• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Next Generation CyberKnife Increases Patient Throughput at Philadelphia CyberKnife

Posted on: Friday, 22 May 2009, 10:48 CDT

CyberKnife Centers Are Meeting Increasing Demand for Radiosurgery Using Sophisticated Treatment Planning and Delivery Technologies

SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced today that Philadelphia CyberKnife is seeing increased patient throughput using their recently installed, next generation CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System.

The next generation CyberKnife System was installed at Philadelphia CyberKnife, a US Radiosurgery center, in Havertown, Pa. on January 30, 2009 and began treating patients on February 19, 2009. Prior to upgrading to the new CyberKnife System, Philadelphia CyberKnife was treating an average of 26 patients per month. In their first full month of treatment post-upgrade, Philadelphia CyberKnife treated 38 patients, a 46 percent increase in patient capacity with the next generation CyberKnife System. Additional months of use and experience are likely to increase these efficiencies even more.

"With the new planning system, Iris collimator and the new delivery path found in the next generation CyberKnife System, we can design better treatment plans, track moving tumors more precisely and can deliver planned doses more efficiently, which shortens patient treatment times," Jun Yang, Ph.D., physicist at Philadelphia CyberKnife.

The significant improvements in treatment times that Philadelphia CyberKnife is noticing with the next generation System are making the treatment experience even more comfortable and convenient for patients. Compared to the 40 outpatient visits commonplace with conventional radiation therapy, CyberKnife treatments are completed in just one to five visits.

The next generation CyberKnife System incorporates a number of sophisticated technologies to achieve a considerable reduction in treatment times, enabling hospitals and centers to treat more patients. Currently Philadelphia CyberKnife is treating the full range of applications including brain, spine, lung, liver, prostate and pancreas, with approximately 70 percent of treatments for extracranial indications and the other 30 percent intracranial.

The CyberKnife System enables clinicians to treat of a whole new group of patients including those with inoperable or surgically complex tumors or patients who were deemed medically inoperable. Treating this new population that couldn't traditionally be treated with radiation therapy alone provides hospitals a new revenue stream.

"With the addition of a CyberKnife System, hospitals and centers are able to treat patients that they would have once needed to turn away or relegate to a less optimal form of treatment," said Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., President and CEO of Accuray Incorporated. "This new pool of patients, coupled with faster patient throughput using the next generation system, only enhances the business case for CyberKnife radiosurgery."

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 60,000 patients worldwide and currently more than 164 systems have been installed in leading hospitals in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit 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 commercialization of products, clinical studies, and regulatory review and approval 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 May 6, 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

More News in this Category