Elekta Press Releases

Elekta Announces Latest Leksell GammaPlan Connectivity with MOSAIQ Oncology Information System

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 11:00:00 GMT

KETTERING, Ohio

2013-06-04

Kettering Medical Center creates MOSAIQ electronic medical records of patients receiving Gamma Knife radiosurgery

Since December 2012, clinicians at Kettering Medical Center (Kettering, Ohio) have been able to access – on Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information Management System – the electronic medical records of patients who undergo treatment on the facility’s Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system. Leksell GammaPlan® (v. 10.2) Connectivity provides seamless integration with MOSAIQ for complete patient charting and a streamlined clinical workflow.

“The complete picture of any Gamma Knife patient’s case is accessible from any MOSAIQ workstation in the hospital – just like any patient receiving linac-based radiotherapy,” says Christopher Wennerstrom, MS, DABR, physicist at Kettering Medical Center. “We can bring up the treatment plan from Leksell GammaPlan – with details including the total dose to the lesion, each beam’s coordinates, all the gamma angles and the images of the relevant radiosurgery shots. It’s invaluable. You can recreate what happened to the patient from the MOSAIQ record.”

In addition to importing all historical, current and future Gamma Knife plans into MOSAIQ, clinical users can also interface with billing systems, import appointment scheduling and lab results, and export lab orders. In addition, eScribe in MOSAIQ enables clinical merge fields to be automated into documents, reducing administration time and freeing up clinical resources. MOSAIQ also features Quality Assurance tools to support patient safety. MOSAIQ Evaluate provides the clinical staff with side-by-side comparison of plans from any oncology treatment planning system allowing plan review and approval in a distributed manner. Workflow automation can be customized to meet the unique needs of the center using MOSAIQ IQ Scripts™.

“Our Gamma Knife program used to be an island with its own method of maintaining electronic medical records, but now that it is united in MOSAIQ with the radiation therapy department, it has become a very efficient way to track the treatment history of all patients receiving some form of radiation therapy,” Wennerstrom adds. “Having all your patient records available for your clinicians when they have to make their decisions is a huge patient benefit. Equally important, since all the Gamma Knife isocenters and prescriptions go into MOSAIQ, patient safety is enhanced.”

Kettering Medical Center has been operating Gamma Knife technology since 1999, and acquired the latest generation system, Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, in 2009. Presently, Kettering treats about 150 patients per year with this system.

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For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.andersson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,400 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.

Kettering Medical Center Acquires Elekta’s Versa HD Radiotherapy System

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:00:10 GMT

KETTERING, Ohio

2013-06-03

Shorter waiting and treatment times on horizon for Western Ohio cancer patients

Kettering Medical Center (Kettering, Ohio) recently began installing Versa HD™, an advanced linear accelerator system designed to improve patient care and treat a wide range of tumors throughout the body. Kettering, a regional center of excellence in stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) for indications throughout the body, also operates a Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system dedicated for SRS in the brain.

According to Douglas Einstein, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman of Radiation Oncology at Kettering, the addition of Versa HD at Kettering Medical Center is the “next evolution” of the clinic’s SRS activities over the last several years – which encompasses more than 500 patient treatments – and signifies the center’s commitment to providing western Ohio patients with the most advanced techniques available.

Versa HD gives clinicians the flexibility to deliver conventional therapies to treat a broad spectrum of tumors throughout the body, while also enabling treatment of highly complex cancers that require extreme targeting precision.

“With Versa HD, we believe we can cut total treatment delivery times for our patients in half,” Dr. Einstein says. “Due to our extensive experience with SRS, many patients travel to Kettering from a distance to receive our state-of-the-art treatments. This technology will allow more patients to be treated per day. Equally important, shorter treatment times will enhance patient comfort.

“Patients undergoing SRS for lung cancer, for example, may have their arms raised for a 30-minute session and that can be difficult,” he adds. “We treat many elderly patients who find the SRS treatment time demanding. The High Dose Rate mode of Versa HD will shorten radiation beam delivery time and potentially improve patient comfort in SRS cases.

“The Versa HD MLC will enable even more conformal treatments that should significantly limit normal tissue exposure and decrease side effects. We can deliver these state-of-the-art techniques with Versa HD and do it such a way that it not only manages their cancer, but also minimizes the impact of treatment on their quality of life.”

For more information, visit www.VersaHD.com.

Versa HD is not available for sale or distribution in all markets.

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Elekta Recognizes Best Paper Award Recipients and Cancer Registry of the Year at NCRA Education Conference

Fri, 31 May 2013 12:59:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO

2013-05-31

At the National Cancer Registrars Association’s (NCRA) 39th Annual Education Conference in San Francisco, Elekta joined the Journal of Registry Management (JRM) to announce recipients of the Elekta / JRM Best Paper Award. Elekta and JRM, the official journal of NCRA, collaborate on this award to recognize exemplary work in the cancer registration field.

Published in the fall 2012 issue of JRM, the Elekta Award for Journal of Registry Management: Best Paper of the Year 2012 went to “Evaluating Factors Associated with Unknown SEER Summary Stage 2000 Derived from Collaborative Stage at Central Registry Level." Co-authors of the paper are: Mei-Chin Hsieh, MSPH, CTR; Qingzhao Yu, PhD; Xiao-Cheng Wu, MD, MPH, CTR; Brad Wohler, MS; Ying Fan, MS; Baozhen Qiao, PhD; Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD; Umed A. Ajani, MBBS, MPH.

The 2012 Honorable Mention was awarded to “Coding of Specific Subgroups of Myelodysplastic Syndromes in a Population-Based Cancer Registry: Prospects for Improvement,” which was published in the fall 2012 issue of JRM. Anthony P. Polednak, PhD and Cathryn Phillips, CTRb co-authored this paper.

“NCRA greatly appreciates Elekta’s sponsorship of the JRM Best Paper Award,” notes Vicki G. Nelson, MPH, RHIT, CTR, editor, Journal of Registry Management. “Through its support, Elekta highlights critical topics of interest to cancer registrars, assisting them in accurately collecting the data that informs vital cancer prevention and treatment programs.”

Elekta selects Cancer Registry of the Year

During its annual Registry Users Meeting, Elekta also paid tribute to the 2013 Registry of the Year, which honors outstanding registrars and departments who have made valuable contributions to the success of the registry program. It also recognizes those who make a difference to the community and broader organizations in the fight against cancer. Morgantown, West Virginia’s WVU Healthcare Cancer Registry team was recognized as Registry of the Year.

The WVU registrars have worked together closely for several years, achieving recognition as experts in the field of cancer registry by ACOS Commission on Cancer, WVUH Cancer Program, WVCRA state association of Cancer Registrars, and WVCR state cancer registry. Subjects of expertise include abstraction, standard compliance, technology, research and international research. Of note, the WVU registry staff has also spread its influence on an international level, working with Kenyan registrars on registry functions and the complications of abstraction of cases in Nairobi, through the influence of HIV and other disease processes.

“Elekta has an unwavering commitment to the full spectrum of oncology systems, including registry systems,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “We are eager to help our registry customers leverage the data they have in METRIQ® to make better clinical and business decisions. Most importantly, we are proud to recognize the cancer registry team at WVU Healthcare. Their commitment to their patients and their community is noteworthy, and we applaud the work they do."

An honorable mention also was awarded to Saint Francis Medical Center - Cancer Treatment Center (Grand Island, Nebraska).

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Elekta to Highlight New MOSAIQ OIS Functionality at ASCO Annual Meeting

Fri, 31 May 2013 09:59:00 GMT

Chicago, IL

2013-05-31

Elekta’s latest release (v2.5) of MOSAIQ Oncology Information System (OIS) includes functionality specifically designed for medical oncology practices. At the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, June 1-3, at McCormick Place in Chicago, Elekta (booth #4019) will reinforce the enduring reputation of MOSAIQ as the definitive, comprehensive and scalable OIS that is suitable for all types of cancer practices.

MOSAIQ 2.5, the latest release of Elekta’s market-leading oncology information system (OIS), provides a complete radiation oncology and medical oncology solution in a single patient record, accessible from all locations and throughout the entire care continuum.

The new functionality in MOSAIQ 2.5 will extend its support for comprehensive oncology centers that want a single, centralized treatment management solution capable of coordinating chemotherapy management, in addition to conventional RT treatments and more dynamic, adaptive therapies.

The tighter integration of planning and image management within MOSAIQ – along with customizable and automated workflow tools to configure MOSAIQ to match individual practice’s specific workflow needs – enhances efficiency and improves patient care. MOSAIQ also features unmatched connectivity to a wide array of hospital systems, lab systems and treatment devices.

ASCO reprises popular EHR Vendor Lab

For the seventh consecutive year, Elekta has been selected to demonstrate at ASCO’s EHR Vendor Lab. The 2013 Lab will be a live, in-person resource held June 1-3 in the Oncology Professionals Hall. The EHR Lab allows ASCO meeting attendees to gain hands-on experience with the latest EHR technology. This year, vendors will demonstrate key EHR functionality, such as clinical decision support and generation of disease-specific treatment plan.

“We’re proud to be showcasing the latest version of MOSAIQ in front of this global medical oncology audience,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “We’ve listened carefully to our customers’ priorities, and we continue to develop features that make a difference for providers, practices and patients alike. We look forward to sharing the latest features in our booth and in the EHR Vendor Lab.”

MOSAIQ was the first comprehensive, oncology-specific EMR certified for meaningful use under the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. MOSAIQ v2.3 and higher is optimized for practices planning to demonstrate meaningful use under the 2011 edition, which qualifies them to receive payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under Medicare rules.

Learn more about MOSAIQ at www.elekta.com/MOSAIQ.

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Puerto Rico’s Caribbean Imaging and Radiation Therapy Center Orders Elekta’s New Versa HD System for Treatment of Cancer Patients

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 GMT

PONCE, Puerto Rico

2013-05-17

Linear accelerator is island’s first Versa HD

Serving a region of 650,000 inhabitants in southern, central and western Puerto Rico, Caribbean Imaging and Radiation Therapy (CIRT, Ponce, PR) Center has improved its radiation therapy capabilities with the acquisition of an Elekta Versa HD™ system, the first in Puerto Rico. Versa HD offers clinicians the versatility to deliver conventional therapies to treat a wide range of tumors throughout the body, while also enabling treatment of highly complex cancers that require extreme targeting precision.

“There is no doubt in my mind that our patients will benefit with Versa HD,” says Santiago Sallaberry, M.D., Director of Radiotherapy at CIRT, a private clinic where Versa HD will join an existing Elekta Synergy® system. “Treatment times will be faster thanks to the system’s High Dose Rate mode and Agility™, and we’ll be able to more closely conform to the tumor shape with Agility advanced beam shaping.”

CIRT physicians anticipate the first patient to be treated with Versa HD in late July.

Stereotactic program on horizon

CIRT’s acquisition of Versa HD also will be the clinic’s inroad into high-dose, highly targeted stereotactic treatments, he adds.

“A stereotactic radiation therapy program will be a very important component of our service here,” Dr. Sallaberry says. “Particularly for elderly patients and those with head-and-neck cancers who need to wear a thermoplastic mask, the speed of the High Dose Rate mode and Agility could reduce treatment times by 40 to 60 percent. We think Versa HD also will improve stereotactic therapy for metastatic cancer, such as nodules in the anterolateral lung. The accuracy and potency of stereotaxy will improve the lives of these patients.”

The most common cases treated at CIRT, which treats 65 patients a day, are breast and prostate cancers.

For more information, visit www.VersaHD.com.

Versa HD is not for sale or distribution in all markets.

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New World-Class U.K. Radiosurgery Centre Marks Official Opening

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 09:00:07 GMT

LONDON

2013-04-26

Event at Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre draws some of world’s preeminent Gamma Knife radiosurgery practitioners

Neuroscience team at Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre provide the
Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons, with
an overview of Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion radiosurgery system.

Notable U.K. government and healthcare leaders, Gamma Knife® radiosurgery experts and representatives of the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN) gathered on April 23 to observe the official opening of The Gamma Knife Centre at Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre (QSRC) by the Rt Hon John Bercow, Speaker of the House of Commons. The new center – which treated its first patients last fall using its Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system from Elekta – is the United Kingdom’s sixth operational Gamma Knife center.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease, which is cancer that has travelled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Perfexion provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous models.

The Gamma Knife Centre provides a high quality radiosurgical service for National Health Service (NHS) and private patients, and is a partnership between the NHNN, part of the University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust and Medical Equipment Solutions Limited.

The opening program featured several presentations by leading clinicians and Elekta officials who were welcomed by Sir Robert Naylor, Chief Executive, UCLH key government, NHNN, clinical and Elekta officials:

Mr. Neil Kitchen, NHNN neurosurgeon; Dr. Naomi Fersht, Consultant Clinical Oncology at University College Hospital and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery; Dr. Hans Rolf Jäger, Reader in Neuroradiology at UCL Institute of Neurology and Honorary Consultant Neuroradiologist at UCLH Trust; Ian Paddick, Chief Physicist, NHNN Gamma Knife Centre: Queen Square Gamma Knife Research Beginnings
Dr. Dan Leksell, Senior Advisor to Elekta AB: From Inception to Perfexion
Mr. Andras Kemeny, Director of the National Centre for Stereotactic Radiosurgery: The Clinical Role of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in the U.K.
Dr. Douglas Kondziolka, Vice chair of Clinical Research and Director of Advanced Radiosurgery, Department of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Medical Center: How Novel Research Ideas in Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Changed both Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology

NHNN reinforces focus on neurological disorders with Perfexion

NHNN’s acquisition of its new Elekta radiosurgery technology supports the U.K. government’s efforts to improve access to advanced clinical techniques and will boost research and clinical efforts on neurological disorders. The centre has a collaborative relationship with Elekta.

“In terms of research, the addition of Gamma Knife will enable assessment and evaluation of a range of treatment modalities for brain disorders, particularly for brain metastases,” Mr. Kitchen says. “Clinically, Gamma Knife is a well accepted and proven technology that is a gentle and effective option to standard treatments for brain metastases and other brain disorders that can prolong and improve patients’ quality of life. Among radiosurgery technology options, after detailed evaluation, we considered Perfexion to be the gold standard that would meet NHNN’s clinical and research requirements. In addition, we determined that Perfexion offered accuracy and patient throughput advantages over linac-based radiosurgery.”

A comprehensive and novel research program using Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion is planned, focusing on addressing many specific research questions and subjects. The findings and best practices of this program will be shared with other centres internationally, he adds.

Established in 1860, NHNN is the United Kingdom’s largest dedicated neurological and neurosurgical hospital, treating over 6,000 inpatients, 120,000 outpatients and 8,000 day cases each year. NHNN provides comprehensive services for diagnosis, treatment and care of all conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nervous system and muscles. It offers approximately 200 outpatient clinics each week, covering all aspects of neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology and neuro-rehabilitation, in addition to many specialist units, including dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and stroke. NHNN is part of the University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust, and closely associated in its work with the UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, a major international center for research and training, with UCL ranked fourth best university in the world.

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Elekta to Highlight Clinical and Safety Advantages of Gamma Knife Radiosurgery at 2013 AANS Meeting

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 12:00:00 GMT

NEW ORLEANS

2013-04-25

At the 81st American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting April 27-May1 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, Elekta (booth #2239) will spotlight the continuing preeminence of Gamma Knife® stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) as the gold standard for treating benign and malignant brain tumors, plus other functional and vascular brain disorders.

“As the only radiosurgery device designed and dedicated to the brain, Leksell Gamma Knife has set the standard of safe and effective treatment of brain conditions,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “Today, it remains the standard by which all other radiosurgery treatments are measured, treating more than 70,000 people a year with more than 800 scientific papers [studies with more than 30 patients] backing the technology.

“Gamma Knife surgery is an exceptional treatment choice for cases in which adjacent critical structures are at high risk of radiotoxicity, such as in the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, residual meningiomas and acoustic neuroma,” he adds. “For other intracranial targets such as multiple brain metastases, Leksell Gamma Knife provides less dose to normal brain tissues than other techniques.”

Spotlight on patient safety and provider efficiency

Dedicated to intracranial stereotactic radiosurgery, Leksell Gamma Knife supports enhanced patient safety via the system’s single-focused SRS design and simplicity-of-operation, which decrease the risk of mechanical and human error.

Typically capable of completing therapy in a single outpatient procedure, Gamma Knife surgery has also demonstrated significant efficiency advantages for providers as well. In comparison, Center for Medicare Services (CMS) 2011 claims data indicate that most patients receiving SRS delivered with a linear accelerator require up to four outpatient procedures to complete their course of therapy.

Gamma Knife also will be featured in the Scientific Program of the AANS with results from two multicenter trials detailing the results of Gamma Knife in the treatment of benign tumors and hemangioblastomas, and two single center, large series reports on the use of Gamma Knife in vascular malformations. In addition, Gamma Knife is featured in several breakfast seminars and practical clinics, which will further clarify the role of the technology as an important adjunct to neurosurgery.

Additional Elekta solutions to be showcased at AANS include:

Leksell GammaPlan® 10, for optimal treatment planning for Gamma Knife radiosurgery
Elekta Neuromag® TRIUX, the most sophisticated magnetoencephalography (MEG) system available
Leksell Stereotactic System®, the preferred system for functional neurosurgery and biopsies
Leksell SurgiPlan® 10, for advanced, image-based neurosurgical planning

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Cost Effective Prostate Cancer Treatment Underused in the UK

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 23:30:00 GMT

Geneva

2013-04-22

Study presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology

Better outcomes can be achieved for prostate cancer patients using brachytherapy, a highly targeted form of radiotherapy, compared to surgery - this is the finding of a new study conducted by PANAXEA, The University of Twente, Netherlands.1

The study, which will be presented at the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO) 19-23 April 2013, Geneva, Switzerland used the latest cost effectiveness model to look at relevant recent data for prostate cancer. The study analysed research findings from six recent overview studies, involving 55,000 patients and looked at disease progression, associated costs and outcomes extrapolated over a ten-year time horizon from a UK NHS cost perspective.

The study authors found that in patients where the prostate cancer remains localised, brachytherapy is more cost effective and importantly offers better quality of life outcomes - either when used alone in low risk patients where ‘active surveillance’ is not favoured or in combination with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for higher risk patients.¹

Brachytherapy is a highly targeted form of radiotherapy where a radiation source is placed inside or next to the area that requires treatment. By doing so, it reduces the risk of unnecessary damage to healthy tissue and organs - and reduces side effects such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.² Brachytherapy is underused in the UK where only four to five per cent of patients are treated with it compared with eight per cent in Germany and 25 percent in the United States.³

Around 50 percent of prostate cancer patients in the UK are treated using surgery ⁴, which is associated with an increased risk of incontinence and impotence compared to radiotherapy treatments.² Despite the increased risk, more younger men choose surgery over radiotherapy – studies have shown that this treatment choice is influenced by the patient’s first consultation with their doctor.²

Associate Professor Lotte Steuten of Health Technology Assessment at University of Twente and the lead author of the study said: “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men ⁵ and UK survival rates are lower than in comparable countries such as Norway and Sweden. ⁶ Brachytherapy is offered as an out-patient procedure, which means it has shorter recovery time than surgery and our findings reflect that it is more cost effective. ¹ We would urge all practitioners involved in the care of people with prostate cancer to consider these results and how they can achieve the best outcomes for their patients as well as cost effectiveness for the healthcare system compared to other treatments excluding active surveillance.”

Dr Christine Elwell, Consultant Oncologist, Northampton General Hospital, commented: “In the past 20 years we have made huge strides in prostate cancer survival. But we can’t and shouldn’t lose sight of quality of life. This long term analysis joins a growing body of evidence that brachytherapy should be considered in more cases and can improve outcomes.”

Ben Pais, Nucletron, an Elekta company’s Vice President Medical Affairs, said: “The NHS recently outlined its commitment to improving radiotherapy services across England as part of its ambition to save an extra 5,000 lives a year from cancer. ⁷ These findings reflect that brachytherapy can offer better outcomes and is the most cost effective treatment option.”

The study was funded by a research grant provided by Elekta.

Notes to editors
Judith Moore
Burson Marsteller
T: +44 (0) 20 7300 6275
M +44 (0)7 932 053 829
judith.moore@bm.com

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About PANAXEA
PANAXEA is spin-off consultancy of the University of Twente that answers to the growing demand for accelerating safe, effective and cost-effective new medical technologies to the patient. As bringing biomedical products to the market is a lengthy and uncertain process, we offer health economic expertise to model cost-effectiveness and clinical impact, even at the earliest stages of biomedical product development. PANAXEA provides science-based business intelligence and competitive advantage to:

- Improve business plans and attract investors
- Support (pre-)clinical research strategies
- Develop market access strategies
- Prepare (global) reimbursement claims
- Guide decisions on implementation

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

References

Steuten LMG. Comparative cost / QALY of guideline-recommended prostate cancer treatments: a UK cost perspective. PD 0371; 2^nd ESTRO Forum, Geneva, Switzerland 2013.
Prescrire Int. 2012 Oct;21(131):242-8.
Guedea F et al, Radiother. Onc. 2007; 82: 50-54
Buron C et al, Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2007;67(3):812-22.
Prostate Cancer UK Available at: http://prostatecanceruk.org/information/prostate-cancer-facts-and-figures [last accessed March 2013]
A comparison of prostate cancer survival in England, Norway, Sweden www.ncin.org.uk/view.aspx?rid=284 [last accessed March 2013]
Department of Health press release, ‘Eight thousand patients to benefit from advanced cancer treatment’.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/eight-thousand-patients-to-benefit-from-advanced-cancer-treatment [last accessed March 2013]

Nucletron, an Elekta company, to Debut New Flexitron Brachytherapy Afterloading Platform at 2013 American Brachytherapy Society Meeting

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 11:00:00 GMT

NEW ORLEANS

2013-04-18

Newly released brachytherapy delivery process features logical workflow and intuitive system operation for greater user and patient safety

At the 2013 American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) meeting April 18-20 in New Orleans, Nucletron, an Elekta company, (booth #300), will introduce its newly redesigned Flexitron® remote afterloading platform. Flexitron emphasizes safety and efficiency in the brachytherapy workflow, increasing the clinician’s confidence that execution of all workflow steps will proceed as planned for brachytherapy / treatment delivery.

Key to the new Flexitron are multiple advances that optimize the treatment delivery process. One of these features is an intuitive layout that efficiently leads the user through the treatment delivery workflow. Flexitron also includes transfer tubes that all are of the same 1000 mm length, reducing ambiguity; a “reference zero” at the entrance of the catheter; a dwell position number that directly reflects the dwell position distance; and forward stepping source positioning.

