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MIMA Cancer Center Offers Patients Most Advanced Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) From BrainLAB

Posted on: Monday, 17 October 2005, 09:00 CDT

MELBOURNE, Fla., Oct. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- BrainLAB AG, a worldwide leading innovator in image-guided medical technology, today announced that the MIMA Cancer Center has implemented a second BrainLAB ExacTrac X-Ray 6D Image-Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) system. With two ExacTrac X-Ray 6D systems, doctors at the MIMA Cancer Center can treat cancerous cells more aggressively, while better avoiding irradiation of neighboring healthy tissue. Additionally, with the precision the system offers, physicians are able to deliver stereotactic radiosurgery for lung, liver and spinal tumors.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051017/NYM110 )

Committed to building a state-of-the-art cancer treatment facility, the MIMA Cancer Center has experienced tremendous growth since it's opening in 2003. Previously, the center used ultrasound technology to set patients up for treatment, but this was limited to prostate tumors. After considering a number of alternatives that could improve their ability to deliver radiotherapy with greater accuracy, MIMA turned to BrainLAB for the next-generation IGRT tool -- ExacTrac X-Ray 6D.

"For us, the BrainLAB IGRT technology has represented somewhat of a paradigm shift in terms of how we simulate and treat patients," said Dr. Todd Scarbrough, medical director of the MIMA Cancer Center.

"ExacTrac technology has streamlined our simulations and initial setups dramatically. The accuracy of the system is remarkable, and it's something we've verified clinically quite rigorously," continues Scarbrough. "The whole software-optimized IGRT procedure takes just under 2 minutes which is the reason why we are using the technology for 80% of our radiotherapy patient population. This allows us to IGRT each and every treatment fraction of our Head & Neck, lung, liver, spine or prostate cancer patients,""ExacTrac is an IGRT system, and one of the main goals of any image guidance system is to allow physicians to reduce treatment margins around tumors. That means side effects can be lower, or cure rates could be higher with higher doses, or both."

BrainLAB's ExacTrac X-Ray 6D system improves the precision and effectiveness of cancer treatments with radiotherapy by giving physicians the ability to target and track tumors more accurately -- providing better patient outcomes. Using high-resolution X-rays to pinpoint internal tumor sites seconds before treatment, the system robotically corrects patient setup errors and tracks any patient movement throughout the treatment.

The impact of the BrainLAB ExacTrac X-Ray 6D systems at MIMA has been immediate and notable. The center can now treat a wide array of cancers and more patients than any other center of its kind in the world -- as many as 60 patients per day are precisely setup for radiotherapy treatment using BrainLAB's IGRT system.

"By selecting ExacTrac X-Ray 6D, the MIMA Cancer Center can offer cancer patients the most effective and efficient radiotherapy treatment available today," said Mark Bruseski, Radiotherapy National Sales Manager, BrainLAB Inc, "Patients are subject to fewer side effects due to the systems capacity to spare healthy tissue, and offers the potential for better long-term outcomes."

The MIMA Cancer Center is a recognized BrainLAB showcase site, offering hands-on product training and testing. The center is also looking to implement BrainLAB's ExacTrac Adaptive Gating, which is clinically proven to effectively target tumors subject to respiratory movement.

About MIMA Cancer Center

The MIMA Cancer Center is a 100-plus physician multi-specialty group on Florida's Space Coast. With nearly one thousand employees, state-of-the-art treatment facilities, and active clinical research programs, MIMA Cancer Center is the premier provider of outpatient medical care in Brevard County, Florida.

About BrainLAB

BrainLAB, a privately held company headquartered in Munich, Germany, was founded in 1989 and is specialized in the development, manufacture, and marketing of medical technology for radiosurgery / radiotherapy, orthopedics, neurosurgery, and ENT. Among the products developed by BrainLAB are software and hardware components for image-guided surgery and radiotherapy as well as integrated systems for stereotactic radiosurgery. With almost 1,990 systems installed in over 65 countries, BrainLAB is among the market leaders in image-guided medical technology. BrainLAB today employs more than 670 people worldwide and has 15 offices across Europe, Asia, North and South America.

For more information, visit BrainLAB at http://www.brainlab.com/

(R) registered trademark of BrainLAB AG in Germany and/or the US

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20051017/NYM110AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN7PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com

BrainLAB Inc.

CONTACT: Gabriella Cyranski, +1-708-486-0114, cyranski@brainlab.com, ofBrainLAB Inc.

Web site: http://www.brainlab.com/

Web site: http://www.brainlab.com/

Source: PRNewswire

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