Aalst (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – AZORG hospital in Aalst, led by Dr. Samuel Bral, is the first in Flanders to use the Gamma Knife, a high-precision radiation tool that treats brain issues without surgery.
As VRT News reported, AZORG hospital in Aalst has a new device to treat brain problems. It is called the Gamma Knife. It is the first hospital in Flanders and the second in Belgium to use it. The Gamma Knife does not cut. It uses strong, focused radiation to treat small spots in the brain.
Doctors can now treat brain problems without surgery. The machine sends many small beams of radiation. These beams meet at one point to treat the problem. The healthy part of the brain stays safe.
What hospital in Flanders is the first to use the Gamma Knife for precise, surgery-free brain treatment?
According to officials, doctors can treat both cancerous and non-cancerous brain tumours. They can also treat blood vessel problems, long-term pain, and shaking from Parkinson’s. In some cases, it can help with mental health issues. The machine can treat many small spots at once.
They mentioned that it also reaches places that were too risky before. Patients do not need surgery. They can go home faster and heal quicker. The hospital now gives better and safer care. People from Belgium and other countries can come for treatment.
“In addition, there are few to no side effects associated with the treatment and patients can often return home the same day, without a long recovery period,”
says Dr. Samuel Bral, Medical Head of Radiotherapy at AZORG.
On the day of the treatment, the patient gets a special frame on their head. After this, the doctors do an MRI scan to get clear pictures of the brain. These images help them find the exact spot that needs treatment. A brain surgeon and a radiation expert then work together to choose the area that will get the radiation.
After they decide, a medical physicist makes a plan to show how the radiation beams will hit only the problem spot. A radiation doctor checks and approves the plan before starting the treatment.
“Everyone on the team, from the neurosurgeon and radiation oncologist to the physicist and nurse, knows their responsibilities,”
says Bral.
“This well-coordinated collaboration is essential to guarantee the best and safest treatment for every patient.”
Dr. Bral says the hospital could only buy the Gamma Knife after the merger. He mentioned that the goal is to have 5 modern radiation rooms ready by April 2026 at the Moorselbaan campus. AZORG wants to be a top hospital for radiotherapy in Flanders. With new machines and a skilled team, the hospital can treat brain and cancer patients better.
A project took place at UZ Leuven, where the hospital also introduced advanced radiosurgery technology to treat brain disorders without surgery. Like AZORG, UZ Leuven invested in precise radiation equipment to improve patient care, reduce risks, and speed up recovery times. This move was part of a larger effort to modernise their radiotherapy departments and offer cutting-edge treatments for cancer and neurological diseases.