Flexitron features scalable configurations with 10, 20 or 40 channels and is compatible with Nucletron applicators, Oncentra® Brachy and the HDR Real-Time Prostate Solution.

“We are very pleased to introduce the new Flexitron afterloading platform to the North American market,” says Maurits Wolleswinkel, VP Business Line Management, for Elekta’s brachytherapy business area. “We believe Flexitron afterloading is revolutionizing safety and workflow in the modern brachytherapy practice, and since it is designed around an upgradable architecture, Flexitron represents a truly safe investment for the future.”

In addition to the newly released Flexitron, Elekta showcased the depth and breadth of its brachytherapy solutions, including Oncentra Brachy planning system, a fully developed line of body site specific applicators, and dedicated Real Time Prostate Solutions.

Learn more at: www.elekta.com/flexitron.

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New Versa HD System Tops Elekta’s Comprehensive Array of Cancer Management Solutions at 2nd ESTRO Forum

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:00:00 GMT

GENEVA

2013-04-15

Latest Elekta linear accelerator sets benchmark in radiation oncology versatility and capabilities

Elekta will debut its Versa HD™ system at the first major exhibition since the company introduced the advanced linear accelerator globally on March 1. The 2nd ESTRO (European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) Forum convenes April 19-23 at the Palexpo convention center in Geneva.

Versa HD features high-precision beam shaping and tumor targeting, and the versatility to deliver high-volume conventional therapies, plus the most sophisticated linear accelerator-based treatments that require extreme targeting precision. Elekta will also highlight its newly redesigned Flexitron® remote afterloading platform for brachytherapy designed to improve safety and efficiency in the brachytherapy workflow, as well as new programs to simplify the upgrade path from competitive oncology information systems (OIS) to MOSAIQ® OIS.

“We expect great interest in Versa HD at this year’s ESTRO Forum,” says Ian Alexander, Elekta’s Executive Vice President Region Europe, Africa, Latin America and Middle East. “Our most advanced linear accelerator was inspired by the advent of new and more sophisticated therapies that are showing great promise worldwide, combined with growing global cancer management challenges. It truly represents a unique radiotherapy solution that will impact patient health and quality of life.”

“High-definition, high-speed beam shaping, combined with high dose rate delivery makes Versa HD the ideal SBRT machine,” says Oscar Matzinger, M.D., radiation oncologist at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (Lausanne, Switzerland) and Hôpital Riviera (Vevey, Switzerland). “More and more radiotherapy patients will be treated with SBRT, which now usually involves relatively long treatment times. In treating lung cancer or liver metastases, the faster we can deliver therapy the less chance for patient motion, and, in turn, the more precise therapy will be. The High Dose Rate mode of Versa HD certainly facilitates that.”

Elekta will give live presentations of Versa HD at its exhibit booth (#3400) during the ESTRO Forum.

Other meeting highlights:

Redesigned Flexitron remote afterloading platform will emphasize safety and efficiency in the brachytherapy workflow, increasing the clinician’s confidence that execution of all workflow steps proceed as planned. Included in the redesign are multiple novel advances that optimize the treatment delivery process.
MOSAIQ OIS connectivity will also be demonstrated, highlighting simple programs to migrate from legacy Siemens LANTIS™ systems to MOSAIQ. MOSAIQ is in use at more than 3,000 sites, interfacing with delivery systems from a range of providers, including Elekta, Siemens, Varian, TomoTherapy, Accuray and Brainlab.
Elekta will host a lunch symposium titled “Pioneer in Cancer Care,” on April 20, from 13:15-14:30, in Room C, Lower Level. Subjects include Versa HD, VMAT, Agility™ and High Dose Rate mode, and Flexitron remote afterloading platform.

Learn more at www.elekta.com/ESTRO.

Versa HD is not available for sale or distribution in all markets.

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Elekta Focuses on Clinical Workflows with MOSAIQ Oncology Information Management System at HIMSS13 Meeting

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA and NEW ORLEANS

2013-02-27

Elekta to accept award for MOSAIQ top ranking in 2012 Best in KLAS Awards

Acknowledging the importance of dedicated information management systems for radiation and medical oncology practices, Elekta will demonstrate the most recent version of its MOSAIQ® Oncology Information Management System (OIS) at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s 2013 conference (HIMSS13), March 3-7, in New Orleans.

MOSAIQ is a comprehensive OIS that centralizes traditional radiation oncology, particle therapy and medical oncology patient data into a single user interface, accessible by multidisciplinary teams across multiple locations. MOSAIQ provides oncology staff access to the underlying clinical and administrative data, improving both clinical care and operational efficiency.

Visitors to Elekta booth #1511 will learn how MOSAIQ integrates with a diverse array of hospital systems, treatment devices and imaging systems, increasing accessibility to critical data anytime by remote users on various platforms. MOSAIQ captures the entire patient chart in a common database that users can customize, allowing radiation oncologists and medical oncologists to coordinate care for complex cases. In addition to fulfilling the needs of hospital-based centers, MOSAIQ provides functionality community cancer centers require in a comprehensive oncology information system, including clinical, administrative, and billing.

MOSAIQ is a scalable, flexible solution designed exclusively for oncology, and is well-suited for integration with enterprise EHRs. At HIMSS13, Elekta will showcase some of the latest MOSAIQ functionality designed to eliminate bottlenecks in clinical and administrative workflows, including:

IQ Scripts™, an engine that can seamlessly automate tasks and establish consistent processes across the clinic
eScribe merge fields, which allows encounters to be documented instantly and completely utilizing discrete data elements within the patient chart
MOSAIQ Evaluate, a powerful review module integrated directly with the world’s most widely-used OIS, designed to bring the radiation treatment plan to the care team

MOSAIQ “Best in KLAS” for 2012, ranked No. 1 in Oncology IT report

At a presentation during HIMSS, MOSAIQ will be recognized for its number one ranking in the recently released 2012 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report. The report is a summary of performance data collected over the past 12 months and ranks the top overall vendors. In addition, MOSAIQ recently was ranked No. 1 in the KLAS Oncology IT Report, Pulling the Curtain Back.

“We can’t think of a better event than HIMSS to showcase MOSAIQ to the healthcare IT leadership,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “We’re confident that healthcare IT professionals will recognize that a best-of-breed oncology information system is an absolutely critical element to streamline clinical workflow.”

Learn more at www.elekta.com/MOSAIQ.

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For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Radiosurgery Symposium a Highlight of Siloam Hospitals’ Inauguration of First Gamma Knife Perfexion in Southeast Asia

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 18:23:02 GMT

Jakarta

2013-02-21

Jakarta hospital has installed the world’s most advanced radiosurgery system for treatment of brain cancer, and other brain disorders

JAKARTA, Indonesia – In conjunction with the inauguration of the Gamma Knife® Center Indonesia, Siloam International Hospitals Lippo Karawaci will host a symposium on February 23 entitled “Gamma Knife - the Knifeless Brain Surgery for Indonesia.” The program will feature leading clinicians from Indonesia and United States who will discuss the benefits of Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, a stereotactic radiosurgery system specifically designed to treat one or more brain and head tumors in a single session. The facility will be inaugurated by Dr. Mochtar Riady, founder of the Lippo Group of companies.

Featured speakers in the Symposium include:

Professor Eka Wahjoepramono, Dean of Faculty of Medicine, University of Pelita Harapan
Professor Susworo, Radiation Oncologist, Siloam Hospitals
Dr. Alvaro Martinez, Radiation Oncologist, Michigan Healthcare Professionals
Dr. Fernando Diaz, Neurosurgeon, Beaumont Health Systems

“By offering radiosurgery treatment with Leksell Gamma Knife, we are affirming Siloam’s commitment to providing the very best health care available to the Indonesian community,” says Professor Dr. Eka J Wahjoepramono, Neurosurgeon, Siloam Hospitals, and Dean of Faculty of Medicine at Universitas Pelita Harapan.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease, which is cancer that has travelled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion installed at the Gamma Knife Center Indonesia is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.

Today, Gamma Knife surgery is performed in hundreds of leading hospitals and clinics around the world. Around 65,000 patients undergo Gamma Knife surgery every year, and this unique procedure has an impressive scientific track record with thousands of peer-reviewed articles. To learn more, visit www.elekta.com/gammaknife.

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United Kingdom’s Northampton General Hospital Treats First Prostate Cancer Patient Using HDR Brachytherapy as Sole Treatment

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Northampton

2013-02-11

Key to procedure is Nucletron’s HDR Real-time Prostate Solution for prostate brachytherapy

Clinicians at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) recently used “monotherapy” HDR brachytherapy for the first time for a patient with prostate cancer, enabling the patient to make just two visits to the clinic for treatment. Traditional external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) requires the patient to undergo as many as 40 therapy sessions over seven weeks. Planning for HDR brachytherapy was significantly streamlined with the HDR Real-time Prostate Solution – by Nucletron, an Elekta Company – which provides real-time ultra-sound planning capabilities.

HDR brachytherapy uses a single high-intensity radiation source on the end of a thin cable that is temporarily inserted – via remote afterloader – into catheters positioned in the disease target.

“Monotherapy HDR brachytherapy – using this form of brachytherapy as the only treatment – will be used for patients who are not suited for EBRT due to medical reasons,” says Chris Elwell, M.D., clinical oncologist at NGH. “This first patient had inflammatory bowel disease and could not tolerate a full course of EBRT. HDR brachytherapy was his best option, because it allowed him to have just two treatment sessions separated by 10 days and enabled us to reduce the radiotherapy dose to his rectum. In this way, the patient’s travel to the hospital was greatly reduced and he could return to normal life more quickly.”

The complexity of planning HDR brachytherapy demanded an advanced solution, which NGH physicians found in HDR Real-time Prostate Solution, which provided live ultrasound images in real time for contouring, planning and optimization.

“Because we run a busy department with high patient throughput, live ultrasound planning with HDR Real-time Prostate Solution was critical,” Dr. Elwell says. “It provided an efficient and streamlined workflow for HDR brachytherapy.”

Monotherapy HDR brachytherapy is the subject of rigorous multicenter clinical research trials in the United Kingdom, with new treatment protocols emerging for the procedure. Peter Hoskin, M.D., consultant clinical oncologist at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre, has collected data that point toward the therapy’s clinical efficacy.

888.00409 MKT [00]

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Elekta’s New Technology is Winning Over Customers in the UK

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Crawley

2013-02-01

With the growing need for more advanced radiotherapy treatment in the U.K., new medical centres are in an ideal position to specify and adopt the most sophisticated equipment for maximum efficiency and patient throughput.

Aligned with these priorities, Elekta – with its worldwide linear accelerator (LINAC) production plant in Crawley – has become the preferred radiotherapy provider, with increasing numbers of new centres choosing Elekta technology to satisfy their needs.

The strong demand for Elekta has come from expanding public and private centres and below are some examples up until year 2012.

Cancer Partners UK®, is a leading provider of advanced radiotherapy in the U.K.’s private sector, and has Elekta treatment systems at each of its regional centres in Portsmouth, Southampton, Elstree, Birmingham and Nottingham. Cancer Partners UK is currently building its sixth centre in Guildford, which will be supplied with Elekta’s revolutionary Agility™ 160-leaf multileaf collimator (MLC) for rapid, highly conformal radiation beam shaping.

“All of our centres operate Elekta Synergy® systems with integrated imaging to ensure very precise treatments for our patients,” says Cancer Partner UK’s chief executive, Steve Bird. “At the same time, these highly accurate targeting systems allow us to keep at the forefront of technology, enabling us to streamline our workflow.”

In that same period in the National Health Service (NHS), several new centres and satellite clinics have adopted Elekta as their radiotherapy provider. These include Musgrove Park Hospital, an £18m private finance initiative operating an Elekta Synergy system and three Precise Treatment System™ linacs. The hospital coordinates its radiotherapy workflow with Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System.

Andrew Morgan, Head of Radiation Therapy Physics at Musgrove Park Hospital (Taunton) says: “As part of our technology assessment, reliability combined with maximum efficiency was essential to maintain patient volume. Elekta worked closely in partnership with us to ensure our priorities were met.’’

Other new public sector developments include The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. This centre a pioneer in cancer research and Europe’s largest cancer centre, opened a new satellite clinic in Oldham and operates two Elekta Synergy linacs. Additionally, two other new NHS satellite cancer centres Guy’s and St Thomas’ satellite centre in South London and Bracknell also have chosen Elekta to be their radiotherapy solutions provider.

Commenting on this encouraging situation, Ian Alexander, Regional Vice President for Elekta Europe says: “Elekta is redoubling its efforts to supply U.K. medical centres with the tools they need to treat their patients. However, it is important to emphasize that simply providing the technology is not enough in today’s healthcare environment. A major differentiator for Elekta is our open-systems development philosophy, combined with a collaborative working approach with our customers.”

Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all regions. Please contact your local Elekta representative or authorized distributor for further details.

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Elekta to Showcase Broad Portfolio of Cancer Management Solutions at 2013 Arab Health Congress and Exhibition

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:00:00 GMT

Dubai

2013-01-24

At the 38th edition of the Arab Health Congress and Exhibition, 28-31 January, at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre, Elekta (booth #S2E30) will highlight its comprehensive range of advanced cancer care solutions, including Elekta Compact™, Elekta Synergy® and Elekta Infinity™ for conventional radiation therapy, and Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ for stereotactic neurosurgery.

In addition, Elekta will showcase its new Agility™ 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator and sophisticated brachytherapy solutions, which are used by 75 percent of brachytherapy clinics in the Middle East region.

Elekta has shipped Agility to sites in more than 20 countries – including Saudi Arabia – with clinics in Iraq and Turkey scheduled to receive shipment in 2013. Clinicians at these sites are reporting remarkable gains in beam-shaping ability, precision and delivery speed. Shorter treatment times have resulted in increased patient comfort and convenience as well as an improved ability for caregivers to treat more patients daily.

“According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, and the fourth-ranked cause of death in the Middle East region. The largest increase in cancer incidence in the WHO regions in the next 15 years is likely to be in the wider Middle East region,” says Nabil Elias Romanos, Elekta’s Vice President, Eastern Europe and Middle East. “To meet this need, we have collaborated with leading hospitals and research institutions to develop a solution that can increase patient throughput while delivering exceptional precision. Agility is designed to meet these needs.”

“Breaking new ground, Elekta has actively supported Iraq clinics’ and Ministry of Health efforts to increase accessibility to advanced cancer management technology, as the country rebuilds its healthcare infrastructure after nearly three decades of wars, embargoes and unrest,” Romanos adds. “We particularly are pleased that the prestigious Medical City in Baghdad chose Elekta as its main partner in providing cancer care to the Iraqi people, and for their hosting of a conference in Baghdad on Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion. This symposium preceded the Iraq-Sweden governmental investment conference, at which Elekta was selected to present as the health care success story in Iraq.”

Another example is the groundbreaking new cancer facility in the Maymuna district of western Maysan province that will be a center of attraction in southern Iraq and the country as a whole. To equip this clinic, Elekta will provide two Elekta Synergy Platform systems, MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System and treatment planning technology, which will become clinical in the spring of 2013.

At the Radiation Oncology Center in Suleimaniyah, Kurdistan, Elekta – the only radiotherapy provider in this part of Iraq – installed the clinic’s second Elekta Synergy system. The added capacity will help ease the demand for cancer care services in a region of more than 4.5 million inhabitants that draws patients from other parts of Iraq, and where a six-month wait for treatment was common.

Elekta also has committed to helping the country’s cancer care infrastructure by providing brachytherapy technology, as well as education and training services.

*Agility™ and Elekta Compact™ are not available for sale or distribution in all regions. Please contact your local Elekta representative or authorized distributor for further details.

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Elekta Supports First Patient Treated with Carbon Ion Therapy at Italian Cancer Center

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 09:27:57 GMT

Pavia

2013-01-22

The need for flawless coordination of its carbon ion treatments led officials at the CNAO Foundation (Centro Nazionale di Adroterapia Oncologica) to choose Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information Management System.

On November 13, the CNAO Foundation became the world’s first center to use MOSAIQ to guide a cancer patient’s carbon ion therapy. CNAO – which made news last year when it treated its first patient with proton therapy – is now nearing completion of its National Center of Oncological Hadrontherapy.

Dr. Sandro Rossi, General Manager and Technical Director of the CNAO Foundation, says that after an initial start up phase the Center will be running double shifts, treating 150 to 200 patients a month with both proton therapy and carbon ion therapy.

Using MOSAIQ, which incorporates its record & verify module for particle therapy accelerator technology, CNAO will store and retrieve data related to particle therapy treatment and follow-up care for patients, as well as the Center’s cancer care and treatment research. “In our daily routine, MOSAIQ has helped us schedule procedures and facilitate more efficient workflow for our clinical and scientific research activities,” Dr. Rossi explains.

A specific advantage of carbon ion treatments is the possibility to prescribe and report physical and biological doses differently than other therapies, and the necessity to schedule pre-positioning procedures to optimize patient throughput. Elekta has demonstrated its commitment to work with CNAO to extend MOSAIQ capabilities to operate within this environment. Combined with the flexibility that MOSAIQ demonstrates, this was a strong selling point for CNAO, according to Dr. Rossi.

“A very compelling MOSAIQ feature is the possibility to integrate, expand and fine tune the solution to include the different procedures that will be developed during the working life of a facility like CNAO,” he says. “The use of MOSAIQ also will lead to a high level of optimization of staffing activities.”

“Embracing the ability to extend our particle therapy offering to incorporate carbon ions was a first for Elekta and one that we are excited to be undertaking with CNAO,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “Our success in this area will further advance our solution and reinforce our market leadership as a provider of patient management solutions within particle therapy.”

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Saudi Arabia Center Advances Radiotherapy Technology with Nation’s First Image Guided Cancer Treatment System from Elekta

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:00:00 GMT

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia

2013-01-09

King Abdulaziz University Hospital’s Elekta Synergy boosts treatment speed for patient comfort, integrates imaging for patient safety

In part to address the 12,000 new cancer cases annually in Saudi Arabia – many of them diagnosed at an advanced stage – King Abdulaziz University Hospital is the first center nationally to acquire image guided treatment technology from Elekta. The 700-bed hospital launched a new era of advanced radiotherapy with the first clinical treatments on its Elekta Synergy® system in February 2012, offering patients with difficult cases sophisticated Image Guided Radiation therapy (IGRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) for added precision and speed. The hospital also acquired Elekta treatment planning systems in May 2012.

“Managing the planning and treatment of late stage cancers is challenging,” says Prof. Yasir Bahadur, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Radiology, under which the Department of Radiation Oncology operates. “We needed user-friendly technology that would allow us to accurately cover the target and protect normal tissues, while treating our patients in a comfortable and timely manner. We determined that Elekta Synergy met these needs from a technological standpoint.”

The hospital had been operating two Siemens linear accelerators and added Elekta Synergy because of its advanced technology, such as kilovoltage [kV] cone beam CT [CBCT] and VMAT.

“While our whole radiotherapy practice has been image guided, the kV 3D volumetric imaging of Elekta Synergy enables us to accurately deliver complex treatment plans. The excellent quality of the kV treatment verification images – versus the megavoltage [MV] images the other linacs produce – allows a clear visualization of soft tissue structures without the need for implanted surrogate markers.”

With Elekta Synergy, King Abdulaziz University Hospital has, for the first time, used VMAT in select cases, resulting in dramatic decreases in beam delivery time compared to conventional techniques.

“The beam delivery time for VMAT is about five minutes, compared to nine minutes for dynamic Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy [IMRT] and 20 minutes for step-and-shoot IMRT,” Prof. Bahadur notes. “In addition, we have found that delivery of IMRT is faster on Synergy versus our other systems.

“With Synergy,” he continues, “we can easily treat 20 patients daily using either VMAT or dynamic IMRT, with daily CBCT, during eight working hours, which we were unable to do before. Now we can treat more patients and this has shortened our waiting list.” .

In addition to Synergy, King Abdulaziz University Hospital also acquired Elekta’s XiO® and Monaco® treatment planning systems, and began using them clinically in May 2012.

“We like the accuracy of the dose calculation algorithms and high speed calculation of both treatment planning systems,” Prof. Bahadur observes. “In Monaco, we appreciate the biological modeling feature and the Sensitivity Analysis tool that guide the planner through the plan optimization process.”

As the hospital anticipates launching its new stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) service in February 2013, Prof. Bahadur looks forward to the same level of Elekta support his team received in implementing advanced radiotherapy with Elekta Synergy.

“We have been impressed by the outstanding standard of training activities provided by Elekta to our staff,” he remarks. “The professionalism of the application specialists, in addition to their kindness and continuous support are highly appreciated by the entire team. After nearly one year of using Elekta Synergy in our department, we are confident and satisfied with the system, and are very optimistic that with the launch of the SRT service, we will have another opportunity to strengthen our collaboration and partnership.”

In July 2010, King Abdulaziz University Hospital introduced Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System as an upgrade of its LANTIS record & verify system, and recently upgraded MOSAIQ to version 2.4.

“We find MOSAIQ very user-friendly and it integrated seamlessly with our Siemens linacs,” Prof. Bahadur says.

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Elekta Announces First Step in Integrating Treatment Planning with MOSAIQ Oncology Information System

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:00:25 GMT

ATLANTA

2013-01-07

Elekta receives 510(k) clearance for MOSAIQ Evaluate, a toolset that integrates treatment planning features into MOSAIQ OIS

As part of a process to completely integrate the patient’s electronic medical record (EMR) with treatment planning activities, Elekta has introduced MOSAIQ® Evaluate*, a toolset that unites plan and dose review capabilities in a single software framework, MOSAIQ Oncology Information System (OIS). Uniting MOSAIQ and powerful treatment planning review capabilities streamlines planning activities inside the patient chart, reducing patient wait times and delays and improving efficiency and productivity in the department. Elekta recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for MOSAIQ Evaluate.

“The development of MOSAIQ Evaluate establishes a new standard of oncology treatment planning management in a single software environment. Our belief is that clinical decision-making is improved when the radiotherapy team can access and review treatment and patient data from one source, MOSAIQ,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “It’s the first step in a process in which we will steadily integrate advanced toolsets inside MOSAIQ, ultimately creating an advanced, comprehensive treatment planning solution inside the EMR.”

With MOSAIQ Evaluate, the entire radiation oncology team can access and review treatment plans and patient data from the patient’s chart, streamlining the radiotherapy workflow. It enables plan review from virtually any treatment planning system and for any treatment modality, in addition to comparison of multiple plans.

