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10 Percent of U.S. Installed Base Signs on to Use Accuray Treatment Planning Service

Posted on: Friday, 20 February 2009, 07:30 CST

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced today that 10 percent of its U.S. installed base has signed on to utilize the company's treatment planning service. Treatment planning by medical physicists is a core component in the workflow of CyberKnife radiosurgery treatment delivery.

Accuray's treatment planning service is designed to help customers maximize utilization of their CyberKnife System. The service connects each center's physics team to a group of remote medical physics experts who specialize in CyberKnife radiosurgery treatment planning. It can serve as a supplement for centers that require additional support to meet growing patient volumes without increasing their fixed costs. Each center can immediately take advantage of added capacity to treat more patients without altering their own staffing.

"Accuray's Treatment Planning Service has worked extremely well for us. Their service and expert group of experienced medical physicists have helped us to provide the highest level of care to our patients," said Lisa Banko, director, Radiation Oncology, Carolinas Medical Center-North East.

It also can serve as a contingency plan to help protect sites from unplanned fluctuations in staffing that they may face in a given year. By providing a pathway for collaboration with expert physicists, new customers can gain confidence, share knowledge, and begin delivering more complex CyberKnife treatments faster.

"In these challenging economic times, we recognize the importance of offering our customers resources that help them control costs and increase their patient throughput," said Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., president and CEO of Accuray Incorporated. "We are pleased to see that a number of our customers are taking advantage of our treatment planning service as a tool to grow and run their business more efficiently."

Of the U.S. Centers that have signed on to utilize Accuray's treatment planning service, 30 percent have signed agreements for a fixed volume of use and the remainder are set up for service on demand.

The treatment planning service also offers specialized remote access capabilities, which enable physicians located outside of the CyberKnife facility a convenient mechanism to refer and plan their patients without having to drive to the facility. This convenience allows clinicians to seamlessly collaborate with the on-site staff thereby reducing the planning cycle time and enhancing the operational effectiveness of the planning process.

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 50,000 patients worldwide and currently more than 155 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, including statements relating to clinical studies, regulatory review and approval, and commercialization of products 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 2008 fiscal year, as updated in our Form 10-Q filed on February 5, 2009 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's actual results of operations may differ significantly from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements as a result of these and 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 extent required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Accuray Incorporated

Source: PR Newswire

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