Steven Pinkert, Signum U.S. Healthcare, and Technology for Charity

As Signum U.S. Healthcare, Inc.’s Chairman of the Board, Steven Pinkert applies his professional background in medicine to promote the company’s latest technology venture, a highly advanced non-surgical instrument called the CyberKnife. An image guidance system that allows surgeons to target and access lesions and tumors that would otherwise qualify as inoperable, the CyberKnife employs a complex integration of computer modules, robotic parts, and directed beams of radiation to locate and destroy potentially life-threatening foreign masses in virtually every area of the body. Delivering a concentrated dose of radiation in a controlled and cumulative fashion, the CyberKnife quickly breaks down the integrity of cancer cell clusters without harming the surrounding healthy tissue. Put through a rigorous development testing process to ensure complete efficacy, the CyberKnife boasts distinction as a significantly lower risk alternative to traditional open surgical methods.   

The image guidance software built into the CyberKnife system was specifically crafted to account for a patient’s natural physical movements. Due to this innovative design, people who undergo a CyberKnife treatment can breathe normally during a procedure, a notable benefit considering that surgeons must account for even the smallest deviations in accuracy. Unlike other radiosurgical implements that utilize unyielding head-frames screwed into the skull cavity to inhibit physical action, the CyberKnife relies on a sophisticated digital camera and an attached robotic arm that rotates in minute increments to lock on a tumor with impressive accuracy.  

Before Signum U.S. Healthcare, Inc., introduced the CyberKnife, physicians practicing radiosurgery were somewhat limited regarding the reach and range of their surgical tools. In the past, most radiosurgical systems could only gain access to tumors in the cranial region. With nearly unlimited capabilities, the CyberKnife has been used to combat cancerous lesions in the brain, spinal column, lungs, liver, prostate, pancreas, and kidneys. Outfitted with a compact linear accelerator (LINAC) crafted specifically for soft tissue cancer treatments, the CyberKnife, boasts distinction as one of the most important recent advancements in the field of non-invasive surgery.