To support the multidisciplinary team, MOSAIQ Evaluate offers specific benefits for the radiation oncologist, the physicist and the dosimetrist. Radiation oncologists and physicists will now be able to review plans at their MOSAIQ workstation and view a “to-do” list of plans needing review. MOSAIQ Evaluate also enables the physicist to identify approved plan information side-by-side with all treatment fields, approve treatment fields directly from the Plan Worklist, and view imported DRR’s alongside the treatment plan. With MOSAIQ Evaluate, dosimetrists will be able to use the Plan Worklist to identify approved plans, triggering the next step in the workflow.

To learn more, visit www.elekta.com/evaluate.

*MOSAIQ Evaluate is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact the local Elekta representative for details.

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Elekta's MOSAIQ Oncology Information System Ranked No. 1 Oncology Software Solution by KLAS

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 14:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA

2013-01-04

Among oncology software products, customers ranked Elekta first for its MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS) in a survey by KLAS, an independent research firm. The recently released 2012 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services* report showed that MOSAIQ scored 80.1 out of 100 and 87 percent of customers indicated they would buy again. The report, which puts MOSAIQ at the top for 2012, is a summary of performance data collected over the past 12 months and ranks the top overall vendors, as well as leaders in each market segment.

The award will be presented to Elekta at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference & Exhibition in March 2013 in New Orleans. MOSAIQ demonstrations will be provided at booth #1511 during the exhibition, highlighting the OIS’s unparalleled open systems and interface connectivity to the widest range of treatment planning, treatment delivery, LIS, brachytherapy systems and hospital information systems.

“We are honored that KLAS survey respondents recognized MOSAIQ as the top oncology information system for the second year in a row,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “MOSAIQ is the preferred OIS for thousands of oncology practices for a reason. We have worked to make MOSAIQ not only the most comprehensive, interoperable and robust solution available, but also equipped it to perform functions that all modern EMRs should have to increase efficiency in patient care.”

MOSAIQ is a complete patient information management system that efficiently manages patient care on a single workstation, allowing effective treatment evaluation before, during and after delivery to ensure accuracy and safety. With more than 25 years of open systems support, MOSAIQ connects seamlessly to virtually any linear accelerator and planning system from any vendor, giving centers the flexibility to choose solutions that perform optimally for their practice and patients. Today, more than 2,500 global customers count on MOSAIQ to manage their patient information and provide unmatched connectivity to enterprise systems.

KLAS gathers opinions of thousands of healthcare professionals

According to KLAS, Best in KLAS designations go to solutions that have excelled in their respective market segments, that show the vendor’s leadership in working with customers to resolve issues and match expectations to reality, and that have the broadest operational and clinical impact to healthcare organizations.

The 2012 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report is available online. To purchase the full report, visit www.KLASresearch.com/BestinKLAS.

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World-Class Neuroscience Center Treats First Patient with Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion Radiosurgery System

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 11:00:00 GMT

LONDON

2012-12-19

U.K.’s The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery to advance frontiers in radiosurgery research and clinical practice

A 60-year-old male patient with an acoustic neuroma became the first person to receive Gamma Knife® radiosurgery at The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN, London). NHNN clinicians gave the treatment on October 29, officially inaugurating its radiosurgery service at its new Queen Square Radiosurgery Centre (QSRC). NHNN’s Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ will serve as the platform on which to launch a full-scale program of radiosurgery research and clinical activities. QSRC is the United Kingdom’s sixth operational Gamma Knife center.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as acoustic neuromas and metastatic disease, which is cancer that has travelled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Perfexion provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous models.

According to NHNN neurosurgeon, Neil Kitchen, M.D., the hospital’s acquisition of radiosurgery technology supports the U.K. government’s efforts to improve access to advanced clinical techniques, and will reinforce research and clinical efforts focused on neurological disorders.

“In terms of research, the addition of Gamma Knife will enable assessment and evaluation of a range of treatment modalities for brain disorders, particularly for brain metastases,” Dr. Kitchen says. “Clinically, Gamma Knife is a well accepted and proven technology that is a gentle and effective option to standard treatments for brain metastases and other brain disorders that can prolong and improve patients’ quality of life. Among radiosurgery technology options, after detailed evaluation, we considered Perfexion to be the gold standard that would meet NHNN’s clinical and research requirements. In addition, we determined that Perfexion offered accuracy and patient throughput advantages over linac-based radiosurgery.”

Established in 1860, NHNN is the United Kingdom’s largest dedicated neurological and neurosurgical hospital, treating over 6,000 inpatients, 120,000 outpatients and 8,000 day cases each year. NHNN provides comprehensive services for diagnosis, treatment and care of all conditions that affect the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nervous system and muscles. It offers approximately 200 outpatient clinics each week, covering all aspects of neurology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology and neuro-rehabilitation, in addition to many specialist units, including dementia, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and stroke. NHNN is part of the University College London (UCL) Hospitals Foundation Trust, and closely associated in its work with the UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, a major international center for research and training, with UCL ranked fourth best university in the world.

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New Zealand Patients Benefit from Clinic’s Acquisition of Elekta’s Novel Beam Shaping Solution for Radiotherapy

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:00:00 GMT

AUCKLAND

2012-12-18

Auckland Radiation Oncology Centre performs its first stereotactic radiation therapy treatments with Agility 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator

Auckland Radiation Oncology (ARO) Centre launched its stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) program on November 5, treating a 61-year-old male patient with the first of 10 SRT treatments, thus avoiding a risky surgery to remove residual tumor from a previous operation. The ability to treat the patient’s 1.2 cm lesion with SRT was enabled through ARO’s upgrade of an Elekta Synergy® system with Agility™*, which features 160 high-speed, 5 mm wide beam shaping leaves to conform closely to the target.

“To move forward with our stereotactic radiotherapy program, we went with Agility, which will allow us to move toward ever more conformal treatments,” says Anthony Falkov, M.D., radiation oncologist at ARO, New Zealand’s first private radiation oncology center. “SRT has been available to New Zealanders in some public clinics, but in a very limited capacity. So, it does open up a lot of possibilities for patients that need this kind of treatment, and, in fact, since people have known that SRT was on the way here, we’ve had a huge amount of interest through referrals.”

Denise Redwood, ARO’s charge radiation therapist, adds that ARO’s other radiation oncologists have witnessed the beam-shaping capabilities of Agility and have been impressed.

“We have planned a few other non-SRT cases and now I think all of our radiation oncologists want their non-stereotactic patients treated on the Agility-equipped Synergy,” she says. “Agility also is certainly easy to use. I was one of the therapists for the first five patients, and from an operational perspective, Agility is very straightforward.”

ARO operates two other Elekta Synergy systems, which may be upgraded with Agility in the future.

In addition to high conformality and rapid leaf motion, Agility also is equipped with a low leakage head, which ensures that Agility will significantly reduce the non-therapeutic dose to the patient.

“This low transmission – which at less than 0.5 percent is one-quarter the typical transmission – has proven itself already in the reduced organ-at-risk DVH’s that we’re seeing, which has obviously excited our radiation oncologists, because they’re interested in any way to reduce the non-therapeutic dose to their patients,” observes Guy Godwin, M.Sc., ARO’s acting chief physicist. “From a physics standpoint, Agility is just outstanding. The inbuilt calibration of the 160 leaves makes it considerably easier than the way we used to do things in the past.”

Since it opened four years ago, ARO has initiated a steady stream of technology acquisitions aimed at creating a state-of-the-art facility that will complement New Zealand’s public health system.

Learn more at www.elekta.com/Agility.

*Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact the local Elekta representative for details.

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Elekta Helps California Center Make Seamless Switch to MOSAIQ OIS

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 14:00:00 GMT

FRESNO, CA

2012-12-14

Fresno’s Community Medical Centers takes first steps to filmless, paperless operation with transition from Siemens OIS to MOSAIQ

In preparation for an eventual complete transition from Siemens treatment systems to Elekta systems, Oncology Services at Community Medical Centers in Fresno, Calif., implemented MOSAIQ® in mid-August, going live with MOSAIQ on August 20.

The site successfully transferred approximately 10,000 patient records from LANTIS™ to MOSAIQ without missing a single patient treatment. The switch to MOSAIQ coincided with the center’s acquisition of an Elekta Synergy® treatment system to replace one of its existing Siemens machines. Community Medical Centers’ Oncology Services department joins a group of more than 50 LANTIS facilities that have upgraded to MOSAIQ, the world’s most widely used oncology information system.

“Over a three-day period we were able to transfer 100 percent of the LANTIS data over to MOSAIQ, which was essential,” says Alec Beach, Manager Technical Services. “The transition went extremely well.”

The goal of Community Medical Centers’ Oncology Services – which consists of a main campus facility, the California Cancer Center, and a downtown Fresno satellite center -- is ultimately to convert to a filmless, paperless radiation oncology operation. Tying together its two clinics in a single OIS network through MOSAIQ and acquiring the initial Elekta treatment system were the first steps in that process.

Critical support

The Elekta technical support team provided critical coordination during the implementation, according to Beach.

“The members of the Elekta installation team worked particularly well with our IT department, generating ongoing status reports over the weekend,” he says. “That was really helpful in converting from the LANTIS database to MOSAIQ. They also supported us in formatting the new files to get them in a format that was going to be useable with the new MOSAIQ interface.”

That same level of support continued through the application training phase, which consisted of three days of pre-upgrade training and three days onsite go-live support and post-upgrade training, Beach adds.

“The Elekta applications training representative was very helpful – she made numerous simple suggestions that helped us adapt to the new tools available in MOSAIQ,” he observes. “For example, she helped me build an assessment evaluation for patient quality checklists and gave us some tips on billing tagging. She gave us a training outline that we were tasked to complete and encouraged staff to continue using the recorded videos on SupportPlus™ on the Elekta Website. We couldn’t have made such a smooth transition without this training.”

As Community Medical Centers’ Oncology Services staff continues to learn about MOSAIQ through day-to-day use, Beach is looking forward to new OIS functionality through MOSAIQ.

“We just created a more robust billing process, which started on October 1,” he says. “I also really like the patient verification process. It requires a time-out to be done, which eliminates the physician’s concerns about that. Documentation of patient verification had not been captured 100 percent of the time, and now it is.”

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World’s 500th Leksell Gamma Knife Radiosurgery System Begins Patient Treatments in Brazil

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:00:00 GMT

CURITIBA, Brazil

2012-12-12

Elekta stereotactic radiosurgery technology – which has been used to treat 700,000 + patients globally over last 26 years – now in use at Instituto de Neurologia de Curitiba

The 500th Leksell Gamma Knife® system manufactured since 1986 was recently installed at Instituto de Neurologia de Curitiba (INC, Curitiba, Brazil). INC – which acquired Elekta’s latest generation Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ – began clinical treatments on October 1, 2012, delivering radiosurgery to a patient with a skull base meningioma. Installed in 48 countries, over 300 Gamma Knife systems are currently in clinical use, with more than 700,000 patients treated worldwide.

Founded just seven years ago, INC has become a major neurological and neurosurgical referral center in Brazil, its 10 neurosurgeons currently performing about 1,000 procedures annually. INC neurosurgeons, along with eight neurologists and two neuropediatricians treat more than 7,000 patients each year. INC is the only Latin American facility accredited by the World Federation of Neurological Societies as a Post-Graduate Training Center.

“INC has tried to offer its patients the best treatment available for complex neurological and neurosurgical cases,” says INC neurosurgeon, Daniel Benzecry Almeida, M.D. “Accordingly, radiosurgery is an important tool in our treatment armamentarium. Gamma Knife technology has been the gold standard treatment for many benign and malignant tumors, in addition to other neurological indications. That was why we chose Leksell Gamma Knife over other radiosurgical alternatives.”

INC has treated patients for a variety of classic Gamma Knife indications, including meningiomas, metastases, trigeminal neuralgia and arteriovenous malformations.

“Radiosurgery with Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion has proven to be a very accurate, safe and easy method of radiosurgical treatment,” Dr. Benzecry Almeida says. “It has been particularly useful in treating patients with multiple metastases in a single session.”

As the only Perfexion installation in Brazil, a nation of more than 190 million inhabitants, INC has received many email requests to schedule a consultation for treatment. In his desire for INC to also become a reference center for radiosurgery, Dr. Benzecry Almeida welcomes the attention.

“It’s very important to offer our people the best treatment in brain radiosurgery,” he says. “The use of Gamma Knife technology continues to spread globally, and it really should be available in most countries. Being the first center in Brazil with a Perfexion system makes us very proud, yet also places upon us a commitment to help patients who could benefit from radiosurgery. We’re looking forward to INC becoming a reference center in radiosurgery as it now is in neurosurgery.”

Installation of INC’s Gamma Knife system reflects Elekta’s growing influence and focus in Latin America. To support the region’s growing cancer management requirements, Elekta recently relocated its office to São Paulo and acquired Radon Ltda., the leading linear accelerator service company in Brazil.

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Quebec Clinic Launches Canadian Use of Elekta’s Agility Beam-Shaping Innovation for Radiation Therapy of Cancer

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:00:00 GMT

LAVAL, Canada

2012-12-06

Health Canada clears multi-leaf collimator for nationwide clinical application

Two female patients 53 and 86 years old, became the first in Canada to receive radiation therapy on a treatment system equipped with Elekta’s revolutionary Agility™* 160 leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC), which rapidly and accurately shapes the beams used in radiation therapy. Clinicians administered the treatments on November 26 at Centre intégré de cancérologie de Laval (CICL), located on the North Shore of Montreal. Elekta recently received clearance from Health Canada to sell Agility within the Canadian health care system.

“CICL is a new cancer facility that began treating patients in February 2012,” says CICL’s Head of Physics Fadi Hobeila. “Since our mission is clinical excellence, we wanted to have the best technology possible on our two Elekta Synergy® treatment machines, which meant upgrading them with Agility.”

With double the leaf speed of other MLCs used in concert with Elekta’s Continuously Variable Dose Rate (CVDR) – Agility, with the Integrity™ digital control system, has enabled CICL physicians to fully exploit Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), a fast arc technique that significantly accelerates treatments.

“One of the patients we treated today [Nov. 26] employed a two-arc VMAT plan, which took just 1.5 minutes per arc,” reports Marie-Andrée Fortin, M.D., Head of Radiation Oncology at Centre de santé et de services sociaux (CSSS) de Laval, CICL’s parent organization. “Before Agility, we wouldn’t have treated that patient with VMAT, because the plan quality would not be equivalent. We would have used standard step-and-shoot IMRT, which would have taken 12 to 15 minutes to deliver the beams.”

CICL uses VMAT in 25 percent of its caseload, she adds.

Other Agility features – narrow 5 mm leaves, extremely low transmission and high positional accuracy – combine to create an exceptional MLC, according to Mr. Hobeila.

“The conformance to the target is much better with the narrow leaf width – and it’s the same leaf width across the entire 40 cm X 40 cm field,” he says. “And Agility has really excellent transmission characteristics. I have worked with many MLC’s and Agility is the best for transmission. The positional precision and reproducibility are excellent, which is important when you do IMRT or inverse planning – anything that involves constraints. It eliminates part of the physical constraints of the MLC, but gives more flexibility to the treatment planning system to develop a better plan.”

“Agility really is ‘the whole package’,” he adds. “I believe it is a best-of-breed solution among MLCs.”

CICL clinicians plan to ramp up their two Agility-equipped Elekta Synergy systems to full capacity quickly.

“We expect the two linacs to be running full schedules by December 10,” Dr. Fortin says. “We treated two patients today, tomorrow we will treat seven patients. By the end of the week it will be 15 patients, and by the end of the following week it will be up to a full schedule of 30 patients for each system.”

Learn more about Agility at www.elekta.com/agility.

*Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact your local Elekta representative for details.

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Elekta’s Monaco System Used for First Time to Create VMAT Plan for Delivery on Varian Treatment System

Fri, 09 Nov 2012 14:00:03 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore

2012-11-09

The Department of Radiation Medicine at Oregon Health & Science University’s (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute was first to treat a cancer patient using Elekta’s Monaco® software to create a Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) treatment plan and then deliver it on a Varian Trilogy® treatment machine.

Prior to this first clinical use combining Monaco VMAT and Trilogy, OHSU physicists had produced Monaco test plans using prior treatment data from 15 patients, the plans for which had been generated using their customary planning system.

The Monaco test plans compared favorably to the clinical plans in three crucial aspects, said Wolfram Laub, Ph.D., M.B.A., chief physicist for the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute’s radiation medicine department and clinical associate professor at OHSU.

“First, Monaco uses the XVMC Monte Carlo dose engine, which is considered the gold standard for dose calculation,” he said. “Comparing the Monaco plans to those produced by our usual planning system, I noticed higher volumes of normal tissues exposed to low radiation dose levels, which I attribute to the fact that Monte Carlo can more accurately account for photon scatter.”

Dr. Laub, who serves as a consultant for Elekta, believes that the Monaco treatment plans tend to be less complex in terms of the shape of IMRT segments, when producing the same quality plans. QA passing rates on average have been observed to be higher. “Less complexity is always better as long as it doesn’t impact plan quality,” he said.

The third observation regarding the Monaco plans applies to the advantages of using biological constraints. “I believe that biological constraints give a great deal of control over a treatment plan. They allow the use of templates, or what I call a ‘class solution,’ which is not possible to the same extent when dosimetrists use DVH constraints for optimization – since those really need to be tailored for each patient.”

The latest version of Monaco (v.3.20) features the new Segment Shape Optimization™ tool, which drives improved dose conformity, plan quality and delivery efficiency, he added.

The OHSU Knight Cancer Institute’s radiation oncology team has already begun treating a second cancer patient using the Monaco VMAT/Trilogy combination.

Monaco works seamlessly with ARIA OIS

Dr. Laub also has found that Monaco is compatible with Varian’s ARIA® oncology information system (OIS) as well.

The typical workflow entails sending the CT simulation scan to their existing planning system, which is used for contouring. The contours and CT scan are subsequently exported from the planning system into Monaco.

“We then run the optimization in Monaco, import everything back into ARIA for record-and-verify, and that’s where the plan gets approved and sent to the treatment machine,” he explains. “It’s pretty seamless, actually.”

Learn more about Monaco at www.elekta.com/rtp

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Elekta Raises $52,200 to Support Individuals with Cancer

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 13:00:22 GMT

BOSTON

2012-10-30

Massachusetts-based Facing Cancer Together received funds, which will help those diagnosed with the disease

Elekta activities at the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) raised a total of $52,200 for Facing Cancer Together (FCT), a greater-Boston area nonprofit organization that guides and empowers individuals through the challenges of cancer. FCT offers a range of services and professionally facilitated programs, including support groups, expressive arts programming and mind-body wellness groups. Massachusetts is ranked eighth in the U.S. for cancer incidence*.

“Facing Cancer Together is honored to have been chosen by Elekta as charity of choice for 2012,” says Gail Bork, Executive Director Facing Cancer Together."Our organization shares a common goal in providing a valuable range of services for those facing cancer. It is truly a privilege being recognized for our work.”

The donation came from proceeds from ticket sales and a silent auction for Elekta’s Charity Bash, held Saturday, October 27 at the Harvard Club of Boston, where more than 1,000 attendees enjoyed live music and dancing.

“As a key ally in the fight against cancer, Facing Cancer Together has demonstrated an intense dedication to providing resources and services to people with all types of cancer at all stages of the disease,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta. “As this organization’s devotion to individuals with cancer aligns with Elekta’s ‘We Care for Life’ mission, it is a fitting recipient of this year’s charitable funds.”

Learn more about Facing Cancer Together at: www.facing-cancer.org

*U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2008 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; 2012.

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About Facing Cancer Together
Facing Cancer Together is a non-profit organization founded in 2009 by a group of clinicians devoted to providing support, wellness, and educational services to all people affected by cancer, regardless of their capacity to pay. FCT’s mission is to be an open and accepting community committed to creating a space full of connection and friendship, a place of growth and empowerment and an atmosphere of hope and healing. For more information on Facing Cancer Together, 430 Walnut Street, Newtonville, MA, 02460, please call (617) 332-5777 or visit www.facing-cancer.org.

Elekta Introduces MOSAIQ Connectivity for its microSelectron Digital Brachytherapy Afterloader at ASTRO Annual Meeting

Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:00:02 GMT

BOSTON

2012-10-29

Elekta’s open connectivity expansion delights customers with the widest choice of delivery and planning systems available in the market

At the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO, Boston, Mass.), Elekta announced that MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS) v 2.50 now includes connectivity with Nucletron’s microSelectron® Digital afterloader. This added connectivity allows the treatment record and chart information, in addition to dose and structure sets, to be part of the complete patient record – saving time, simplifying workflow and creating a paperless flow of brachytherapy practice information.

MOSAIQ-microSelectron Digital connectivity is the latest in Elekta’s long history of providing interfaces with virtually any radiotherapy delivery device or treatment planning system.

MOSAIQ now integrates with Accuray CyberKnife system

Recently, St. Anthony Hospital (Oklahoma City, Okla.) became the first center to use a MOSAIQ interface for its Accuray® CyberKnife® radiosurgery system. A MOSAIQ user for several years, St. Anthony officials had discussed the possibility of a MOSAIQ interface for CyberKnife with Accuray representatives.

“We are always trying to pursue opportunities to improve the communication capabilities of our interfaces,” says Chad Crane, BSRT(T), St. Anthony Supervisor, Radiation Oncology. “Since MOSAIQ is our primary department EMR, to have that functionality added to it was something we wanted to participate in.”

According to St. Anthony Lead Physicist, Cindy Parry, M.S., the MOSAIQ-CyberKnife interface presented an opportunity to streamline their radiosurgery process and to consolidate all patient information in a single location.

“To me, the greatest value is that the treatment is directly transferred to MOSAIQ through the interface,” she adds. “In this way, the physician seeing a patient for follow up can readily note that a CyberKnife patient got his fractions done in x amount of time, or can see if this patient also had an HDR or linac treatment – all that information will be in the patient record for him to see at once.”

Mevion proton delivery added to MOSAIQ connectivity portfolio

Elekta also reported in October that MOSAIQ now includes interconnectivity with Mevion Medical Systems’ MEVION S250 proton therapy system.

“The integration of the MEVION S250 with MOSAIQ is another important step toward making proton therapy accessible to more patients,” says Lionel G. Bouchet, Ph.D., Senior Director Product Management, Mevion Medical Systems.

More than 20 years of open-vendor connectivity

With a longstanding open-systems development philosophy, MOSAIQ includes interfaces to Elekta’s portfolio of linear accelerators, Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, and a broad array of third-party delivery systems, including Varian’s TrueBeam™, Accuray’s TomoTherapy® system, and Siemens’ Artiste™ and ONCOR™ systems, in addition to many other commercially available radiotherapy systems.

