Business News
New CyberKnife Technologies Demonstrate Dramatic Reduction in Treatment Times
2008-08-05 07:30:00
New CyberKnife Technologies Demonstrate Dramatic Reduction in Treatment Times
First Patients Treated Using Next Generation CyberKnife System at Oklahoma
CyberKnife Center
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 5 /EMWNews/ -- Accuray
Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery,
announced today that the first patients were treated using the next
generation CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System that was recently
installed at the Oklahoma CyberKnife, LLC in Tulsa, OK. The next generation
CyberKnife System, which features new technologies and system upgrades
announced at the 2007 American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and
Oncology Annual Meeting, is capable of delivering state-of-the-art
radiosurgery with significantly reduced treatment planning and delivery
times.
Treatment results on the Oklahoma CyberKnife, LLC's first day were
ground-breaking. While treatment times will vary based upon case complexity
and type of cancer, the first patient treated for an intracranial lesion
was completed in only 16 minutes. The next patient, treated for non-small
cell lung cancer, required only 27 minutes of treatment time.
Incorporating all of the newest enhancements, the next generation
CyberKnife System achieved a considerable reduction in treatment times.
Using the latest advancement in treatment planning, Sequential Optimization
enabled treatment plans to be developed in as little as 15 minutes. With
the new 800 monitor unit/minute linear accelerator treatment times were
reduced with a 30 percent faster rate of dose delivery as compared to
previous systems. Further, the recently launched Iris(TM) Variable Aperture
Collimator enabled very conformal, multi-collimator treatments to be
rapidly delivered to even the most complex targets. And with the new
Optimized Path Traversal feature, treatment times were further reduced with
more efficient robotic motion.
"This new CyberKnife System configuration now allows us to deliver
radiosurgical quality treatments almost as fast as radiation therapy," said
Greg Spurlock, chief operating officer of US Radiosurgery, the managing
partner of Oklahoma CyberKnife, LLC. "With the CyberKnife System however,
the entire course of therapy is completed in one to five treatments.
Compared to the two month regimen of 30 to 40 treatments required with
conventional radiation therapy, the CyberKnife System clearly benefits both
the patient and the provider."
Lung cancer treatments with the CyberKnife System are typically
completed in three sessions. The net result of the introduction of these
new technologies is to deliver an entire course of radiosurgery in about
1.5 hours. The shorter treatment regimen of CyberKnife radiosurgery not
only improves patients' quality of life by not requiring a prolonged course
of daily treatment visits, it can also lighten the burden on healthcare
providers, saving time, expense and overhead, while also providing for
significantly greater patient throughput.
"For all radiation delivery systems, plan quality and treatment time
have historically had an inverse relationship," said Eric P. Lindquist,
senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Accuray Incorporated.
"While other radiosurgery systems actively promote fast treatment times,
plan quality often suffers accordingly. Integrating all of the latest
technologies, CyberKnife treatment times can now be reduced considerably
with absolutely no sacrifice in treatment quality."
While Oklahoma CyberKnife, LLC purchased its CyberKnife System with all
the next generation upgrades included, those same upgrades were made
available to existing customers through Accuray's Diamond Elite Service
Agreement, which enables customers to choose the right upgrades and payment
plans to fit their technology strategy.
"We are very pleased with this new ability to efficiently deliver the
highest quality, state-of-the-art radiosurgery to the Tulsa community,"
said Spurlock.
About the CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System
The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is the world's only robotic
radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body non-
invasively. Using continual image guidance technology and computer
controlled robotic mobility, the CyberKnife System automatically tracks,
detects and corrects for tumor and patient movement in real-time throughout
the treatment. This enables the CyberKnife System to deliver high-dose
radiation with pinpoint precision, which minimizes damage to surrounding
healthy tissue and eliminates the need for invasive head or body
stabilization frames.
About Accuray
Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a
global leader in the field of radiosurgery dedicated to providing an
improved quality of life and a non-surgical treatment option for those
diagnosed with cancer. Accuray develops and markets the CyberKnife Robotic
Radiosurgery System, which extends the benefits of radiosurgery to include
extracranial tumors, including those in the spine, lung, prostate, liver
and pancreas. To date, the CyberKnife System has been used to treat more
than 40,000 patients worldwide and currently more than 130 systems have
been installed in leading hospitals in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For
more information, please visit http://www.accuray.com .
Safe Harbor Statement
The foregoing may contain certain forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties associated with
the medical device industry. Except for the historical information
contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, clinical
studies, regulatory review and approval, and market acceptance and
commercialization of products and services are forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak
only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information
available at the time those statements are made and/or management's good
faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. You should not
put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors
that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from
the forward-looking statements we make include: market acceptance of
products; competing products, the combination of our products with
complementary technology; and other risks detailed from time to time under
the heading "Risk Factors" in our report on Form 10-K for the year ended
June 30, 2007 as updated from time to time by our quarterly reports on Form
10-Q and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The
Company's actual results of operations may differ significantly from those
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other factors. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements
to reflect actual performance or results, changes in assumptions or changes
in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the
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