Brain fragments : daily notes and reminiscences

The tools used by the surgeon must be adapted to the task and where the human brain is concerned, they cannot be too refined Lars Leksell, M.D.

Doctor Lars Leksell (1907-1986), one of the pioneers of modern neurosurgery, was professor of neurosurgery at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm from 1960 to 1974. He invented several neurosurgical tools that to this day are used daily in most countries and on all continents. His most famous invention was the Leksell Gamma Knife, first used in 1968, a tool allowing non-invasive treatments for brain tumors and other brain disorders. Today the Gamma Knife is used across the world, and it has benefited millions of patients. He is the founder of Elekta, the company that after his passing went on to market and sell his inventions and other equipment for radiation therapy. The company went public in 1994 and its stock is listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange.

Lars Leksell is buried in the protestant cemetery in Rome, in the shade of the pyramid of Cestius, together with his wife Ludmila who left him with five children in 1965, 21 years before he passed away. Text till bakre omslaget These memoirs, first published in Swedish in 1982, tell the story of a man who was deeply engaged in his profession and in a variety of societal matters. He had a humanistic view on science, the end goal of which he felt was to minimize suffering and to enhance happiness in life, or to at least make life bearable . This is also reflected in his attitude towards patients, which he writes about with strong empathy and compassion. He describes his powerlessness when faced with hopeless cases and he has a humble attitude towards his own knowledge. He is the inventor of several neurosurgical tools and in 1951 he introduced the concept of non-invasive bloodless neurosurgery, so called radiosurgery. In a vigorous and lively prose, he tells about his life as a doctor and as a private person.