“With the latest additions to the MOSAIQ interface portfolio, Elekta maintains its ongoing commitment to develop seamless MOSAIQ connectivity for any treatment system or treatment planning system,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “We match this effort with our constant introduction of new and clinically useful MOSAIQ functionality that health care providers can harness to improve the patient experience.”

More than 2,500 global customers count on Elekta software to help them provide the safest and most efficient treatments in the fight against cancer. From its multiple redundant safety features to industry-leading practice management capabilities, MOSAIQ is the tool of choice to manage cutting-edge treatment centers.

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Elekta to Demonstrate Agility Beam-shaping Solution at 2012 ASTRO Annual Meeting

Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:30:00 GMT

BOSTON

2012-10-24

U.S. patients with cancer to benefit from new level of radiation therapy speed and accuracy

At the 54th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), October 28-31 in Boston, Elekta (booth #5067) will highlight its Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC), which has been shipped to more than 20 countries worldwide in the last six months. Agility, a groundbreaking new design of the MLC, features leaf speeds that are twice as fast as conventional beam-shaping devices, and offers a new level of conformance to tumor targets for rapid, accurate patient treatments.

Clinical use of Agility began on October 3 at Sibley Memorial Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine (Washington, D.C.), making it the first U.S. center to employ the innovative technology. In addition, use of Agility is imminent at several North American centers, including the University of California, Davis (Davis, Calif.) and William Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, Mich.).

"We acquired Elekta Agility because we anticipate improved beam delivery efficiency with the high-speed leaf motion and better beam-shaping capabilities with the 5 mm leaf width,” says Dr. Di Yan, D.Sc., Chief Physicist at William Beaumont. “Equally important is the low radiation transmission that Agility provides for enhanced patient protection."

UC Davis Professor and Chairman of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Richard Valicenti, M.D., M.A., adds: “We’re very excited about Agility. The technology is cutting edge, and we are expecting more accurate, safer treatments for our patients with the ability to more conformally shape the dose to the tumor target. In addition, the higher leaf speed will allow us to reduce our treatment times significantly in the interest of patient comfort.” Dr. Valicenti notes that UC Davis is scheduled to treat its first patient with Agility on November 9.

ASTRO attendees invited to visit Elekta booth 5067 for product demonstrations

Agility multi-leaf collimator (MLC) integrated with Elekta Infinity™ digital linear accelerator – attend a live speaker presentation in the Elekta booth every hour, Sunday, October 28 through Tuesday, October 30, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Oncentra® Brachy v 4.3 – learn how clinicians can simplify complex volume-based brachytherapy treatment planning. Oncentra Brachy includes tools and technology to accelerate the planning workflow, in addition to 25 improvements to increase ease-of-use.
MOSAIQ® Evaluate* – see how the latest generation of treatment planning software will allow the clinician to review treatment plans from within MOSAIQ, eliminating the need to go to a separate planning system.
Clarity® 4D Monitoring using Autoscan* – discover how clinicians can now monitor the motion of the prostate and surrounding tissues and organs, in real time and with sub-millimetric accuracy during beam delivery.
Identify™ – find out how clinicians can enhance patient safety and increase staff confidence in the identification of patients and accessories. Identify features advanced technology to provide aid to ensure the right patient is being treated at the right location and with the correct set up and equipment.

Additional Elekta activities

The MOSAIQ Medical Oncology Summit is being held Friday, October 26 at the Hynes Convention Center, Ballroom A on Level 3. Arthur P. Staddon, M.D., Clinical Professor at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine will present the keynote address.
The 21st Annual Elekta Oncology Users Meeting (EOUM) convenes Saturday, October 27 at the Hynes Convention Center. Customers using any Elekta solution are welcome to attend and take advantage of this free educational opportunity. Dr. Marla Shapiro, among Canada's most trusted guides to personal health and well-being, will serve as keynote speaker.
The Elekta Charity Bash, benefiting Massachusetts-based Facing Cancer Together (FCT), will be held Saturday, October 27 from 8 - 11 p.m. at the Harvard Club of Boston. Elekta is proud to support FCT for their dedication to providing resources and services to individuals with cancer at all stages of the disease. Tickets must be purchased in advance for this event and will not be sold at the door.
Elekta is a Platinum sponsor of American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Radiation Therapy Conference and will have a booth on the fourth floor of the Boston Marriott Copley Place. Sunday, October 28 at 7:30 a.m., Elekta will introduce the general session and speak about Elekta’s commitment to ASRT.
Elekta supports the Society for Radiation Oncology Administrators (SROA) as a Titanium sponsor and will exhibit at the SROA Annual Meeting on the first floor of the Hyatt Regency Cambridge, Booth #2. Elekta is sponsoring the SROA President’s Party Tuesday, October 30.
Elekta’s Capital Markets Day will be held Monday, October 29, from 1 - 3:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. Elekta’s President and CEO, Tomas Puusepp, together with other members of Elekta’s management team, will present the company and highlight the product and solutions portfolio. Visit elekta.com to watch live.

Follow the Elekta Twitter handle, @Elekta, for real-time updates from the ASTRO show floor. To schedule a briefing with an Elekta executive or receive a product demonstration, contact Michelle Joiner at +1 678-938-4163.

*Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact the local Elekta representative for details. MOSAIQ Evaluate and Clarity® 4D Monitoring using Autoscan are currently under 510(k) review by the U.S. FDA and are not currently available in the U.S.

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Danish Center Exploring Full Potential of Elekta’s Clarity Soft Tissue Imaging to Guide Radiotherapy for Cancer Patients

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:00:00 GMT

COPENHAGEN

2012-10-12

Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev investigator to start research projects on role of patient-friendly 3D ultrasound in image guided radiation therapy

A pioneer in image guided radiotherapy (IGRT) in Denmark, Copenhagen University Hospital (CUH, Herlev) was the first in the country to incorporate MRI in radiotherapy imaging simulation to guide radiotherapy of lung cancer patients. Continuing its tradition of IGRT firsts, CUH is the first hospital in Scandinavia to acquire Elekta’s Clarity® soft tissue visualization system with Autoscan.

CUH medical physicist Mariwan Baker, M.Sc., will use Clarity to further quantify the value of non-invasive, non-ionizing 3D ultrasound in increasing radiation therapy precision.

“3D ultrasound is non-invasive and cost effective, and provides soft tissue information that is complementary to CT images,” Baker observes. “Unlike CT, however, Clarity will enable daily imaging prior to treatment, which will help our oncologists account for interfraction variations in the target position and more precisely target the tumor by the prescribed planned dose.”

The first projects will involve Clarity studies of gynecological and prostate targets.

Baker’s research, the subject of his Ph.D. thesis, focuses on the potential to use Clarity for addressing the magnitude of uterus displacement in gynecological patients on a daily basis. Furthermore, the research encompasses the implementation of Clarity for 4D monitoring – to evaluate intrafraction changes in prostate position. Baker will first assess the extent of prostate shifts, a well-known phenomenon in radiotherapy, and will build on that knowledge by examining dosimetry variations caused by intrafraction prostate motion.

“It’s not simply evaluating the magnitude of the displacement,” he explains. “We have to get an idea about how much this displacement is influencing the dose distribution around the tumor, and of course, around the organs-at-risk.”

To accomplish this, Baker will be using Clarity 3D with Autoscan along with a 4D phantom that will be developed by CUH for ultrasound tracking with embedded real-time detectors.

“The phantom will simulate the prostate, enabling us to compare the dose recorded by dosimeters with and without compensating for motion,” he notes.

Breast imaging with Clarity

In addition to prostate and gynecological Clarity research, Baker mentioned the potential of an initial study on imaging the tumor cavity movement in post-operative breast cancer patients.

“A patient being treated post-operatively can have a least 25 fractions, so shrinkage of the cavity is an issue,” he says. “Pre-treatment imaging with Clarity can address that.”

Inpiduals with breast cancer represent 30 percent of CUH’s radiotherapy patient volume.

Baker predicts that clinical use of Clarity at CUH will begin in early 2013.

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China Center Marks 25,000th Patient Treated with Elekta Gamma Knife Technology

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:00:00 GMT

SHANGHAI

2012-10-11

Established in 1993, Shanghai Gamma Hospital is China’s first center dedicated to Gamma Knife surgery

SHANGHAI - A 60-year-old male resident of Shanghai’s Baoshan District became Shanghai Gamma Hospital’s 25,000^th patient to receive Gamma Knife^® radiosurgery. The target was a mulberry-shaped benign blood vessel abnormality in his brain, the treatment of which benefits by the extreme precision that Gamma Knife provides.

“This kind of intracranial abnormality has better outcomes with Gamma Knife radiosurgery than with open surgery,” says Li Pan, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurosurgery at Shanghai Gamma Hospital. “After radiosurgery, the lesion will shrink markedly in less than a year without any new neurologic deficiency. Open surgery risks hemorrhage, new cranial nerve disorder and incomplete resection. Since it is noninvasive, Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a safe and effective treatment method for this type of lesion with fewer complications.”

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a patient-friendly alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease, arteriovenous malformations (AVM) and meningiomas. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Leksell Gamma Knife^® Perfexion™, the latest generation Gamma Knife, provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous models.

Shanghai Gamma Hospital installed its first Leksell Gamma Knife in 1993, upgrading to the next generation system in 2002. On May 21, 2012, the center began using a Perfexion system – already treating 25,520 patients by October 1.

Over the last 19 years, as the radiosurgical skill and experience of the hospital’s clinicians grew – and as Gamma Knife technology evolved – patient volume swelled, according to Dr. Pan.

“In the beginning, we treated only one to four cases per day,” he recalls. “Last year, with the model C Gamma Knife, we treated eight patients a day. With the Perfexion system, we can treat more than 10 patients per day with shorter working hours and a more comfortable workflow for both patients and the Gamma Knife team. Perfexion also enables us to treat a larger range of intracranial targets and multiple lesions in a single session.”

With two full teams working in the Gamma Knife center, the hospital was able to treat more than 2,000 patients in both 2010 and 2011, a nearly 50 patients-per-week pace that Shanghai Gamma Knife Hospital maintains today with its usual 10-12 hour day. In fact, Elekta reports that the Shanghai center has treated four percent of all Gamma Knife radiosurgeries performed worldwide, and seven percent of the procedures performed in Asia.

“Our single-day record was 19 cases, but that was stretching into the early hours of the next day,” Dr. Pan adds. “These days, we complete treatments by midnight at the latest.”

Shanghai Gamma Hospital, now joined by 20 other dedicated Gamma Knife centers in China, also has served as an Elekta radiosurgery training center since 2002. The educational facility offers Gamma Knife training programs every other year, with more than 100 clinicians and technicians receiving training in that period.

More than 600,000 patients worldwide have received Gamma Knife radiosurgery, a figure that is increasing by about 60,000 per year.

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Elekta and Brainlab Collaborate to Enhance Radiosurgery Planning Power

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:00:00 GMT

STOCKHOLM and CHICAGO

2012-10-08

At the opening of the 2012 Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual Meeting in Chicago, radiosurgery and neurosurgery innovators Elekta and Brainlab, announced a collaboration which will enable neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists to use Brainlab’s iPlan® software together with Elekta’s Leksell GammaPlan® treatment planning for Gamma Knife® radiosurgery.

Through the collaboration, clinicians will be given the option to add the functionality of iPlan RT Image to the optimized dosimetry and precision of Leksell GammaPlan treatment planning. iPlan, including multimodality image fusion, contouring, atlas-based auto segmentation, fiber tracking and BOLD fMRI analysis, brings additional tools to account for organs-at-risk and other important anatomical and functional structures in the brain.

University of California San Francisco (UCSF) is the first institution to use iPlan pre-planning functionality with Leksell GammaPlan. Andrew T. Parsa M.D., Ph.D., UCSF Professor and Vice Chairman of Neurological Surgery comments: “We are very excited at the possibility to complement our Gamma Knife radiosurgery treatment planning with advanced software features that have already provided an impact within our surgical environment.”

Igor J. Barani, M.D., UCSF Clinical Research Director and Vice Chair, Department of Radiation Oncology, adds: “With the iPlan RT data enrichment enabled for GammaPlan, we get additional tools to optimize functional sparing and the best ablative treatment for tumors.”

With more than 300 Leksell Gamma Knife systems in clinical use and more than 600,000 patients treated to date, Elekta is the world leader in intracranial radiosurgery, renowned for the precision and ease of use of the treatment planning and delivery system.

Commenting on the collaboration, Åsa Hedin, Executive Vice President, Elekta Neuroscience says, “iPlan offers additional options to prepare data for treatment planning in GammaPlan. Many Gamma Knife users are already familiar with iPlan, and may now choose to also use the pre-planning tools in conjunction with Gamma Knife radiosurgery. In addition, this collaboration enables neurosurgeons who use Brainlab navigation to interact more easily with Gamma Knife radiosurgery.”

Both Elekta and Brainlab will demonstrate the interface between iPlan pre-planning and Leksell GammaPlan treatment planning at the ongoing CNS meeting in Chicago.

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About Brainlab
Brainlab develops, manufactures and markets software-driven medical technology with the aim of optimizing patient treatments. Core products revolve around less-invasive image guided surgery technology, more accurate and effective radiation therapy, and integration through planning and collaboration systems that brings patient data and physicians together. www.brainlab.com.

Elekta to Showcase Gamma Knife Registry Software at Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA and CHICAGO

2012-10-05

At the 2012 Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual Meeting, October 6-10, at McCormick Place (Chicago, Ill.), Elekta (booth #620) will reveal compelling new innovations for Leksell Gamma Knife® that promise to enhance information management.

Leksell Gamma Knife Registry will debut as a highly valuable software solution for research, treatment optimization and the future development of evidence-based medicine. By providing efficient and consistent data management, the registry helps physicians ensure the accuracy and consistency of treatment. It also provides patient outcomes for effective long-term analysis.

Leksell Gamma Knife Registry is powered by MOSAIQ®, Elekta's comprehensive Oncology Information System. Connectivity between Leksell Gamma Knife and MOSAIQ (in Leksell GammaPlan 10.2) ensures a better flow of patient care and saves valuable time and resources. In addition to importing patient information, users also can interface with billing systems, import appointment scheduling, import lab results and export lab orders.

In addition, Elekta will highlight characteristics of Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ that separate the system from other radiosurgery solutions. These include its dedication to intracranial cases, complete solution integration, industry-leading accuracy, “shrink-wrap” dose conformity and extensive proven clinical efficacy. Demonstrations of the system will emphasize that Perfexion is designed to minimize the risk of human error and radiation toxicity, while optimizing accuracy and dose conformance.

“Collecting, storing and analyzing clinical data are increasingly critical in refining treatments based on outcomes,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “Leksell Gamma Knife Registry can serve as the foundation for the clinic’s development of evidence-based, personalized medicine protocols that will benefit patients.”

Learn more at www.elekta.com/gammaknife.

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Swedish Cancer Institute Sees Major Improvements in Planning VMAT Cases for Cancer Patients with Elekta’s New Monaco 3.20

Tue, 02 Oct 2012 13:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA

2012-10-02

Planning system’s Segment Shape Optimization boosts VMAT plan quality, increases delivery efficiency by 30-50 percent

In two clinical SBRT cases and retrospective plan comparisons of 10 previously treated patients with cancer, physicists at Swedish Cancer Institute (SCI, Seattle, Wash.) have discovered that Elekta’s latest release of Monaco® treatment planning system – version 3.20 – provides significant benefits in dose conformity, delivery efficiency and sparing of organs-at-risk. SCI has been evaluating Monaco 3.20 since April.

In VMAT planning cases, physicists led by SCI Medical Physicist Daliang Cao, Ph.D., compared Monaco 3.20 with the previous version of Monaco and found that Monaco 3.20 with Segment Shape Optimization™ (SSO) can provide much more uniform target dose without significantly compromising the sparing of critical normal structures. Compared with the previous version, they also observed that Monaco 3.20 reduced beam delivery time by 37 percent (1.3 min.) in some cases.

“In addition, Monaco 3.20 provides similar or better dose distributions, dose conformity and sparing of organs-at-risk compared with our other VMAT planning system,” Dr. Cao reports. “We look forward to putting Monaco 3.20 into routine clinical practice.”

SSO is key to Monaco 3.20

The new Segment Shape Optimization (SSO) enables improved dose conformity, plan quality and delivery efficiency through its proprietary approach to smoothing and clustering segments, then optimizing beam weights and shapes. Powered by the Monte Carlo algorithm, the results are plans that improve sparing of organs-at-risk and dose conformality.

In addition to improved plan quality over the previous Monaco release, with SSO, Monaco VMAT can reduce the number of segments and therefore the amount of MLC leaf motion in the plan. The result is a 30-50 percent improvement in delivery efficiency, according to Dr. Cao.

In SCI’s SBRT cases, Dr. Cao found that Monaco VMAT planning takes just a few hours to obtain a reasonable plan, compared with the 1-2 day process using the center’s existing VMAT planning system.

“The target dose also tends to be more uniform, with less dose spill out,” he says. “In addition, Monaco can provide a sharper dose gradient, which can reduce the dose to nearby critical structures. Conversely, Monaco can maintain the same critical structure dose while providing a higher target dose.”

Learn more about Monaco 3.20 at www.elekta.com/rtp.

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Singapore Center Uses Elekta’s Agility Beam-shaping Innovation for First Time in Radiotherapy Treatments of Cancer Patients

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 10:00:13 GMT

SINGAPORE

2012-09-24

First to use Agility in Singapore, Gleneagles Hospital dramatically accelerates therapy delivery and improves dose sculpting capabilities

On September 3, three patients became Gleneagles Hospital’s first to receive their radiation therapy treatments on the center’s new Elekta Synergy® treatment system equipped with Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC). The beam-shaping solution’s ultra-fast leaf movements enabled clinicians at Gleneagles Hospital to cut treatment times nearly in half.

“Beam delivery for two of the patients took almost half the time it takes on the existing treatment system,” says Yak Koon Tay, Chief Physicist at Gleneagles Hospital. Gleneagles Hospital acquired Elekta Synergy in June with Agility integrated, powered by the Integrity™ R3.0 digital control system and is the first Center in Southeast Asia to have Agility 160-leaf MLC. The center also plans treatments with Elekta’s Monaco® treatment planning system.

“Patients benefit from various advantages that Agility brings, including low transmission, high leaf speed, optimal leaf width, orthogonal tracking jaws and consistently good penumbra and accuracy,” Mr. Tay observes. “With the low MLC transmission of less than 0.5 percent, patients with cancer will receive reduced mean dose to organs-at-risk.

Integrity and Monaco bring added advantages

In addition to state-of-the-art beam shaping with Agility, Elekta Synergy promises smooth and safe delivery of all treatment techniques with the Integrity control system, he adds.

“Accuracy and performance are significantly improved with Integrity,” Mr. Tay says. “Continuously Variable Dose Rate [CVDR] – which allows the dose rate to be adjusted to its ideal value during delivery of both dynamic and VMAT techniques – makes the delivery of the prescription smoother and faster when compared to a discrete dose rate.”

Monaco – with the gold standard Monte Carlo dose algorithm – has helped physicians at Gleneagles Hospital provide fast and accurate dose delivery to patients, he adds.

“The measured dose in the phantom and planning dose are accurate and gives us confidence that what we plan is what we deliver,” he says.

On September 14, Gleneagles Hospital brought the Agility-equipped Elekta Synergy up to a full-day’s schedule of 25 to 30 patients.

Learn more about Agility at www.elekta.com/agility.

*Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact the local Elekta representative for details.

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Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex Presents Queen’s Award for Enterprise to Elekta

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Crawley

2012-09-20

Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex officially presented The Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2012: International Trade to Elekta, a leading global medical technology company dedicated to oncology and neuroscience clinical advancements, on Fleming Way in Crawley on September 19.

Bill Yaeger with Mrs. Susan Pyper – Lord Lieutenant West Sussex

Dignitaries representing The Queen, West Sussex County Council, Crawley Borough Council and local Crawley MP The Rt. Hon. Henry Smith MP attended the ceremonial presentation.

The Queen’s Award, confirmed in April earlier this year, is the United Kingdom’s highest accolade for business success, and acknowledges continuous improvement in Elekta’s overseas sales. Elekta’s steady growth of exports is calculated at 131 percent over the last six years.

In addition to The Queen’s Award presentation the official party toured the Elekta site and participated in an informal reception.

“The presentation of The Queen’s Award was a celebration of the skill and commitment of our staff and the support of valued customers at home and overseas,” says Bill Yaeger, Executive Vice President Elekta Oncology. “Crawley is world renowned as the home of the digital linear accelerator, and we are pleased that Elekta’s employees and clinical partners can be proud of The Queen’s Award and in our tradition of improving the lives of individuals with cancer. Elekta’s oncology innovations not only are shared with the world, but they also benefit the U.K. manufacturing and industrial sectors.”

L-R Mr. Michael Hodgson – Vice Chairman of West Sussex County Council,
Deputy Lieutenant - Mrs. Daphne Anthony,
The High Sheriff - Mr. Andrew John Stephenson Clarke
Elekta UK - Mr. Bill Yaeger,
Lord Lieutenant of West Sussex - Mrs. Susan Pyper
and Mayor of Crawley – Cllr Keith Blake

“The Queen’s Award for International Trade is an important and prestigious endorsement of our business performance,” he adds. “But that level of achievement is built on a broad combination of staff dedication, inspiration and relationships with hospitals throughout the world including thriving partnerships with NHS Trusts here in the U.K. We are truly grateful for everyone’s support.”

In May, The Rt. Hon. Iain Duncan Smith, British Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, visited Elekta’s Crawley facility. His fact-finding trip offered a personal insight into Elekta’s new high-resolution Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC).

*Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact the local Elekta representative for details

###

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Director of Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Elekta Launches New Version of Monaco Treatment Planning System with Segment Shape Optimization

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 13:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA

2012-09-19

Monaco 3.20 improves plan quality, dose conformity and treatment delivery efficiency for VMAT and Agility

Elekta recently announced the latest production release of its Monaco® treatment planning system, version 3.20, which offers customers improved VMAT planning and delivery support in addition to support for Elekta’s Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator. This release promises to create new workflow efficiencies through integrated plan approval and enhanced integration with MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System.

The new Segment Shape Optimization™ is driving improved dose conformity, plan quality and delivery efficiency through its proprietary approach to smoothing and clustering segments then optimizing beam weights and shapes. Powered by the Monte Carlo algorithm, the results are plans that improve sparing of organs-at-risk and dose conformality.

In addition, the release’s new contouring tool, EZ Sketch, and Room’s Eye View increase workflow efficiency. Support for Agility means that Monaco 3.20 users can achieve a new level of beam-shaping precision and delivery speed.

