Press Release



 

Juntendo University begins VMAT treatments for Prostate Cancer

Tokyo, Japan, July 14, 2009

On April 13, Juntendo University (Tokyo, Japan) became the third facility in Japan to begin using Elekta Synergy® to treat prostate patients with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). Using VMAT, treatment times can be dramatically shorter and treatment margins are much more conformal than with conventional IMRT. And VMAT requires significantly fewer MUs than conventional IMRT, reducing total MU delivery by up to 50 percent.

Shuichi Ozawa, Ph.D., physicist and Assistant Professor at Juntendo University , says it was a total of just 20 minutes between the time the patient walked into the treatment room and the time he left. “We performed two sets of cone-beam CT imaging with Elekta VolumeView™ before the treatment, for patient positioning verification. The actual beam-on time for our first patient was only 100 seconds. I was very surprised, because it was much quicker than I anticipated.”

The Elekta VMAT solution utilizes ERGO++ treatment planning software, which uses a special algorithm to perform split-second dose calculations to deliver the maximum possible dose to the target while sparing surrounding healthy tissue and nearby organs at risk.

With ERGO++ and Elekta Synergy , the gantry position and speed, multileaf collimator (MLC) leaves, dose rate and collimator angle are all simultaneously controlled while the beam is on and rotating. This contributes to the superb flexibility, precision and speed of VMAT treatments.

Professor Ozawa says, “The speed of this treatment resulted from our technologists’ daily efforts, as well as the highly efficient workflow provided by Elekta Synergy and VMAT.”

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, +46 70 778 60 10, e-mail: stina.thorman@elekta.com

Eri Takayanagi, Elekta KK
Tel: +81 3 6722 3800, e-mail: eri.takayanagi@elekta.com

About Elekta

Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy and radiosurgery, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care.

Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives, making the future possible today.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 5,000 hospitals globally, and every day more than 100,000 patients receive diagnosis, treatment or follow-up with the help of a solution from the Elekta Group.

Elekta employs around 2,500 employees globally. The corporate headquarter is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb.



 On April 13, Juntendo University (Tokyo, Japan) became the third facility in Japan to begin using Elekta Synergy® to treat prostate patients with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). Using VMAT, treatment times can be dramatically shorter and treatment margins are much more conformal than with conventional IMRT. And VMAT requires significantly fewer MUs than conventional IMRT, reducing total MU delivery by up to 50 percent.