Smart Medicine

Baylor offers intelligent, innovative neurological care.

At Baylor Health Care System hospitals, brain surgery isn't exactly brain surgery anymore. Skilled neurosurgeons using advanced technology can now treat certain conditions without invasive procedures.

This technology includes the Gamma Knife® and the CyberKnife®, two noninvasive systems for treating tumors of the brain, spine and other organs. These systems can target high doses of radiation at harmful cells while leaving healthy tissue intact.

"Baylor has always had a reputation for having the kind of equipment it takes to provide quality patient care," says Gary Tunell, M.D., chief of neurology on the medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas. "With this technology, the physicians on our medical staff are often able to remove a tumor without surgery."

Baylor is one of the only medical centers in the country to offer both systems, which are housed at the Baylor Radiosurgery Center on the campus of Baylor Dallas. A second Gamma Knife is housed at Baylor All Saints Medical Center, which also offers deep brain stimulation, a treatment for symptoms of Parkinson's disease. In this procedure, a device, much like a pacemaker, is surgically implanted in the brain to deliver targeted electric stimulation.

"In the past, neurology was better at diagnosing conditions than it was at treating them," says Charlece Hughes, D.O., a neurologist on the medical staff at Baylor All Saints. "But today we have many new therapies that can really change people's lives for the better."

Baylor's comprehensive neurological care-both surgical and nonsurgical-includes technologically advanced treatment for epilepsy. At Baylor Medical Center at Irving, for example, there's an inpatient seizure unit where doctors monitor people with epilepsy to determine which one of the many treatments available at Baylor would be the most effective option for them.

"People fly in from all over the country to participate in our seizure program," explains Deborah Cantrell, M.D., a neurologist and epileptologist on the medical staff at Baylor Irving. "We offer advanced technology and research capabilities and quality care."

By Amy Lynn Smith

Gamma Knife is owned by and leased from an affiliate of HEALTHSOUTH and is a service of Baylor Health Care System. The Gamma Knife is not a joint venture of HEALTHSOUTH and Baylor Health Care System. The physicians providing Gamma Knife services are independent physicians.