Staff at Kettering Medical Center (Dayton, Ohio) used a pilot version of Monaco 3.20.

“We have been using Monaco 3.20 clinically since June 2012,” says Christopher Wennerstrom, MS, DABR, Medical Physicist at Kettering Medical Center. “It has consistently provided excellent tumor coverage while meeting our physicians’ very strict OAR tolerances. The new Target Penalty cost function and segment shape optimizer allow us to treat more patients with VMAT than ever before, and even our most complex SBRT cases have extremely quick treatment times.”

Monaco is a state-of-the-art IMRT, VMAT and SBRT planning solution that features innovative biological cost functions with multi-criterial constrained optimization, a powerful leaf sequence optimizer and a robust Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm. Monaco helps make the planning process easier, more straightforward and clinically reliable.

For more information on Elekta’s latest treatment planning releases, visit: www.elekta.com/rtp.

*Agility is not licensed for sale in all markets. Please contact your local representative for details.

###

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Director of Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,300 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.

Group Florence Nightingale Increases Radiosurgery Profile with Acquisition of Turkey’s First Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion System

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 10:00:00 GMT

ISTANBUL

2012-09-19

Patients from Turkey and abroad receive minimally invasive radiosurgery for cancer and other brain disorders on Elekta’s most advanced radiosurgery system

Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ – Elekta’s most advanced Gamma Knife® platform – became Turkey’s fifth Gamma Knife system, beginning clinical operation at Group Florence Nightingale’s Comprehensive Cancer Center (Istanbul) on May 25. The Cancer Center’s Prof. Dr. Talat Kiris used Perfexion for the first time by treating a 15-year-old Iraqi boy with a partially resected skull base tumor.

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a patient friendly alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease, arteriovenous malformations (AVM) and meningiomas. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Perfexion provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous models.

According to Prof. Dr. Kiris, both he and the Group’s administration were strongly committed to acquiring Perfexion for the Comprehensive Cancer Center due to the proven effectiveness of Gamma Knife surgery and to the added sophistication of the Perfexion system.

“For years, Gamma Knife surgery has the accepted gold standard for the treatment of many intracranial indications,” Prof. Dr. Kiris observes. “In addition, compared to previous Gamma Knife models, Perfexion dramatically streamlines the radiosurgery workflow and expands the treatable volume with a new collimator. Treatment delivery to one or more tumors in a single session also is greatly facilitated in Perfexion, and allows treatment of a wider range of targets faster, more efficiently and safer than before.

“For me, Perfexion is a neurosurgeon’s tool,” he continues. “It’s very easy to use and if you know brain anatomy very well, the system software helps you a lot.”

First clinical cases successful

The first Perfexion case involving the boy from Iraq was unusual, he says.

“It was a highly vascular lesion that bled significantly during resection, so we stopped the surgery, leaving part of it intact. He had radiosurgery with Perfexion and everything went perfectly. He flew back to his country the next morning.”

The second Perfexion patient came the very same day, a Bulgarian man with a vestibular schwannoma, a common Gamma Knife radiosurgery indication. This patient also left the hospital on the day of his surgery. Since then, eight other private patients – encompassing an AVM and a metastasis, meningiomas and trigeminal neuralgia – have undergone Perfexion radiosurgery.

“On July 5, we treated a patient with a brain stem tumor from Azerbaijan and the following week we treated two more patients, one with an AVM and one with a vestibular schwannoma,” he notes. “Next year, I predict we will treat increasing numbers of patients with one or more metastases.”

###

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Director of Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

First Cancer Patients in Southern Hemisphere Receive Treatment with Elekta’s Agility Beam-shaping Innovation for Radiotherapy

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 13:39:49 GMT

Wagga Wagga

2012-09-13

Clinicians at Australia’s Riverina Cancer Care Centre report reductions in radiation beam delivery time with Agility

WAGGA WAGGA, NSW, Sept. 13 /PRNewswire/ – Transitioning from two Siemens treatment machines to two Elekta Synergy® radiotherapy systems equipped with Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC), physicians at the Riverina Cancer Care Centre (RCCC) have been able to decrease beam delivery time by up to seven minutes for a variety of cancers. The RCCC treated its first patients using an Agility-equipped Elekta Synergy system on July 30, making the New South Wales facility first in the southern hemisphere to go clinical with the beam-shaping device.

“We have been very pleasantly surprised with the delivery speed of Agility, in addition to its beam-shaping accuracy,” says Damien Williams, Riverina Cancer Care Centre Managing Director. “Reducing beam delivery time for complex IMRT treatments by up to seven minutes – from around 16 or 17 minutes with our previous system to 9 or 10 minutes with the Agility-equipped Synergy, this is a very significant efficiency and clinical benefit. The interdigitation capabilities of Agility enables far fewer segments for complex plans. We also have observed a marked difference in the precision we can achieve.”

Agility precisely sculpts delivered radiation to the distinctive contours of the tumor, while reducing radiation exposure of healthy normal tissues. Agility also includes ultra-fast leaf movements – twice as fast as other MLCs commonly used in the industry.

As a unique public-private healthcare partnership, the Riverina Cancer Care Centre recently celebrated ten years of establishment. During that time, nearly 9000 patients have benefited by accessing the state-of-the-art service in Wagga Wagga, NSW. The Riverina Cancer Care Centre’s selection of Elekta Synergy with Agility complements the organization’s mission to provide world-class radiation oncology and medical oncology in a regional setting – ensuring that patients don’t suffer the isolation and dislocation from family and friends for potentially life-saving treatment.

“Since we opened in 2002, we have been strongly committed to ensuring that patients in our regional catchment of nearly 250,000 inhabitants have access to the best possible healthcare – care and technology that is as good as that provided in metropolitan areas,” he says. “It is vitally importantly that our patients have access to a state-of-the-art service. We knew that by installing an Elekta solution with cone beam CT and Agility, we would be providing the best available.”

In Riverina’s case, the best also means a no-waiting list policy. Patients have access to immediate care without the need to join a waiting list. The delivery speed of Agility will help ensure this strong commitment to the community remains unaltered, not only for today but for many years to come. Since July 30, 2012 the Riverina Cancer Care Centre has managed to bring its Elekta Synergy patient load up to an average of 40 patients per day with the capacity to significantly increase patient volume in the future.

“Many centers across the globe will move to using Agility,” Williams says. “We feel very privileged and proud that our small regional cancer facility is the first in the southern hemisphere to clinically use this wonderful technology.”

By December 2012, Riverina will be clinical with their second Elekta Synergy with Agility, allowing the center to increase capacity and treat even more regional patients close to home.

Read more about Agility at www.elekta.com/agility.

*Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact the local Elekta representative for details.

###

For further information, please contact:

Johan Andersson Melbi, Investor Relations Manager, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com

Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Brazilian Hospital Upgrades Cancer Management Capabilities with Elekta Solutions

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 13:00:00 GMT

SAO PAULO, Brazil

2012-09-12

Barretos Cancer Hospital acquires Elekta therapy and planning systems and is first Latin American center to acquire Clarity soft tissue visualization software

Among the largest public hospitals in Brazil, Barretos Cancer Hospital made a major commitment to the healthcare of the country’s citizens by acquiring a range of advanced Elekta cancer management solutions. The technology includes Elekta Synergy® Platform, Monaco® and XiO® treatment planning systems and Clarity® 3D ultrasound-assisted image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). The Elekta products were delivered in August 2012.

“As a teaching hospital, it was important for us to broaden our range of cancer treatment systems beyond our existing equipment – to enable us to evaluate how Elekta’s solutions might improve the provision of healthcare,” says Rodrigo Gadia, M.D., Head of the Department of Radiotherapy. “In Brazil, this is critical, as access to advanced treatment technology is limited. In particular, we hope that use of Elekta Synergy Platform – once it is upgraded with IGRT capabilities – may represent a practical demonstration of a good cost-benefit ratio for the use of IGRT in Brazil.”

The influx of advanced radiation therapy technology is critical in Brazil, a country of 200 million inhabitants. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer is the second leading cause of death in Brazil, with lung, prostate and stomach cancers representing the highest cancer mortality rates among males. Cancer mortality rates for Brazilian females are highest in breast, cervical and lung cancers.

Platform for launching IGRT

Elekta Synergy Platform is designed to enable simple integration of the key imaging technologies that will transform an advanced linear accelerator into an IGRT system. This upgrade allows clinicians to bring image guidance into the treatment set up process – with the patient in the treatment position and just moments before therapy. The integrated imaging workflow in Elekta Synergy has enabled clinicians, on a daily basis, to correct patient setup errors due to organ motion and increase treatment accuracy. Imaging tools include 3D volumetric cone beam imaging for soft tissue visualization; 2D real-time, fluoroscopic-like imaging for targets that move frequently; and 2D kV imaging for standard planar imaging.

Barretos plans to use its Elekta Synergy Platform to treat many of its patients employing Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT), in which the treatment beam travels in single or multiple high-speed arcs around the patient, significantly reducing beam delivery time.

“VMAT will enable us to reduce the time the patient spends on the treatment table by several minutes,” he says.

Barretos Cancer Hospital also will immediately be able to exploit the benefits of Elekta treatment planning solutions. Monaco brings a fundamentally new approach to planning, featuring innovative biological cost functions with multi-criterial constrained optimization, a powerful leaf sequence optimizer and the Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm. XiO is a comprehensive 3D IMRT treatment planning platform that combines the latest tools and dose calculation algorithms.

“Monaco and XiO are very sophisticated planning solutions that we predict will streamline plan development, while also ensuring the best possible clinical results for our patients,” Dr. Gadia says.

Clarity 3D ultrasound benefits

Barretos will use its two Clarity systems – the first in Latin America – to provide image guidance for soft tissue targets. The center also intends to pursue clinical studies on the planning benefits of integrating 3D ultrasound with CT based planning. This work will help explore the local applicability of a relatively low-cost imaging modality that could be retrofitted on existing equipment in the region.

“Clarity will be another way to obtain fast, accurate soft tissue IGRT that we can integrate with any of our linear accelerators, with the added benefit of non-invasiveness,” he says.

###

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Investor Relations Manager, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

U.K. Center Combines Elekta’s Agility Beam-shaping Solution with Fast VMAT Delivery to Significantly Cut Cancer Patients’ Radiotherapy Treatment Time

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:00:00 GMT

MIDDLESBROUGH, England

2012-09-10

Agility / VMAT at The James Cook University Hospital demonstrates nearly 41 percent reduction in beam delivery time

Less than three months after beginning clinical use of their Elekta Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC), physicians at The James Cook University Hospital have achieved another benchmark – their first use of Agility to deliver radiation therapy employing Elekta’s Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). The ability to accelerate both beam shaping and beam delivery with Agility and VMAT cut 57 seconds off the beam delivery time of the first patient, a 61-year-old male with prostate cancer.

Using twice the number of leaves typical of many standard MLC’s, Agility precisely sculpts delivered radiation to the distinctive contours of the tumor, while reducing the risk of exposure to healthy normal tissues. Agility also includes ultra-fast leaf movements – twice as fast as other MLCs commonly used in the industry.

Agility complements rapid beam delivery techniques, such as VMAT, in which single or multiple radiation beams sweep in one or more uninterrupted arcs around the patient, reducing treatment times significantly.

On August 8, the Middlesbrough patient received his first treatment fraction, a single 200-degree VMAT arc, which took just 83 seconds to deliver. In comparison, a three-field 3D conformal treatment would have taken 140 seconds (2:20 min.) to deliver, demonstrating a 40.7 percent reduction in beam delivery time with Agility / VMAT. When factoring in image guidance, the total treatment time-savings with Agility / VMAT was 72 seconds (1:12 min.).

“This was our first experience with VMAT and it went very well,” says Christopher Walker, Head of Radiotherapy Physics at The James Cook University Hospital. “The treatment speed not only reduces the likelihood that the patient will move and that the internal organs will shift position, but it also contributes to faster patient throughput, which is key. With Agility / VMAT we expect to be able to treat five patients per hour.”

Importantly, a new version of Monaco® (v 3.20) was used to plan the first Agility / VMAT case.

“We used PIVOTAL trial dose constraints, achieving good coverage of the target and optimal sparing of the rectum and bladder,” Mr. Walker observes. “It was a significant improvement over our previous 3D conformal planning.”

The image guidance technology on their Elekta Synergy® treatment system also was critical for ensuring accuracy, he adds.

“We wouldn’t have done the treatment without the cone beam CT on the Synergy system,” he says. “Through image guidance we identified movement of the target volume before treatment delivery on the first day which resulted in us replanning the patient before subsequent treatments.”

With the successful launch of Agility / VMAT at The James Cook University Hospital, clinicians here have begun treating a second prostate patient and a third is on the schedule.

“We’re now open for business as far as prostate VMAT is concerned,” Mr. Walker says. “Looking ahead, we will be expanding out to other sites in the body over the next few months.”

Read more about Agility at www.elekta.com/agility.

*Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact the local Elekta representative for details.

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Prospect of Paperless Department and Advanced Cancer Treatment Techniques Prompt German Clinic’s Switch to Elekta

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:00:04 GMT

WEIDEN, Germany

2012-08-31

Klinikum Weiden converts to Elekta Synergy radiation therapy systems and MOSAIQ Oncology Information System

In 2009, clinicians at Klinikum Weiden determined that the most logical path to a paperless department and modern radiation therapy techniques was through a conversion of its Siemens Oncology Information System (OIS) and aging linear accelerators to Elekta’s MOSAIQ® OIS and Elekta Synergy® treatment systems. The complete conversion was implemented between 2009 and 2011.

“Our linear accelerators were 14-years-old and only one had a multi-leaf collimator,” says Bernd Gagel, M.D., head of the radiation therapy department at Klinikum Weiden. “In addition, the existing LANTIS™ OIS was able to do only 3D conformal radiation therapy. To modernize the department, we knew we needed to change our therapy delivery systems and – to optimize workflow – the oncology information management system as well.”

A major factor in the clinic’s decision to convert to Elekta treatment systems was the ease with which Klinikum Weiden could convert from LANTIS to MOSAIQ, which included importing all the patient data in LANTIS to MOSAIQ.

“The hospital staff were familiar with the LANTIS user interface and functionality so we thought they would become accustomed to MOSAIQ easily,” Dr. Gagel says.

The EMR functionality of MOSAIQ was seen as a particularly attractive feature due to its promise of a paperless department. EMR is increasingly used in hospitals throughout Germany.

“We knew that with MOSAIQ we could optimize our workflow by centralizing the department’s operation management, using functionalities such as scheduling, documentation of the complete treatment chain and image management,” he notes.

Klinikum Weiden is not yet completely paperless, but in the course of digitalizing its department with MOSAIQ, the clinic has implemented many improvements, including:

Workflow management using MOSAIQ Quality Checklists (QCL)
Using MOSAIQ Photos & Diagrams to import patient photos and patient positioning photos
Using MOSAIQ Clinical Image Management to store and manage DRRs, portal images, planning CT’s and cone beam CT’s (CBCT)
Follow up analysis for quality management needs using MOSAIQ Reporting in combination with Crystal Reports

Advanced therapies

The two Elekta Synergy systems have transformed Klinikum Weiden’s therapy capabilities, enabling clinicians to perform Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and stereotactic treatments.

“In 2011 alone, we treated 70 percent of our patients using IMRT,” Dr. Gagel reports. “We also can check the patient set-up for IMRT patients with both, MV and kV modalities. These modalities, the iViewGT™ and XVI [CBCT] technology of the Synergy systems, are coordinated by the SYNERGISTIQ™* workstations, which we acquired for both systems in 2010. In addition, in the near future we plan to introduce VMAT. The Elekta Synergy systems are very stable and reliable, and provide a smooth workflow in our department, each system treating up to 50 patients per day.”

*SYNERGISTIQ is a configuration of MOSAIQ.

###

For further information, please contact:
Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

ASRT Foundation and Elekta Award More Than $20,000 in Scholarships to Radiation Therapy Students

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA and ALBUQUERQUE

2012-08-29

The ASRT Education and Research Foundation and Elekta are excited to announce the recipients of the 2012 Elekta Radiation Therapy Scholarship.

Made possible by a contribution of $23,000 in funding and support from Elekta, four scholarships of $5,000 each recently were awarded to entry-level radiation therapy students. Elekta has demonstrated its commitment to radiation therapy by providing $140,000 in scholarships since 2006.

"Because Elekta is dedicated to making cancer care technology as gentle, therapeutic and efficient as possible, we are committed to ensuring that users of this technology are adequately prepared from an educational standpoint to exploit its tremendous potential," says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. "This is the reason why our partnership with the ASRT Education and Research Foundation is so critical. It provides a key opportunity to learn, share knowledge and enhance patient care."

This year’s scholarship recipients are:

Lee Culp of Buffalo, N.Y., enrolled in an associate degree program at Erie Community College – City Campus.
David Dosanjh of Livermore, Calif., enrolled in an associate degree program at City College of San Francisco.
Njeri Kaittany-Gaines of Houston enrolled in a bachelor’s degree program at the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Valerie Nix of Las Vegas enrolled in an associate degree program at the College of Southern Nevada.

To be eligible, applicants must be entry-level students enrolled in an accredited radiation therapy program.

Scholarship recipients submitted applications and were selected based on evidence of commitment, leadership, achievement and financial need. The Foundation’s Scholarship Review Committee evaluated scholarship applications and provided recommendations to the Board of Trustees. Recipients were then approved by the Board of Trustees.

To learn more about scholarship programs, including eligibility requirements and application information, and for more information about the ASRT Education and Research Foundation, visit www.asrtfoundation.org.

###

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Elekta President and CEO Tomas Puusepp Pledges Support in Addressing Global Cancer Challenge at World Cancer Leaders’ Summit in Montreal

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:00:00 GMT

MONTREAL

2012-08-27

Company also will showcase its innovative solutions for advanced radiation therapy at the World Cancer Congress

Tomas Puusepp, President and CEO of Elekta, a global leader in developing innovative solutions for treating cancer, will be participating in the 2012 World Cancer Leaders’ Summit today in Montréal. Elekta also is a sponsor and exhibitor for the biennial UICC World Cancer Congress, Aug. 27-30 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal.

“We are dedicated to contributing our time, talents and resources to advancements in cancer care,” says Puusepp. “I’m honored to join international cancer leaders in Montréal where Elekta is engaged and committed to bringing hope to patients with cancer.”

The World Cancer Congress gives participants the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about solutions for reducing the impact of cancer on communities around the world. It will highlight how knowledge gained through research and practice can benefit people living with and affected by cancer.

Puusepp notes that Elekta is committed to supporting local cancer communities in Montréal and throughout Canada. Montréal is home to one of Elekta’s key research and development centers, and some of the company’s Canadian customers include McGill University Hospital Centre and Cancer Care Ontario, one of North America's largest cancer centers.

“We are privileged to have played a part in the establishment of this important research and development facility in Canada,” he says. “Our Montréal team has been dedicated to developing effective, patient-friendly cancer management solutions that are used every day to help individuals with cancer worldwide.”

At the Congress’s Global Village, Elekta will share its products and insights at its exhibit, which will feature three of its industry leading solutions for advanced radiation therapy:

MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System puts the patient at the center of the cancer care universe by enabling real-time data access that centralizes the patient’s electronic medical record (EMR). MOSAIQ facilitates coordination of the treatment process from referral to therapy and beyond. Quebec’s Centre de Santé et de Services Sociaux de Laval selected MOSAIQ for both the radiation oncology and medical oncology departments at its new cancer facility, Centre Intégré de Cancérologie de Laval, which opened earlier this year.
Clarity soft tissue visualization software, a non-invasive technology for image-guided radiation therapy that avoids adding any imaging dose or requiring surgically implanted markers.
METRIQ® cancer registry software, an electronic repository for collecting patient data and using it to learn more about cancer. With METRIQ, clinicians, planners and funders of cancer services, and cancer research obtain quality clinical data and clinical collaboration is fostered both regionally and worldwide.

“Considering the global burden of disease, cancer ranks as a leading cause of death, accounting for 7.6 million deaths – 13 percent of all deaths – in 2008, according to the World Health Organization,” Puusepp observes. “The mission of Elekta and other providers is clear, and we are honored that Elekta solutions in particular are used in 6,000 hospitals worldwide to improve, prolong and save the lives of nearly one million patients every year.”

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Singapore Center Uses Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Guide Brachytherapy Treatment of Cervical Cancer

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 07:44:55 GMT

Singapore

2012-08-07

National Cancer Centre Singapore clinicians harness magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to better tailor brachytherapy radiation dose to tumor, sparing normal tissues

The ability of MRI to create exquisite images of the body’s soft tissues – and the tumors that arise amid them – is helping physicians at National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) to precisely shape brachytherapy doses to cervical tumors, while at the same time avoiding exposure to critical healthy organs and tissues. Since November 2011, NCCS clinicians have used MRI to characterize soft tissues, organs at risk and lesions before successive brachytherapy treatments using the microSelectron® Digital remote afterloader and Oncentra 3D Brachy Image Guided Treatment Planning system, both manufactured by Nucletron, an Elekta company. Nucletron is a pioneer in image-guided brachytherapy.

Brachytherapy is an advanced, highly targeted cancer treatment in which radiotherapeutic sources are placed in or near a tumor, giving a high radiation dose to the tumor while reducing the radiation exposure in the surrounding healthy tissues. NCCS uses the micro-Selectron Digital® high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy, which introduces the radiation source for a certain time using a special applicator.

“After our first year using CT based planning for 3D brachytherapy, we felt confident enough to take the next step: MRI guided adaptive brachytherapy,” says Richard Yeo, M.D., Senior Consultant Radiation Oncologist at NCCS. “The ability to visualize the tumor on MRI and plan the treatment ‘live’ is nothing short of amazing.”

Better images, better treatment

MRI provides information about the tumor’s volume (3D) and how the volume and shape change between treatment sessions (4D). Performing an MRI scan before each brachy session enables clinicians to adapt the dose to the unique anatomy of each patient, accounting for not only the position of organs a risk, but also tumor regression or movement, which may have occurred during preceding external beam radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy and between brachy sessions themselves.

Conforming brachytherapy doses closely to the tumor’s shape and position is important in order to apply the highest possible dose to the tumor while limiting the dose to critical structures such as the bladder and rectum, thereby decreasing the likelihood of treatment side effects.

“The Oncentra Treatment Planning [OTP] system is very user friendly, with its intuitive interface and flexible workflow for managing CT and MR images,” says Lawrence Ng, Consultant Physicist at NCCS. “The recently upgraded OTP version 4.1 incorporates a very useful 3D modeling library for accurate applicator placement during planning. This results in enhanced accuracy in source dwell position reconstruction and dose calculation which hopefully will translate into better treatment result.”

