SHENZHEN’S first Gamma Knife Center opened to the public at Luohu District People’s Hospital Sunday.Gamma Knife radiosurgery is the world’s most advanced treatment for primary brain tumors.The Gamma Knife installed at the hospital was developed by a local enterprise which has total property rights and is among the most advanced in the world, A Miss Xiang became the first beneficiary of Gamma Knife surgery in Shenzhen.The 26-year-old woman, who was diagnosed with a tumor on the brain earlier this year, decided to take the Gamma Knife treatment. It cleared the tumor in 30 minutes and she was discharged from the hospital the next day, previously unheard of with traditional surgical procedures.There are more than 200 Gamma Knife instruments world-wide, most of which are in developed countries. There have been more than 10,000 patients cured with this treatment. The Gamma Knife is a precise and powerful tool for treating certain tumors and vascular malformations in the brain. It is not actually a knife, but an instrument that emits finely focused beams of gamma radiation. The beam from individual cobalt sources is delivered through holes (or portals) in a device known as a collimator helmet.All 201 beams cross at a single point, and only enough radiation is delivered to affect the diseased tissue without affecting surrounding tissue. Its extreme accuracy (to half a millimeter) is one of its greatest advantages.(Vivian Li)