on the Horsley-Clarke apparatus developed for animal experimentation by the British neurosurgeon Sir Victor Horsley at University College London in 1908, but instead of using the cartesian coordinate frame, it used polar coordinates. The Horsley-Clarke apparatus is a device invented in 1908 by British Neurosurgeon and Scientist Sir Victor A Animal testing or animal research is the use of non-human Animals in scientific experimentation. Sir Victor Alexander Haden Horsley ( April 14, 1857 &ndash July 16, 1916) was an accomplished scientist and professor University College London ( UCL) is a multi-faculty university institution based in the United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London Year 1908 ( MCMVIII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year In Mathematics, the polar coordinate system is a two-dimensional Coordinate system in which each point on a plane is determined by The Leksell Stereotactic Frame was and still is in wide use today. Using it, Leksell and his collaborators stand also among the pioneers in the surgical approach to the treatment of Parkinson's Disease, a degenerative condition of the motor system of the brain, by precisely lesioning a small structure in the basal ganglia, by means of an operation called pallidotomy. Parkinson's disease (also known as Parkinson disease or PD) is a degenerative disorder of the Central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's The basal ganglia (or basal nuclei) are a group of nuclei in the Brain interconnected with the Cerebral cortex, Thalamus and Pallidotomy is a procedure where a tiny Electrical probe is placed in the globus pallidus (one of the basal ganglia of the Brain) which is then heated to 80

In 1951, using the Uppsala University cyclotron, Leksell and the physicist and radiobiologist Borje Larsson, developed the concept of radiosurgery. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Uppsala University ( Swedish Uppsala universitet) is a world-class research University in Uppsala, Sweden. A cyclotron is a type of Particle accelerator. Cyclotrons accelerate Charged particles using a high- Frequency, alternating Voltage (potential Radiobiology (or radiation biology) is the Interdisciplinary field of science that studies the biological effects of ionizing and non-ionizing Radiosurgery, also known as stereotactic radiotherapy is a Medical procedure which allows non-invasive treatment of benign and malignant conditions avascular malformations Leksell and Larsson first employed proton beams coming from several directions into a small area into the brain, in experiments in animals and in the first treatments of human patients. The brain is the center of the Nervous system in animals All Vertebrates and the majority of Invertebrates have a brain He called this technique "strålkniven" (ray knives). Thus, he achieved a new non-invasive method of destroying discrete anatomical regions within the brain while minimizing the effect on the surrounding tissues. Later, a special apparatus known as the Gamma Knife, was developed by Lars Leksell in 1968. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It is a sterotactice device which contains multiple radioactive cobalt sources and is dedicated solely to radiosurgery. Radioactive decay is the process in which an unstable Atomic nucleus loses energy by emitting ionizing particles and Radiation. Cobalt (ˈkoʊbɒlt is a hard lustrous silver-grey Metal, a Chemical element with symbol Co. Today, Leksell's technique is used as an effective treatment for many conditions such as vestibular schwannomas (first surgery performed at Karolinska in 1969), pituitary tumors (also in 1969), arteriovenous malformations (in 1970), craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas (in 1976), metastatic and skull base tumors (in 1986), and primary brain tumors. An acoustic neuroma, also called a vestibular Schwannoma, is a Benign primary Intracranial tumor of the Myelin -forming cells The pituitary gland, or hypophysis, is an Endocrine gland about the size of a Pea. Cerebral arteriovenous malformation Arteriovenous malformation or AVM in the majority of cases is a Congenital disorder consisting of a connection between Craniopharyngioma is a type of Tumor that constitutes 9% of all Pediatric Brain tumors They usually occur in children between 5 and 10 years of age Meningiomas are the most common Benign Tumors of the Brain (95% of benign tumors Metastasis ( Greek: displacement μετά=next + στάσις=placement, plural metastases) sometimes abbreviated mets, See also Cancer A tumor or tumour is the name for a swelling or lesion formed by an abnormal growth of cells (termed neoplastic The Leksell Gamma Knife is manufactured by Elekta Instruments AB, a Swedish company which manufactures stereotactical surgery and radiosurgery equipment, based on the inventions of Lars Leksell. Gamma Knife® (or Leksell Gamma Knife®) is a device used to treat Brain tumors with a high dose of Radiation therapy in one day Elekta ( provides clinical solutions for the treatment of cancer and brain disorders It was founded by him and his son, Laurent Leksell, in 1972. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Lars Leksell served as a mentor for a number of other leading neurosurgeons including L. Dade Lunsford who established the first U. S. Gamma Knife center at the University of Pittsburgh and John Adler, the inventor of Cyberknife. Gamma Knife® (or Leksell Gamma Knife®) is a device used to treat Brain tumors with a high dose of Radiation therapy in one day The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a non-sectarian coeducational independent state-related, "public" research University CyberKnife is the name of a frameless robotic Radiosurgery system invented by John R

Leksell has worked also in neurophysiology. Neurophysiology (from Greek grc νεῦρον neuron, "nerve" grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία His most noted contribution was the description of the gamma motor system of the nervous system. The nervous system is a Network of specialized cells that communicate information about an animal's surroundings and itself

Quotation

Tools used by the surgeon must be adapted to the task and where the human brain is concerned, no tool can be too refined. Lars Leksell.

To know more

• The History of Stereotactical Radiosurgery, by Stephen B. Tatter, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Dept. Neurosurgery.
• Montagno, E. A. and Sabbatini, R. M. E. - Radiosurgery. Brain & Mind Magazine, June 1997
• The History of Gamma Knife Surgery (in PDF format)
• Elekta Instruments, Inc, Home Page
• Lunsford LD: Lars Leksell. Notes at the side of a raconteur. Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 1996-97;67(3-4):153-68.

References

• Larsson B, Leksell L, Rexed B, et al: The high energy proton beam as a neurosurgical tool. Nature 182:1222-3, 1958;
• Leksell L: The stereotaxic method and radiosurgery of the brain. Acta Chir Scand 102:316-19, 1951.

Source

The History of Psychosurgery
Renato M.E. Sabbatini, PhD
Brain & Mind Magazine, June 1997
Reprinted by permission