Various publications from leading hospitals around the world have shown that use of this advanced technology allows health care teams to treat even the most complex cervical cancers, expected to result in lower recurrence rates and higher survival. Intensive multi-center research is ongoing with the aim to provide more data to confirm these treatment benefits over traditional methods. This will allow experts to address unmet medical needs for this common cancer¹.

World-class training

A group of NCCS experts received training on MRI guided adaptive therapy at the University Hospital of Vienna, a leading center pioneering the development of this technique for the treatment of cervical cancer. The advanced work done in medical centers in Austria, and across Europe will now gradually be adopted in a growing number of hospitals in the Asia Pacific region.

“Building a network of regional expertise will help other Asian hospitals adopt this new technology and provide state-of-the-art treatments to their patients,” says Ulrich Krumme, Regional Director for Sales and Marketing Elekta Brachytherapy Far East. “This will be especially important, as technologies that have been developed in Europe will need to be adapted to local infrastructures and patient demographics. The potential clinical benefit of 3D gynecological planning and treatment over the conventional 2D approach makes it attractive for us to help hospitals with the adoption.”

To learn more, visit www.nucletron.com/oncentra.

¹Radiotherapy and Oncology 94 (2010) 173–180, Int. J. Radiation Oncology Biol. Phys., Vol. 65, No. 2, pp. 624–630, 2006, Clinical Oncology 22 (2010) 602-604.

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For further information, please contact:

Gert van Santen, Communications Director, Nucletron an Elekta company

Tel +31 6 5356 1242, email: gert.vansanten@elekta.com

Time zone: Central European Time

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Elekta Technology at Work in 100 Percent of America’s Top Cancer Hospitals

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 07:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2012-08-03

U.S. News & World Report's 2012 edition of America's Best Hospitals reaffirms Elekta’s leadership in the U.S. oncology market

U.S. News & World Report recently issued its annual list of America’s best hospitals, including the country’s top-ranked hospitals for cancer. All 50 of these cancer hospitals are users of Elekta solutions, which include advanced information management, treatment planning, brachytherapy and treatment delivery.

“Consistently ranking among the best in any care delivery category is testament to the dedication and commitment of a healthcare organization,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “We congratulate these hospitals for their great service to patients, are we are honored that these organizations ranking the best in cancer care delivery, in particular, have chosen Elekta solutions to treat their patients.”

U.S. News & World Report grades hospitals not on routine procedures but on how well they manage complex, demanding situations. The 2,227 hospitals that met the initial selection criteria received a score between 0 and 100. This score was based on the hospitals’ reputation, patient safety and care-related factors such as nursing and patient services. The 50 highest-scoring hospitals were ranked.

These hospitals were ranked in 16 specialties such as cancer, orthopedics, urology and heart disease. Only 148 hospitals – of the 4,793 in the original analysis – scored high enough to be ranked in even one of the 16 specialties. Of these hospitals, an Honor Roll of 17 Best Hospitals was chosen, all of which provide care with the help of an Elekta solution.

In the top-50 cancer specialty hospitals listed, all 50, or 100 percent, utilize Elekta equipment or software, including:

Leksell Gamma Knife® or Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, a non-invasive method for treating brain tumors and other neurological disorders. Finely adapted to intracranial radiosurgery, Leksell Gamma Knife is preferred for its accuracy, efficiency and outstanding therapeutic response. 26 of the top 50 cancer hospitals listed (52%) are Gamma Knife users.

Elekta Infinity™, a digital linear accelerator optimized for VMAT. Offering rapid IMRT treatment delivered in single or multiple arcs that more precisely targets the tumor while protecting surrounding healthy tissue, Infinity delivers superior dose conformance, treatment speed and ultra low dose safeguards.

MOSAIQ®, an oncology information system that centralizes radiation oncology, particle therapy and medical oncology patient data into a single user interface, accessible by multi-disciplinary teams across multiple locations. 26 of the top 50 cancer hospitals listed (52%) are MOSAIQ users.

Monaco® is a state-of-the-art IMRT, VMAT and SBRT planning solution that brings new concepts to the clinic. Monaco features innovative biological cost functions with multi-criterial constrained optimization, a powerful leaf sequence optimizer and a robust Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm. Monaco helps make the planning process easier, more straightforward and clinically reliable.

Clarity®, a non-invasive, non-ionizing image guidance technology that provides soft tissue visualization and is compatible with any existing linac. By providing clear soft tissue imaging of target anatomy, Clarity eliminates the need for invasive fiducial markers or added X-ray imaging dose.

Oncentra® Brachy*, a volume-based treatment planning for HDR/PDR brachytherapy that improves workflows and reduces planning time by automatically reconstructing the radiation applicator’s exact geometry using a 3D library.

U.S. News & World Report has issued the annual rankings of medical centers for 23 years. The complete rankings can be viewed at usnews.com/besthospitals.

*Oncentra Brachy is not for sale in all markets.

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Elekta to Showcase Revolutionary Agility Beam-shaping Innovation at Radiation Physics Annual Meeting

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA and CHARLOTTE

2012-07-25

Agility MLC and other Elekta solutions at American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Annual Meeting to demonstrate how integration streamlines clinical workflow

AAPM Booth #845 – Elekta’s Agility™* multileaf collimator (MLC) will take center stage at Elekta’s AAPM exhibit, July 29 - August 2 at the Charlotte Convention Center. Using a combination of 160 high-resolution tungsten leaves and dramatically faster leaf movement, Agility promises a new level of precision and delivery speed in radiation therapy treatments for cancer patients. Elekta recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Agility. The new Agility enables U.S. medical centers to provide these clinical benefits to their patients with cancer.

Agility is Elekta’s latest addition to its comprehensive spectrum of integrated oncology care solutions, and will join other innovations at AAPM, such as MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System, Monaco® treatment planning system with Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) and Elekta Infinity® treatment system. The combination of these and other Elekta solutions provides an integrated, efficient workflow that facilitates rapid patient treatments.

Other exhibition highlights include:

Clarity® Autoscan*, enabling real time soft tissue tracking for prostate motion during treatment
MOSAIQ® Mobile*, providing instant access to MOSAIQ from anywhere
Oncentra® Brachy* treatment planning platform, delivering pinpoint accuracy and treatment confidence
Leksell GammaPlan® Gamma Knife® treatment planning system, offering unmatched speed and accuracy

Agility and Monaco treatment planning provide unique synergy

Using twice the number of leaves typical of many standard MLC’s – in addition to ultra-fast (twice as fast as standard) leaf movements, Agility precisely and rapidly sculpts delivered radiation to the unique contours of the tumor, while reducing radiation exposure to healthy tissues. Moreover, with its new lower radiation leakage design, research has shown Agility can significantly reduce the patient’s non-therapeutic radiation exposure as compared to other conventional MLC’s.1

Combining Agility with Monaco treatment planning – particularly for VMAT plans – can dramatically improve planning and delivery efficiency. The latest version of Monaco (v.3.2) includes a new Segment Shape Optimization (SSO) feature that produces extremely high quality VMAT plans. Monaco 3.2 plans deliver maximum dose to the tumor while avoiding dose to surrounding areas, while VMAT delivery ensures the dose is delivered quickly to minimize treatment times.

On Tuesday, July 31 at The Westin Charlotte, Elekta will host a complimentary Lunch and Learn, where Christopher Walker, Ph.D., Head of Radiotherapy Physics at James Cook University Hospital, will give a presentation titled “Clinical Experience and Physics of the Agility MLC.” This session will highlight extensive clinical experience commissioning and delivering treatments with Agility.

During the same session, Daliang Cao, Ph.D., Medical Physicist at Swedish Cancer Institute, will give a presentation titled “Advancing VMAT with Segment Shape Optimization,” which will examine the dramatic effects of such optimization on VMAT plan quality.

To register for this event, visit www.cvent.com/d/lcqzsp/4W. For more information on Elekta at AAPM, visit www.elekta.com/AAPM.

*MOSAIQ Mobile and Clarity Autoscan are works in progress and not for sale in all markets. Agility and Oncentra Brachy are not for sale in all markets.

1. Cosgrove, VP, Thompson, C, Chrisophides, D et al. (2009) Physical characterization of a new concept design of an Elekta Radiation Head with integrated 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator. Poster presented at ASTRO 2009.

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Elekta Grant to Support Pediatric Cancer Research in Spain

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:00:00 GMT

MADRID

2012-07-17

32,000 € bequest given to Madrid Hospital Foundation for research at Madrid’s Montepríncipe Hospital

To support research exploring childhood cancers, Elekta has given a 32,000 € (ca. 40,000 USD) grant to Madrid Hospital Foundation’s Pediatric Oncology program at the Madrid Montepríncipe Hospital's Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Unit. The donation was collected at a charity party held in conjunction with the 2012 Annual Meeting of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO, May 9-12) in Barcelona.

The Foundation’s Pediatric Oncology research programs focus on increasing the understanding of cancer in children, and on improving treatment methods and the patient’s quality of life.

At a gala presentation in June at the Hospitales de Madrid, the money officially was donated. Dr. Juan Abarca and Dr. Blanca López-Ibor represented Hospitales de Madrid, while Massimo Abbiatti and Eduardo Rodríguez Urcelay attended on behalf of Elekta.

“Because cancer occurs more often in adults than in children, most of today’s technological developments in radiation therapy focus on adult patients and their needs,” says Elekta’s President and CEO, Tomas Puusepp. “To address this imbalance, we are pleased to support the efforts of worthy pediatric cancer research programs such as the Foundation’s Pediatric Oncology program. Elekta’s own efforts are aimed at adapting radiation therapy treatments to children, such as developing more suitable immobilization devices and imaging strategies, and by studying how to adjust doses for pediatric patients. To that end, we recently created the Elekta Pediatric Research Group, whose mission is to identify, develop and adapt products to treat childhood cancer."

*Elekta products are currently not approved for use on children.

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Elekta’s Gamma Knife and Radiation Therapy Systems for Cancer Treatment Take Top Three Places in 2012’s Best in KLAS for Radiation Therapy

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Atlanta

2012-06-27

Elekta swept the top three rankings in the KLAS research firm’s recently released 2012 Best in KLAS Awards: Medical Equipment & Infrastructure report*

Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ radiosurgery system and Elekta Synergy® and Elekta Infinity™ radiation therapy systems earned the #1, #2 and #3 rankings, respectively, out of eight possible rankings.

In the report, Perfexion scored 93.9 out of 100, and 100 percent of customers indicated they would buy again. On a 1 to 9 scale, Perfexion received an 8.7 from respondents for satisfaction with product uptime, the highest score among all vendors rated in the market segment.

Elekta Synergy scored 87.1 out of 100, and 100 percent of customers specified they would purchase again. Elekta Infinity received a score of 85.4, with 86 percent indicating they would buy again. All three Elekta solutions posted an improved rating change from last year’s KLAS report: Perfexion, +1 percent; Synergy, +1 percent; and Infinity, +4 percent.

“Once again, we’re honored that the KLAS respondents continue to hold Elekta products in such high regard, and that they’ve been able earn even higher marks than last year,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “We translate our customers’ perceptions of these solutions as a reflection of how well they help improve and prolong patients’ lives.”

KLAS gathers opinions of thousands of healthcare professionals

“Vendors who are recognized with a Best in KLAS award are those who have gone above and beyond their customers’ expectations. The goal and the value of the awards is to ultimately help providers and the industry easily identify which vendors are consistently performing well,” said Adam Gale, president of KLAS.

The 2012 Best in KLAS Awards: Medical Equipment & Infrastructure report is available online. To purchase the full report, visit www.KLASresearch.com/BestinKLAS.

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U.K. Cancer Patient is World’s First to Benefit from Treatment Combining Elekta’s New Beam-shaping Innovation and High-speed Arc Therapy

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 10:00:00 GMT

LEEDS, England

2012-06-25

St. James’s University Hospital harnesses Elekta’s Agility multileaf collimator (MLC) and Elekta VMAT to treat patient with tongue cancer

A 51-year-old male became the first person to benefit from a radiation therapy technique that provides exceptional precision and high-speed delivery. Clinicians at St. James’s University Hospital used Elekta’s Agility™* multileaf collimator (MLC) and Elekta Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) to treat the patient’s tongue cancer. The combination of the two innovations reduced the time it takes to deliver the radiation beams from five minutes down to just two minutes.

Recently released for sale across Europe, and with 510(k) clearance in the U.S., Agility is Elekta’s revolutionary new MLC. The device comprises many individual tungsten leaves used to shape beams of radiation as therapeutic doses are delivered from different angles around the patient. Agility’s 160, five-millimeter wide leaves are capable of traveling at twice the speed of those in a conventional MLC, and provide a much-improved ability to conform to the shape of tumors.

Elekta VMAT is an advanced radiation therapy technique that delivers treatment in one or more continuous high-speed arcs around the patient, enabling the radiation dose to precisely conform to a tumor by modulating the radiation beam’s intensity during gantry rotation. Clinicians can use Elekta VMAT with complete or partial arc(s) to reduce treatment times substantially.

Elekta’s Monaco® treatment planning system also contributed to the patient’s treatment by enabling much lower parotid (salivary gland) and larynx doses than traditional plans the Leeds team had been producing.

“The oncologists are really pleased with the dose distributions, because they predict fewer side effects for the patients,” says John Lilley, physicist at St. James’s, part of The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. “This is very important, because an excessive dose to the parotid gland can inhibit its function, causing a dry mouth and making it difficult to taste food.”

“The combination of planning with Monaco, VMAT and Agility means that the treatment times are significantly reduced,” he continues. “For this particular tongue cancer patient, the VMAT delivery was three minutes quicker – two minutes versus five minutes – than the regular conformal plan. This is very important because the immobilization mask the patient wears for treatment can be uncomfortable and reduced treatment times means less risk of patient movement. Quicker treatment times make a big difference for us as well, as it means we can schedule treatments to more patients per day.”

St. James’s research work with Agility was supported by Elekta and the Leeds Teaching Hospitals Charitable Trustees.

*Agility is not licensed for sale in all markets. Please contact your local representative for details.

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Elekta’s Agility Radiation Therapy Beam-shaping Innovation for Cancer Treatments Receives U.S. 510(k) Clearance

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 13:00:38 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2012-06-22

Utilizing new and faster technology, Agility multi-leaf collimator (MLC) expected to further improve therapy for oncology patients, accelerate treatment times

Using a combination of 160 high-resolution tungsten leaves and dramatically faster leaf movement, Elekta’s revolutionary new Agility™* MLC promises a new level of precision and delivery speed in radiation therapy treatments for cancer patients. Elekta recently received 510(k) clearance (K121328) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Agility, enabling U.S. medical centers to provide these clinical benefits to their patients with cancer.

An MLC, a device made up of numerous, individual tungsten “leaves,” is used to shape beams of therapeutic radiation that are delivered from different angles around the patient. Using twice the number of leaves typical of many standard MLC’s, Agility precisely sculpts delivered radiation to the unique contours of the tumor, while reducing the risk of exposure to healthy tissue.

The new Agility MLC also includes ultra-fast leaf movements – twice as fast as other MLCs commonly used in the industry – enabling clinicians to further exploit the most advanced cancer therapies such as stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT). Further, with a new lower radiation leakage design, research has shown Agility can significantly reduce the patient’s non-therapeutic radiation exposure as compared to other conventional MLC’s.¹

“Culminating from years of close collaboration with our worldwide clinical partners, we are extremely proud to introduce Agility in the United States,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “With Agility, not only will treatment times be faster, but more importantly, patients also will benefit from this solution’s enhanced targeting capabilities, which are expected to improve treatment outcomes as well as reduce the risk of potential complications. The promise of these critical patient benefits has generated a great deal of interest in the U.S. radiation oncology community, which we predict will result in rapid adoption of this technology.”

Soon after Elekta received CE marking for Agility, permitting sales of the device in Europe, clinicians there began reporting significant gains in beam-shaping ability and delivery speed. Shorter treatment times have resulted in increased patient comfort and convenience, as well as improved the ability for caregivers to treat more patients each day.

*Agility is not licensed for sale in all markets. Please contact your local representative for details.

¹ Cosgrove, VP, Thompson, C, Chrisophides, D et al. (2009) Physical characterization of a new concept design of an Elekta Radiation Head with integrated 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator. Poster presented at ASTRO 2009.

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Indonesia Centre Uses 3D Computed Tomography Imaging to Guide Brachytherapy Treatment of Cancer

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 10:00:00 GMT

Jakarta

2012-06-20

Doctors at Dharmais National Cancer Centre apply 3D CT modeling of anatomy to better evaluate brachytherapy dose for gynecological treatments

Advanced CT imaging is giving Dharmais National Cancer Centre (DNCC) clinicians a better idea of the shape and volume of tumors and their relationship to nearby organs, improving the targeting of disease sites while minimizing the exposure to unaffected critical organs during brachytherapy treatments. Since March 2012, DNCC physicians have used 3D CT for selected patients to contour organs-at-risk (OARs) and tumors before repeated brachytherapy treatments using the latest microSelectron® Digital remote afterloader and Oncentra® Brachy Image Guided 3D Treatment Planning system, both manufactured by Nucletron, an Elekta company.

Brachytherapy, is an advanced, highly targeted cancer treatment, in which radiotherapeutic sources are placed in or near a tumor, giving a high radiation dose to the tumor while reducing the radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues. DNCC uses the newly acquired Nucletron high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy system, which introduces the radiation source for a certain time using special applicators depending on the body site treated.

“We are pleased that we could transition to the new 3D based planning techniques, which will improve cancer care for patients in Indonesia,” says Dr. Defrizal, Head of the Radiation Therapy Department at DNCC. “We do hope we can continue these methods for routine clinical use, and appreciate the strong support that Nucletron team specialist and has provided us.”

Simple imaging, treatment workflow

Once the patient receives a CT scan, the 3D data set is exported to Oncentra Brachy Treatment Planning system. Physicians then use the image data to create a 3D model of the patient’s anatomy, including OARs, such as the rectum and bladder. Subsequently, clinicians and the physicist perform a 3D dose planning and evaluate the dose to the bladder and rectum according to the latest international recommendations and standards.

Until recently, doses have been reported as “points” inside these critical structures pursuant to the International Commission on Radiation Units (ICRU) 38 recommendation. The latest GEC ESTRO and American Brachytherapy Society recommendations, however, advise that cancer care providers report doses to OARs using 3D dose/volume relationships.

“The advantage of this system is that it enables us to obtain information about the dose volume histogram [DVH], which is very useful to analyze the doses to healthy tissue,” says Ms. Nuriliana, Physicist in DNCC’s Radiation Therapy Department.

A group of DNCC clinical experts received extensive training at several of the Nucletron brachytherapy training centers across Asia before adapting 3D CT guided brachytherapy into its workflow.

“Building a network of regional expertise will help other Asian hospitals adopt this new technology and provide state-of-the-art treatments to their patients,” says Ulrich Krumme, Sales and Marketing Director, Brachytherapy Far East. “This will be especially important, as technologies that have been developed in Europe will need to be adapted to local infrastructures and patient demographics. The potential clinical benefit of 3D gynecological planning and treatment over the conventional 2D approach makes it valuable for us to help hospitals with the adoption.”

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For further information, please contact:

Gert van Santen, Communications Director, Nucletron an Elekta company
Tel +31 6 5356 1242, email: gert.vansanten@elekta.com
Time zone: Central European Time

Austrian Medical Center Upgrades Cancer Treatment System, Improves Patient Care with Elekta’s Agility Beam-shaping Device

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 10:00:54 GMT

SALZBURG

2012-06-18

Salzburg’s SALK and Paracelsus Medical University treats 33 cancer patients on first day with new high-resolution Agility multileaf collimator (MLC)

Requiring only a quick upgrade to their existing Elekta Synergy® linear accelerator, physicians at SALK and Paracelsus Medical University began using the new Agility™* 160-leaf multileaf collimator (MLC), treating 33 patients on its first day. In its first month of Agility use, the center now treats 50 patients per day, comprising about 700 inpidual treatment sessions that have benefited from this breakthrough in cancer care.

Based on their experience, clinicians at the Salzburg clinic report that the Agility MLC’s new design provides them with more precise dose sculpting capabilities and remarkably lower non-therapeutic radiation dose delivered to the patient.

“Looking closely at several prostate cancer cases, we’ve calculated a measurable improvement in dose shaping precision with Agility’s high-resolution, five millimeter leaves,” says Felix Sedlmayer, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Radiotherapy and Radio-Oncology, SALK and Paracelsus Medical University. “This greater precision improves our ability to focus radiation to the tumor, while strictly limiting exposure to surrounding critical structures such as the rectum and bladder.”

“We were astonished at the amount of healthy tissue dose reduction we could achieve,” he adds. “This capacity theoretically enables us to improve outcomes and reduce the potential for complications.”

Peter Kopp, Ph.D., Deputy Head of Medical Physics, adds that the center’s treatment planning system reports significantly less dose in organs-at-risk for head-and-neck IMRT cases, which they have been recalculating for the Agility-equipped Synergy system.

Harnessing Agility’s unique ability to deliver high-resolution beam-shaping over a large 40cm x 40cm field, the medical center has used this new technology to treat virtually all indications, including stereotactic (SBRT/SRT) lung cases and other advanced IMRT therapies.

World’s first field upgrade to Agility takes only two weeks

While the clinical performance of Agility is now foremost in the minds of the Salzburg physicians and physicists, the speed of the Agility upgrade made an impression.

“Our main interest was in limiting downtime, since we are operating only three linacs and could hardly compensate for one linac being down for a long period of time,” Dr. Kopp says. “Two weeks seemed extremely ambitious to accomplish a complete swap out of the MLC heads and to perform the measurements. But we all worked together – the Elekta personnel, our local service engineer, Georg Schröcker, in addition to the medical center physics staff and IT engineers – to make it a success.”

Agility recently was released for sale, enabling medical centers across Europe and other regions to adopt the technology for their patients with cancer.

Agility MLC is offered in new systems or as an upgrade to existing treatment systems. For more information, visit www.elekta.com/agility.

**Agility is not licensed for sale in all markets. Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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Elekta and The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital Sign Strategic Alliance to Further Cancer Research

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 03:59:59 GMT

AMSTERDAM

2012-06-08

Elekta and The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (NKI-AVL, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) have signed a strategic alliance to advance cancer research.

With a clear focus on the advantages of radiotherapy, both parties intend to collaborate more closely in the coming years to jointly develop new breakthrough solutions that combine multimodality imaging and radiotherapy.

Working in collaboration with Elekta for many years, NKI-AVL was instrumental in the development of cone beam CT (CBCT) imaging technology and its integration with the radiation therapy system. With the assistance of NKI-AVL and other clinical partners, Elekta was the first provider to commercialize CBCT with its X-ray Volume Imaging (XVI) technique. Since then, NKI-AVL has further contributed to the refinement of image guided radiation therapy with 3D and 4D imaging innovations, which facilitate dose escalation and increase delivery accuracy. Both Elekta and NKI-AVL are eager to extend their collaboration to develop image guided adaptive radiotherapy and proton software solutions, in addition to new in vivo dosimetry and breath hold techniques. The formation of the NKI-AVL strategic alliance fully supports all of these efforts.

More than 13 million new cancer cases occur globally every year, of which three million are in Europe, according to the World Health Organization. And as the population ages, the number of cancer cases is expected to rise. Through patient-focused research and development initiatives, Elekta’s goal is to increase the effectiveness and accessibility of radiation therapy for these individuals.

“We are pleased Elekta has committed to investing in the relationship and in particular this Strategic Alliance by investing in NKI-AVL research projects,” says Prof. Dr. Marcel Verheij, Chair of the Radiation Oncology department at NKI-AVL. “Elekta is an important provider of innovative solutions to treat cancer.”

Elekta’s President and CEO Tomas Puusepp recently described how patients benefit through the company’s growth and research and development leadership.

“Elekta’s commitment to expansion and innovation is expected to give many more patients access to world-class, affordable cancer care,” he says. “Each year, we invest 8-9 percent of our net sales in research and development with the aim of improving outcomes through the best clinical solutions on the market. This is how we pioneer modern cancer care. This strategic alliance with one of Europe’s leading cancer centers is another great proof point of our strategy.”

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Elekta to Demonstrate Latest MOSAIQ OIS Innovations for Oncology Practices at 2012 ASCO Annual Meeting

Wed, 30 May 2012 13:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA

2012-05-30

Advanced automation, sophisticated eScribe merge field capabilities and an American Cancer Society clinician portal are among the new innovations showcased in Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, June 1-4, at McCormick Place in Chicago.

In addition, for the sixth consecutive year, Elekta (booth #4019) has been selected to demonstrate at ASCO’s EHR Vendor Lab. The 2012 Lab will be a live, in-person resource held June 2-4 in the Oncology Professionals Hall, booth #5004.

MOSAIQ is designed to manage the complete spectrum of oncology treatments in a single patient record. For chemotherapy, MOSAIQ provides a clear, flexible way to chart the patient’s treatment across the medical assessment and chemotherapy administration process.

New in MOSAIQ:

Clinicians can bring advanced automation to the oncology practice through MOSAIQ IQ Scripts, a tool that launches a customizable “script” of activities that connect to each other. For example, IQ Scripts might be used to generate a warning message or launch an assessment based on order approval or Quality Checklist (QCL) completion. The results are exceptional control, efficiency and customization across the entire oncology workflow.
Enhancements to eScribe Merge Fields are available, allowing the user to put clinical, insurance, and scheduling information about the patient in eScribe documents, including the ability to add new fields instantly from a new drag-and-drop interface.
Oncologists will be able to launch the American Cancer Society’s Clinician Portal directly from MOSAIQ, allowing instant access to their library of patient resources.
Full featured and integrated Survivorship module, allowing physicians to create a patient-specific treatment summary with recommendations for treatment follow up, including support resources in the community, treatment summary and recommendations for follow-up care.

MOSAIQ is the first comprehensive, oncology-specific EMR certified for meaningful use under the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The latest version of MOSAIQ is optimized for practices planning to demonstrate meaningful use, which qualifies them to receive payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) under Medicare rules.

MOSAIQ ranked first in the 2011 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report. KLAS’s data also are supported by the U.S. News & World Report 2011-12 best hospital rankings, which indicate that 46 out of the 50 top-ranked cancer hospitals are users of Elekta’s oncology software.

“Yearly, ASCO always attracts the top minds in oncology, and we’re honored to support this event,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “We anticipate that visitors to the Elekta exhibit will see once again why MOSAIQ is the preferred OIS for thousands of oncology practices.”

Learn more at www.elekta.com/mosaiq.

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Users of MOSAIQ Oncology Information System Among First Oncologists to Achieve Meaningful Use

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA

2012-05-10

Users of Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS) – the first comprehensive, oncology-specific EMR certified for meaningful use under the federal government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – have begun completing the “attestation” process to prove meaningful use. Fulfilling attestation requirements qualifies users of MOSAIQ and other systems to receive payments from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of up to $44,000 over five years under Medicare rules.

Two Elekta customer sites became the first MOSAIQ users to attest in 2012 by proving meaningful use over a 90-day period. During that period, the centers were required to meet 20 patient-focused measures using MOSAIQ to record and manage patient records electronically.

Four medical oncologists at Cancer Specialists of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, Okla.) submitted their attestations on April 5, qualifying each to receive $18,000 in incentive funds in 2012. Additional payments up to a total of $44,000 per physician are receivable until 2016 by continuing to meet meaningful use requirements under Medicare rules.

“Our physicians and staff are very pleased and proud at having met the challenging attestation requirements, and that they are in the first group of MOSAIQ users to do so,” says Margo Gonzales, Business Office Administrator at Cancer Specialists of Oklahoma.

A radiation oncologist from Tuality / Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Cancer Center LLC (Hillsboro, Ore.), submitted her attestation on April 12, according to Tina Dickerson, R.T.(R)(T), Chief Therapist/Manager at Tuality / OHSU Cancer Center, which is affiliated with the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute.

“Completing attestation for Stage 1 meaningful use is an accomplishment – I’m glad we were able to get it done this quickly,” she says. “The Elekta service group was on hand to help answer questions. The experience has made us more confident to achieve the next attestation for Stage 2 meaningful use.”

In 2012, centers are attesting for the first of three stages of meaningful use. Stage 2 criteria are in final review and are expected to be released in June 2012. These criteria will build on those from Stage 1, and MOSAIQ will be certified for all future stages.

In addition to providing a certified EMR, Elekta offers custom programs through its STRATEGIQ™ consultative services to help clients prepare to demonstrate meaningful use.

“We’re pleased to see the hard work by our customers on meaningful use is finally paying off,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “MOSAIQ provides an important tool to make that possible, but the real credit for this achievement goes to the physicians, administrators and the rest of their teams who successfully took on this challenge.”

For information on how MOSAIQ has been modified to address meaningful use criteria, visit www.elekta.com/HITECH.

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Leading U.K. Cancer Centre Begins Clinical Treatments with New, Revolutionary Beam-shaping Solution from Elekta

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

MIDDLESBROUGH, England

2012-05-10

Agility MLC supports leading edge cancer centre’s ability to target sophisticated tumors, reduce healthy tissue exposure to radiation

Patients at The James Cook University Hospital’s (Middlesbrough, U.K.) new radiotherapy centre are now receiving advanced therapy on a treatment system equipped with Elekta’s Agility™* 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator (MLC). The hospital’s achievement follows the world’s first clinical start of Agility at St. James’s University Hospital (Leeds, U.K.), in April, and sets the stage for patient treatments to begin at additional European hospitals in the coming weeks.

“Agility enables us to give a high dose of radiotherapy to a smaller anatomical area, and its accuracy helps reduce side effects,” says Fiona Milnes, radiotherapy services team leader at The James Cook University Hospital, which recently opened an expansion of its radiotherapy services. “Demand for cancer services is increasing all the time and this expansion gives our patients access to the very latest technology in a purpose-built unit that will really increase the profile of James Cook.”

An MLC, a device made up of numerous, individual tungsten “leaves,” is commonly used to shape beams of therapeutic radiation that are delivered from different angles around the patient. Using twice the number of leaves typical of many standard MLC’s, Agility precisely sculpts delivered radiation to the unique contours of the tumor, while reducing the risk of exposure to healthy tissue. The new Agility MLC also includes ultra-fast leaf movements with extraordinarily low radiation leakage to increase the potential for advanced radiotherapy techniques such as SRS, SRT, and VMAT.

Recently, Elekta announced that it had achieved CE Marking for Agility, enabling medical centres across Europe and other regions to adopt the technology for their patients with cancer.

More information about Agility is available at www.elekta.com/agility.

*Agility is CE Marked, but not licensed for sale in all markets.

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Elekta to Showcase Comprehensive, Integrated Solution Portfolio to Equip Radiation Oncology Departments at ESTRO 2012

Mon, 07 May 2012 10:00:00 GMT

BARCELONA

2012-05-07

New Agility MLC expected to attract many ESTRO attendees to Elekta exhibit

ESTRO Booth #200 – At the 2012 European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) exhibition, 9-13 May at the Centro de Convenciones Internacional de Barcelona, Elekta will demonstrate the richness of its spectrum of radiation oncology solutions with the Elekta Cancer Care Clinic. The clinic is the patient’s or doctor’s view of the comprehensive, well-integrated radiotherapy department, showcasing Elekta’s entire portfolio.

The Elekta Cancer Care Clinic will feature a floor plan that includes replicas of a reception area, pre-treatment and simulation rooms, doctor’s office, treatment planning and physics rooms, and a treatment delivery suite. Within each area will be arrayed Elekta solutions, encompassing Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ stereotactic radiosurgery, linac-based radiotherapy, brachytherapy, MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System, treatment planning solutions and much more. The primary theme for the 2012 ESTRO exhibit is “Experience the Elekta Difference.”

“Our secondary theme is “With You All the Way,” which conveys to our customers and prospective customers that Elekta is their single partner who can provide them with complete, integrated solutions for their clinical practice,” says Olof Sandén, Elekta’s Executive Vice President, Europe and AFLAME. “This theme also communicates that we can offer customers tailored and personalized solutions regardless of whether they’re just starting a practice or need to expand.”

New Agility MLC and brachytherapy solutions

To be prominently highlighted in the Elekta exhibit will be Agility™*, Elekta’s revolutionary new 160-leaf MLC, featuring leaf speeds of up to 6.5 cm per second – twice as fast as the leaf speeds of other MLCs commonly used in the industry. The Agility high resolution MLC will enable clinicians to further exploit the benefits of advanced techniques such as SRT and VMAT. Agility also features an extremely low leakage design – considerably lower leakage than other commercial MLCs. Elekta strongly believes patients and clinics will benefit from the speed and reliability of this new MLC design.

In March 2012, Elekta announced it had achieved CE Marking for Agility, enabling medical centers across Europe and other regions to adopt the technology.

Brachytherapy solutions also will be highly visible in the Elekta exhibit during ESTRO 31, as well as Booth #50 at The World Congress of Brachytherapy, convening 10-12 May. In September 2011, Elekta completed the acquisition of Nucletron, the world leader in brachytherapy. Now, in addition to providing proven solutions that employ external beam radiation, Elekta also offers a world class therapy that treats cancer from the “inside out.”

Remote Services

Also to be featured at the ESTRO 2012 is Elekta Remote Services, which uses advanced technology to actively monitor customer systems. The results are reduced downtime and fewer interruptions in the practice schedule. Offering proactive rather than reactive services means systems issues can be predicted before they happen, the correct part can be identified and ordered, and a convenient time for service can be arranged all before the fault impacts the customer. Elekta Remote Services is available for all Elekta systems.

Other meeting highlights

Elekta will host a lunch symposium titled One Elekta: Your Clinical Partner on Thursday, 10 May from 13:00-14:20 in room 116. An interactive forum, the symposium will feature presentations by notable experts in the field of radiation oncology:

Prof. F. Guedea, Instituto Catalán de Oncología, Barcelona, Spain: Targeting Radiation Therapy to Patients: The Role of Brachytherapy
June Dean DCR(T), MSc Medical Physics, Oncology Center, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, U.K.: Integrating MOSAIQ into a Multi-Vendor Department
Dr. Vivian Cosgrove, St. James’s Institute of Oncology, Leeds, U.K.: Commissioning of the Elekta Agility for Clinical Use

To learn more about Elekta’s innovations at ESTRO, visit www.elekta.com/experience.

*Agility is CE Marked, but not licensed for sale in all markets.

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Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Debuts MOSAIQ in the Chinese Platform

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:00:00 GMT

GUANGZHOU, China

2012-05-03

Oncology Information System (OIS) is localized for needs of Chinese cancer centers

Over the last three years, cancer centers across China have embarked on an unprecedented effort to modernize and improve access to cancer management technology. In addition to sophisticated treatment and therapy planning technology, clinics and hospitals are implementing oncology information management (OIS) systems to coordinate radiotherapy department activities. Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC) is China’s first cancer center to use Elekta’s MOSAIQ® in the Chinese platform and is among the country’s premier showcases for advanced oncology EMR solutions.

More than merely a translation of MOSAIQ into the Chinese language, Elekta worked to localize the MOSAIQ user interface, harmonizing it to the unique cultural and workflow priorities of the Chinese healthcare organization.

Celebrating its second anniversary, SYSUCC hosted Elekta’s National RT New Technology Conference February 9-11. Top radiation oncology professionals from more than 30 provinces and cities attended the meeting, where they had the opportunity to see SYSUCC’s expansive range of modern radiation technology, including its three Elekta Synergy® systems with VMAT capabilities, three Nucletron simulators and an afterloader, and 25 Elekta treatment planning stations. MOSAIQ is the center’s newest addition and has already made a major impact by integrating and managing all department workflow and processes.

The integrated Elekta hardware and software “total” solution has optimized SYSUCC’s workflow substantially, enabling SYSUCC clinicians to reduce patient waiting time for treatment from one month to 20 days, increasing patients treated from 520 per month to 600 patients, says SYSUCC Vice President, Ma Jun.

The Chinese version of MOSAIQ also is easily understood by all members of the SYSUCC staff, adds Dr. Sun Ying, Vice Director of SYSUCC.

“Effective data management across different departments and locations had been a challenge in the past,” he observes. “We had to go to four different systems to schedule appointments for each patient. With MOSAIQ , we only need to find the right slot and then schedule the patient’s appointment once in MOSAIQ.”

A critical improvement was the ability to interface the center’s HIS with MOSAIQ, reducing the need for manual entry of patient data in MOSAIQ, and facilitating accurate transfer of ADT information.

As a vendor neutral OIS, MOSAIQ has given SYSUCC’s radiation oncologists the flexibility to choose the optimal tools for their patients, according to SYSUCC Director, Dr. Liu Meng Zhong.

“In addition to the freedom to integrate any technology with MOSAIQ, rapid, reliable access to patient data is vital in managing our patients’ care,” he says. “With the comprehensive radiation oncology chart in MOSAIQ, you can quickly find what you need when you need it.”

As the anchor of its radiation oncology workflow and processes, SYSUCC’s selection of MOSAIQ positions it as a leader in modern radiotherapy in China, Dr. Ying says.

“MOSAIQ is the right platform to guide us into a new era of safety and efficiency.”

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Indian Prime Minister Inaugurates Elekta Cancer Treatment Machine at Bhubaneswar Borooah Cancer Institute

Wed, 02 May 2012 13:00:39 GMT

GUWAHATI, India

2012-05-02

BBCI at vanguard in country’s efforts to massively expand healthcare technology access

Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, honored Bhubaneswar Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) by presiding over the inauguration of its Elekta Synergy® linear accelerator on April 20 in Guwahati (Assam). The Synergy system – equipped to perform the most advanced radiotherapy techniques – joins BCCI’s first Elekta treatment system, installed in 2000. BBCI, established in 1973, is among the leading cancer institutes of east India, and was recognized as a Regional Cancer Centre in 1980.

“It was very gratifying to have an influential public figure such as Dr. Singh recognize the importance of increasing access to medical technology in India – which will hopefully influence the decision-making process at other regional hospitals that are seeking to invest in linear accelerators,” says Brendan Vahey, Managing Director, Elekta India. He, and his predecessor, Percy Shroff, attended BCCI’s Synergy inauguration.

Elekta and other healthcare providers have partnered with medical centers and clinics across India to address a serious shortage of radiation therapy equipment. India’s population of 1.21 billion* significantly dwarfs the number of radiotherapy systems available to its residents, Vahey adds.

“To match a developed nation’s ratio of inhabitants to linear accelerators alone, India would need about 10 times as many treatment systems,” he notes. “Fortunately, the Indian radiation therapy market is growing at an unprecedented rate – over 15 percent per year – almost double its current GDP growth,” Vahey says.

Advanced capabilities

BBCI’s new Synergy system is fully equipped with the most advanced radiation therapy techniques in use today, including Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT).

In the state of Assam – as it is across India – head-and-neck cancer and tobacco-related cancers (mainly lung cancer) comprise 15-20 percent of the total cancers. Among males, the top three cancer incidences are oral cavity, larynx and lung cancer, while in women, cervical and breast cancer are the most common. In metro areas, prostate and breast cancer incidences are rising. At any given time in India, there are about three million individuals who have cancer, with approximately 960,000 new cases identified per year, and rising rapidly. A national task force estimates that two-thirds of those diagnosed with cancer will need radiation therapy.

“We will continue to see a tremendous need for cancer care in India for many years to come,” Vahey says. “As a leading supplier of comprehensive solutions for cancer management in India, it is Elekta’s responsibility to work closely with healthcare professionals to make these advanced solutions available to the public.”

*India is projected to be the world’s most populous country by 2025, surpassing China, with a population reaching 1.6 billion by 2050.

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Elekta's issue of convertible bonds fully subscribed

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:45:00 GMT

2012-05-02

Elekta's issue of convertible bonds fully subscribed

To read more about the Elekta convertible bonds, please go to http://ir.elekta.com

Elekta, Pioneer in Treatment of Cancer and Brain Disorders, to Move North America Headquarters to Atlanta

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2012-04-26

Leading global provider of radiation therapy and radiosurgery systems joins Atlanta biomedical community

Elekta, a leading international technology and solutions provider for the treatment of cancer and brain disorders, is relocating its North America headquarters in 2012. Elekta’s new HQ will be The Terraces in Atlanta’s Central Perimeter business district. The company anticipates adding more than 100 new jobs over five years in the life sciences field, specifically in the medical device and healthcare IT sectors.

“Elekta’s global influence in healthcare is increasing rapidly,” says Elekta’s President and CEO, Tomas Puusepp. “The move of our North America headquarters to Atlanta will support this trend and strengthen Atlanta’s growing biomedical community.”

Elekta will be a new asset in DeKalb County, according to Judy Turner, Chair, Development Authority of DeKalb County, Ga.

"Elekta is the type of innovative health care company that will add to the synergy of other life science assets already located in DeKalb County, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Emory Healthcare,” she says. “The Development Authority of DeKalb County is very proud to be a partner with Elekta and is looking forward to their new facility in DeKalb County."

“Medical device companies such as Elekta represent a large proportion of our bioscience industry, so we’re pleased Elekta has chosen to continue to grow and create jobs in Georgia,” adds Chris Cummiskey, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “We have terrific collaborations and research expertise in this area.”

Elekta helps reinforce the fact that Atlanta is a leading location for international bioscience companies, according to Hans Gant, senior vice president of economic development for the Metro Atlanta Chamber.

"One of Atlanta's true strengths is having access to a highly talented workforce, which will help support the projected growth of Elekta's operations,” he says.

“The expansion of Elekta’s North American Headquarters is an excellent example of the partnership between the Georgia Department of Economic Development, Metro Atlanta Chamber, and the City of Dunwoody to cultivate new business for Georgia,” said Economic Development Director Michael Starling. “Elekta is a true reflection of the state’s and Dunwoody’s strategy to recruit and grow world-class technology companies.”

"The decision by Elekta to establish its North American headquarters in Dunwoody is the culmination of a truly collaborative and creative effort," said Jeff Estep, executive managing director of Newmark Knight Frank, the consultant to Elekta. “We conducted a thorough analysis of Elekta’s needs and location options across North America, including in-depth review of business costs, talent availability, training and operational processes, and the Atlanta area proved itself to be the ideal location for the company’s global growth objectives. We received incredible support from the State of Georgia, DeKalb County, the City of Dunwoody and the Metro Atlanta Chamber."

Elekta develops sophisticated tools and dose planning systems for radiation therapy and radiosurgery and brachytherapy, in addition to software systems that improve the efficiency of workflows throughout the spectrum of cancer care. Among its most recognized products are Elekta Synergy®, Elekta Infinity™ and Elekta Axesse™ radiation treatment systems (linear accelerators), Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ radiosurgery system for ultra-precise treatment of intracranial disease targets, MOSAIQ® oncology information system and Monaco® treatment planning system.

Employing about 3,300 people globally, Elekta markets its solutions in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific countries.

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Elekta Recognizes Best Paper Award Recipients and Cancer Registrar of the Year at NCRA Education Conference

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2012-04-25

At the National Cancer Registrars Association’s (NCRA) 38th Annual Education Conference in Washington D.C.,

Elekta joined the Journal of Registry Management (JRM) to announce recipients of the Elekta / JRM Best Paper Award. Elekta and JRM, the official journal of NCRA, collaborate on this award to recognize exemplary work in the cancer registration field.

Published in the winter 2011 issue of JRM, the Elekta Award for Journal of Registry Management: Best Paper of the Year 2011 went to “Embedding QR Codes in Tumor Board Presentations, Enhancing Educational Content for Oncology Information Management." Richard Siderits, M.D.; Stacy Yates; Arelis Rodriguez; Tina Lee; Cheryl Rimmer, M.D.; and Mark Roche, M.D., MMI co-authored this paper.

The 2011 Honorable Mention was awarded to “Survival Outcomes of Pediatric Osteosarcoma and Ewing's Sarcoma: A Comparison of Surgery Type within the SEER Database, 1988-2007,” which was published in the fall 2011 issue of JRM. Justin Schrager; Rachel E. Patzer; Pamela J. Mink; Kevin C. Ward; and Michael Goodman co-authored this paper.

"We are proud of Elekta’s sponsorship for recognition of a continually informative publication,” says Michael Hechter, NCRA’s Director of Membership and Certification. “The Journal of Registry Management, published by NCRA, properly showcases the relevant work of cancer registry professionals.”

“Elekta is honored to have the opportunity to work with the Journal of Registry Management and to sponsor the Best Paper Award,” says George Rugg, Elekta’s Senior Vice President for Decision Support Products. “It is interesting to learn how registry professionals are working to advance the cancer registry data collection and analytics science. We would like to join the JRM in congratulating the 2012 publication winners.”

Elekta selects Cancer Registrar of the Year

During the conference, Elekta also paid tribute to the 2012 Registrar of the Year, which honors registrars who make valuable contributions to the success of their registry, and extend those contributions to benefit the broader medical facility and community. Nancy O’Donnell, Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR^®) for Atlantic Health System in Morristown, New Jersey was recognized as Registrar of the Year.

Recognized for nine years of service, O’Donnell was nominated by her colleagues for her professionalism, integrity, and dedication, as well as the vital role she plays in running the registry. Founding member and past president of the Oncology Registrars Association of New Jersey (ORANJ), Nancy is also an active member of NCRA, as well as the Board of Managers for the Morris County American Cancer Society.

“Nancy deserves the outstanding registrar award for enabling Overlook Medical Center, Newton Medical Center and Morristown Medical Center to have top-notch cancer registry departments,” says Samuel Chilaka, MA, CTR, Cancer Registrar.

An honorable mention also was awarded to Gloria D. Hart, CTR, a registrar with more than nine years experience at Chicago-based John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County.

“What better honor than recognition from one’s colleagues?” says Rugg. “We at Elekta would like to congratulate Nancy and Gloria for their contribution to their registry programs.”

To learn more about Elekta’s solutions for decision support, visit www.elekta.com/METRIQ.

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Dublin’s St. Vincent’s Private Hospital is Site of the 1,000th Oncentra Brachy for Planning Cancer Treatments with Brachytherapy

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 09:00:00 GMT

DUBLIN, Ireland

2012-04-23

Nucletron, an Elekta company, reaches major milestone with its brachytherapy treatment planning software

St. Vincent’s Private Hospital (Dublin, Ireland) has installed Oncentra® Brachy, becoming the site of the 1,000th brachytherapy treatment planning software manufactured by Nucletron, an Elekta company. Oncentra was introduced in the global market in 2008 and is Nucletron’s software platform for radiotherapy treatment planning.

With over 25 years of experience, Nucletron has put all its knowledge and utmost care into making advanced treatment planning tools that are fast and reliable, giving healthcare professionals the confidence of providing precisely targeted radiation therapy. Oncentra Brachy is a comprehensive and user-friendly software solution that includes advanced algorithms to ensure efficient and highly accurate brachytherapy treatment planning. It fits seamlessly into Nucletron’s solutions for brachytherapy imaging and treatment delivery and can be seamlessly integrated with Oncentra External Beam, with IMRT/VMAT and proton planning capabilities.

“We selected Nucletron’s Oncentra Brachy software because it is state-of-the-art, user friendly and ensures precise cancer treatment,” says Michael Redmond, CEO of St. Vincent’s. “And, because our hospital operates Elekta treatment machines, as well, we hope to have a mutually beneficial relationship with both Nucletron and Elekta.”

The combined offering of Nucletron and Elekta solutions presents a formidable range of radiotherapy planning and delivery technologies that will benefit both patients and healthcare providers, adds Patrick Greally, Elekta Ireland Business Unit Managing Director.

“We are delighted to work with our colleagues on this project at St. Vincent’s Private Hospital,” he says.

To learn more about the Oncentra Brachy software system, visit www.nucletron.com/Oncentra.

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For further information, please contact:
Gert van Santen, Communications Director, Nucletron an Elekta company
Tel +31 6 5356 1242, email: gert.vansanten@elekta.com

Elekta Awarded the 2012 Queens Award for Enterprise in International Trade Category

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 22:00:01 GMT

Crawley

2012-04-21

Henry Smith MP tours Crawley facility, home of the first digital linear accelerator, briefed on cancer treatment innovation and new jobs

Elekta, a global medical technology company dedicated to oncology and neuroscience clinical advancements, is proud to receive The Queen's Award for Enterprise 2012 in the International Trade* category. The Award is the U.K.,’s highest accolade for business success given each year by the Queen on the advice of the prime minister, who is assisted by an Advisory Committee that includes representatives of government, industry and commerce, and the trade unions.

The Queen’s Award for Elekta acknowledges continuous improvement in the company’s overseas sales, in addition to its steady growth of exports, calculated at 131 percent over the last six years.

“Elekta strives to create new cancer innovations that place the value of the patient first and creates a relationship-focused approach that incorporates trust and responsibility,” states Johan Sedihn, Executive Vice President, Elekta Oncology. “Elekta’s employees and clinical partners can be deservedly proud of The Queen’s Award and the innovative tradition of improving the lives of individuals with cancer. Our oncology innovations are shared with the world, while benefiting the U.K. manufacturing and industrial base.”

Member of Parliament impressed with pioneer spirit

On April 13, Henry Smith MP visited Elekta after CE Marking for Agility™*, a 160-leaf multileaf collimator (MLC), was achieved earlier in the month – the approval to market the device in the European market.

Agility, another first in cancer innovations from Elekta, defines how patients will receive radiation to their tumour – more accurate treatments with reduced dose to healthy tissue. Cancer clinics worldwide that acquire the technology can expect to deliver treatment speeds up to twice that of equipment currently used.

The Agility development project depended critically on Elekta’s collaboration with its clinical partners worldwide, particularly NHS institutions.

During his visit to Elekta’s Crawley facility, Mr. Smith commented on the significance of Elekta’s new technology and what it means for the local economy.“This is a fascinating development for Elekta and for the visibility of Crawley as the site of medical innovation,” Mr. Smith observes. “Elekta also has a keen commitment to apprenticeships and science outreach, such as supporting STEMfest, and is exactly what we need to support science careers in school.”

Employment opportunities

Elekta’s job growth at the Crawley plant – from circa 400 to 680 employees in the last three years – in combination with its current plans to recruit approximately 80 employees throughout the next 12 months, supports its selection as the recipient of the Queen’s Award. Elekta also has worked to develop young talent by hiring 15 apprentices over the last seven years, many of whom are now in technical roles within the company and two who are undergoing training with the local College.

“Elekta has played a crucial role in the regional economy by employing 680 employees at the Crawley location with 1,000 manufacturing jobs in the supply chain across the U.K.,” says Johan Sedihn. “Accordingly, we are scaling up our recruitment in Crawley to maintain the pace of innovation for which Elekta is renowned.”

More information about careers with Elekta is available at: http://www.elekta.com/company/career-center.html.

*For more information on The Queens Award program and winners: http://tinyurl.com/6r578bq. Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Please contact your local Elekta representative for details.

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Elekta to Unveil New Neuroscience Solution for Leksell Gamma Knife at 2012 AANS Meeting

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

MIAMI BEACH, Fla.

2012-04-13

At the 2012 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Scientific Meeting, April 14-18, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Elekta (booth #725) will reveal compelling innovations for Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ that promise to enhance information management.

“Once again, AANS will give us the opportunity to demonstrate to neurological surgeons that Gamma Knife® radiosurgery is a continually evolving technique that makes use of the technological expertise that Elekta has gained over last 60 years,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “The latest example is the capability to exchange information, such as treatment plans, treatment record and protocols, both pre- and post-treatment, putting electronic medical records at your fingertips and allowing you to see all of your treatment statistics in one convenient dashboard. The result is a better flow of patient care and improved use of time and resources.”

In addition to the latest product enhancements, Elekta will highlight characteristics of Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion that separate the system from other radiosurgery solutions. These include its dedication to intracranial cases, complete solution integration, industry-leading accuracy, “shrink-wrap” dose conformity and extensive proven clinical efficacy. Demonstrations of the system will emphasize that Perfexion is designed to minimize the risk of human error and radiation toxicity, while optimizing accuracy and dose conformance.

Other meeting highlights

Elekta also will exhibit several other solutions that improve the management of neurological and neurosurgical cases, including:

Extend™ System for frameless, multi-session hypofractionation Gamma Knife radiosurgery
Elekta Neuromag® TRIUX, the most highly sophisticated magnetoencephalography (MEG) system available
Leksell Stereotactic System® for functional neurosurgery. Exceptional imaging, high platform rigidity and ease of use ensure that critical accuracy requirements are met for this surgical discipline
Leksell SurgiPlan® 10, Elekta’s advanced image-based neurosurgical planning software specifically designed for Leksell Stereotactic System®

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Thought Leaders in Radiation Medicine Convene to Discuss Safety and Advancements in Cancer Treatment

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2012-04-12

Presenters focus on lung, prostate and pancreatic cancers

Advancements in radiation treatment technology, safety protocols and workflow improvements were key topics discussed during the recent Future of Radiation Medicine: 2012 Clinical Leadership Symposium, sponsored by Elekta, a company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. During the symposium, clinical experts presented data and participated in discussions on how advancements are helping clinicians safely and more accurately treat individuals with lung, prostate and pancreatic cancers.

“With the abundance of new data on technological advancements and key insight from institutions enacting new safety programs, we believed it would be beneficial to bring together these thought leaders to share their knowledge with the medical community,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America.

The event, held on March 15, 2012 in Baltimore, included a panel discussion on advances in safety process evaluation and workflow improvements featuring clinical experts from Johns Hopkins University, North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) and Long Island Jewish Medical Center. During their presentations the speakers highlighted critical findings and outcomes from programs enacted at their institutions.

In her presentation, Stephanie Terezakis, M.D., Department of Radiation Oncology at Johns Hopkins University, emphasized that simple steps – such as checklists and electronic incident reporting systems – can be easily implemented, making a national registry of incidents and near-misses a reality.

Advancements in hypofractionation also were a topic of discussion during the symposium, including a detailed discussion of treatment methods for locally advanced pancreatic cancer. Data comparing conventional radiation therapy and fractionated stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) were reviewed.

Joseph Herman, M.D., MSc, Department of Radiation Oncology at Johns Hopkins University presented preliminary data which support the use of fractionated SBRT in well selected patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer. His analysis of the data concluded that fractionated SBRT appears safe with less acute toxicity than conventional radiation therapy.

Marc Posner, M.D., of the Center for Advanced Radiation Medicine at Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital, discussed real-time tracking for treating prostate cancer using non-ionizing soft tissue visualization. He highlighted the potential of transperineal ultrasound* with Elekta’s Clarity™ system, and explained the advantages such a motion management strategy could provide over other imaging modalities, such as MR, CT, kV and MV imaging in hypofractionated prostate treatments.

“Clinical set-up will be easy – anyone can learn how to do this,” he said. “In tests of the approach, all the patients have accepted it, the therapists love it and image quality is excellent. I actually spend less time in the simulator now, because the ultrasound helps with prostate definition, I don’t have to perform the urethrogram and my patients don’t have to have rectal enemas. There is also the potential clinical benefit, enabling a small community center such as ours to move into the 21st century and start performing hypofractionation.”

A full synopsis of the symposium will be available on the Elekta website in the coming months.

*Work in progress.

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Elekta publishes the prospectus regarding the rights issue of convertible bonds with preferential rights for the company's shareholders

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:00:00 GMT

2012-04-05

Elekta convertible bonds 2012

To download the prospectus please go to http://ir.elekta.com

Bulletin Elekta EGM

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:40:00 GMT

2012-04-02

Bulletin Elekta EGM

Click here to view the Bulletin Elekta EGM

Elekta Convertible Bonds 2012 Terms

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 06:02:37 GMT

2012-03-30

Terms of the Convertible Bonds

Please click here to read the Elekta Convertible Bonds 2012 Terms

Elekta’s New Modular Couchtop for Radiation Therapy Adapts to Unique Needs of Individual Patients

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

SCHWABMÜNCHEN, Germany

2012-03-28

Connexion features exchangeable modules to support wide scope of treatment requirements

Elekta’s Connexion™ modular couchtop is CE marked and successfully released for sale in the European Union. Connexion meets the clinic’s need to tailor patient set-up to accommodate the unique therapy requirements of the individual patient.

With a growing range of imaging and treatment techniques available, couchtops need to be able to support different approaches without compromising patient set-up. With its distinctive modular design, Connexion removes the restrictions of a single couchtop, allowing clinicians to adapt the couch to each patient’s needs. The CE marking of Connexion enables clinics and hospitals in Europe to offer exceptional versatility in patient set-up when Elekta begins delivery of the couchtop.

Connexion allows clinics to maintain patient throughput with easily interchangeable, lightweight modules, providing seamless transition of the individual sections, which connect directly to a baseboard and a variety of extensions.

As a single solution, Connexion offers the following fully indexed modules:

Imaging Module: Designed to address the needs of IGRT, IMRT and VMAT techniques, this module features low, homogenous beam attenuation properties.
Lateral Opening Module: Designed for techniques that use oblique fields, such as SBRT, this module features additional clearance around the couchtop, providing extra flexibility in treatment set-up when needed.
Central Opening Module: Enables the reduction of skin doses via a dedicated area where attenuation and dose build-up are minimized.
Head and Neck Module: In accordance with Elekta’s open system philosophy, this module supports head and neck immobilization, by providing a common interface to a wide range of immobilization solutions.

“The CE marking of Connexion is exciting for the entire Elekta team,” says Chris Snook, Director, Elekta Product Supply Centre, Schwabmünchen, Germany. “Connexion represents the next generation of adaptable positioning solutions from Elekta, and is designed to help our customers improve treatment outcomes.”

Learn more at: www.elekta.com/connexion.

*Connexion is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Contact your Elekta representative for further details.

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Leksell Gamma Knife Society Convenes in Australia, Focuses on Latest Radiosurgical Results and Technological Advances

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

SYDNEY, Australia

2012-03-26

Progress reported in treatment of brain mets, movement disorders

An estimated 300 participants from 12 countries, including neurosurgeons, radiation oncologists and other healthcare providers will gather March 26-29, in Sydney, Australia for Elekta’s 16th International Leksell Gamma Knife Society Meeting. A dominant subject among the 275 oral and poster presentations in the scientific program will be Gamma Knife® radiosurgery of brain metastases and movement disorders, in addition to the latest results from multi-center trials.

“The theme is ‘Boundless Horizons,’ which challenges our limits and makes us look forward to possibilities, reflecting the expanding use of Gamma Knife and the yet to be imagined potential of this form of surgery,” says Prof. Michael K. Morgan, M.D., Dean, at Sydney’s Macquarie University Hospital (MUH), which is hosting the event at the city’s Hilton Hotel. “The focus on cancer at the meeting reflects the importance of Gamma Knife in the treatment of this disease, however, the program comprehensively covers all aspects of innovation in Gamma Knife surgery for brain disorders.

MUH acquired the continent’s first Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, in 2010, and is the first and only center in Australia to provide dedicated intracranial radiosurgery. The technological capabilities of Gamma Knife are in high demand in Australia, as an estimated 1,400 new cases of malignant brain tumors – and many more benign tumors – are diagnosed annually. More than 1,200 Australians die each year from malignant and benign brain tumors.*

“As a relatively new user of Gamma Knife technology, Macquarie was chosen to host the 16th Society meeting for the intensity and professionalism that the Gamma Knife program faculty has demonstrated in getting their program started and the progress they’ve made since 2010,” says Dan Leksell, M.D., Senior Advisor at Elekta. “With its thriving, world-class medical community and facilities, we couldn’t have asked for a better venue than Sydney, Australia’s oldest city, and one that is beautiful, vibrant and diverse. Now, Sydney is developing into the focus of radiosurgical excellence in a continent whose citizens have needed a gentler option to treat intracranial disease for some time.”

About the Leksell Gamma Knife Society

The Leksell Gamma Knife Society was established in 1989 to provide a forum for Gamma Knife users to share information, experiences, clinical techniques and advanced scientific research in their quest to non-invasively treat an expanding number of brain disorders. The biennial meeting results in a large number of clinical publications, in recent years published as a supplement to Journal of Neurosurgery. The Society plays an important role in increasing the visibility and acceptance of Gamma Knife surgery in the worldwide medical community, among healthcare providers and among patients. The open sharing of results and experiences allows all Gamma Knife users to maintain leadership in the field of intracranial radiosurgery, based on the most recent clinical advancements.

*"Statistics on Incidence, Survival Rates and Mortality Associated with Brain Tumours in Australia," Information Paper for the Australian Brain Tumour Advocacy Group, Denise Chang, June 2003.

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Elekta Radiation Therapy Couchtop Wins "red dot award: product design 2012"

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:53:31 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2012-03-21

Connexion selected by international panel among thousands of entries

ATLANTA, March 21 /PRNewswire/ – Following an evaluation process lasting several days, a 30-member international panel selected Elekta’s Connexion™ couchtop to receive the red dot award: product design 2012 for its impressive design in the product category “Life Science and Medicine”, according to the panel. Creative designers and manufacturers from around the world submitted 4,515 designs to this renowned product competition.

The awarding of the internationally recognized quality label occurs on July 2, 2012, as part of the traditional red dot gala. An estimated 1,000 international guests from design, business, politics and the media will gather at the Essen Aalto-Theatre to celebrate the culmination of this year's competition. Connexion will then be exhibited for four weeks at the red dot design museum.

With a growing range of imaging and treatment techniques available, couchtops in radiation therapy need to be able to support different approaches without compromising patient set-up. With its unique modular design, Connexion removes the restrictions of a single couchtop, allowing the adaptation of the couch to each patient‘s needs. Building on Elekta’s choice in patient positioning solutions, Connexion offers clinics the flexibility to select the most appropriate couchtop providing personalized efficiency, and strengthening the ability to optimize treatment outcomes.

Professor Dr. Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of the red dot design award, remarked upon the high level of competition: “The premier products from a range of industries not only faced tough competition this year, but also the critical eye of the panel. The experts applied the highest standards when thoroughly examining, testing and evaluating each entry. The award-winners not only demonstrated an extraordinary design quality, but also showed that design is an integral part of innovative product solutions. At this high level, the winners of a red dot awards are able to considerably increase the potential for success in their respective markets.

The award-winning products in the red dot design museum
With more than 1,500 products on an area exceeding 4,000 square metres, the red dot design museum hosts the world’s largest temporary exhibition of design. This special exhibition of award-winning design will be held July 3-29, 2012. At the “Design on stage – winners red dot award: product design 2012,” enthusiasts can admire the latest trends up-close. Touching is explicitly requested. Visitors can experience the prize-winning design of Connexion from Elekta in the breathtaking atmosphere of the one-time boiler house of Zeche Zollverein, a former coalmine.

The red dot design award
The red dot design award originated in the 1950s and is given in three disciplines: the “red dot award for product design,” the “red dot award for communication design,” and the “red dot award for design concept.” In 2011 alone, more than 14,000 entries from over 70 countries were registered. The red dot award has established itself internationally as one of the most respected quality marks for outstanding design.

For further information please look at: www.red-dot.de/press and www.elekta.com/connexion.

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Elekta Reinforces Strong China-Asia Presence at 2012 ChinaMed Exhibition, Demonstrates Broad Range of Radiotherapy Solutions

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMT

BEIJING

2012-03-21

At the 24th International Medical Instruments & Equipment (ChinaMed) Exhibition, March 23-25 at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, Elekta (booth #3A001) will showcase its comprehensive range of oncology solutions and demonstrate its preeminence as the dominant provider of radiation therapy technology in China.

In the last five years, Elekta has concentrated resources to support China’s unprecedented initiatives to modernize and improve access to cancer management technology. This has resulted in a number of firsts and milestones for both Elekta and Chinese medical centers.

This month, Elekta BMEI shipped its 100th Elekta Compact™ treatment system, equipped with the 2,000th Precise Table manufactured by Elekta. The 100th Elekta Compact will be will be shipped to Fujian Province Tumor Hospital.
Release of MOSAIQ® in the Chinese Language, currently in use at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. MOSAIQ is Elekta’s dedicated electronic oncology information system.
Installation of China’s first Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ radiosurgery systems at Zheijiang University School of Medicine and Beijing Tiantan Hospital. Shanghai Gamma Knife Hospital also plans to install a Perfexion system later this year.
First order for Elekta Axesse™, an advanced 4D stereotactic treatment system designed to facilitate highly targeted stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and radiosurgery anywhere in the body recently was placed.

Elekta also has enabled users of Precise Treatment System™ in China to increase treatment delivery speed with the release of VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy). VMAT is an advanced radiation therapy technique that delivers treatment in one or more continuous high-speed arcs around the patient, enabling the radiation dose to precisely conform to a tumor by modulating the radiation beam’s intensity.

Precise Treatment System is a versatile therapy platform offering treatments with photons or electrons, traditional static delivery, IGRT or VMAT.

“During 2010-2011, Elekta solutions accounted for nearly half of new orders in the Chinese market, making Elekta the number one provider in the country,” says Gilbert Wai, Executive Vice President, Asia Pacific. “Our ongoing mission is to help meet China’s demand for comprehensive cancer management solutions as this nation’s healthcare providers strive to offer the best services for its citizens."

Elekta’s comprehensive radiation therapy solutions also will be on display (booth #H1-E36) at the Spring 2012 China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF), April 17-20 at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre in Shenzhen.

For more information on Elekta China, visit www.elekta.cn.

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Cancer Clinics Realize More Workflow Efficiencies with Elekta’s Vendor Neutral Treatment Planning Solutions

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 12:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2012-03-20

Customers rely on planning systems’ exceptional connectivity to department’s technology to improve QA, training and workflow

According to clinicians at many cancer centers, it is difficult to overestimate the value of Elekta’s vendor neutral planning solutions for the smooth operation of the radiation therapy department. By implementing a single treatment planning system (TPS) across the entire department, clinics are realizing greater efficiencies in workflow, quality assurance and training.

“We support many different treatment modalities in this clinic, in addition to five different planning systems plus CT simulation,” says Charles W. Kinsey, Chief Physicist, Presbyterian Hospital, (Charlotte, N.C.) “This puts a tremendous burden on the planners who have to know how to generate high quality plans for the different systems and for those responsible for treatment planning QA for all of these systems. Implementing Elekta’s XiO TPS for two of our treatment systems, a Varian and an Elekta, has been a huge improvement.

“The efficiency inherent in a vendor neutral TPS platform gives us more time to develop a high quality plan independent of the treatment platform,” he continues. “Also, a vendor neutral TPS will have more robust beam modeling tools. This allows the estimate of how we are going to treat the patient to more closely reflect how we will actually treat the patient."

Bon Secours Cancer Institute (Midlothian, Va.) operates three non-Elekta linear accelerators at three clinics, but chose an Elekta treatment planning system to develop plans at each site.

“We chose the Elekta TPS solution because we wanted the option to more easily expand our existing system, and we predicted that over the long term our operational costs would be lower,” says Teresa Crist, R.T.T., Director of Radiation Oncology at Bon Secours. “The fact that it is vendor neutral enables us to optimize the use of our existing linac hardware to deliver advanced techniques and imaging options.”

Crist’s colleague, Chief Physicist, J. Fred Harmon, Ph.D., adds that a single planning platform has an impact across the entire department.

“There are several advantages, including efficiency of commissioning, quality assurance, staff training, staff cross coverage – in the event a staff member is absent on a given day – and standardization of planning protocols,” he observes.

Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, Wis.) has maintained XiO treatment planning since 1998 and Monaco® treatment planning system since 2005 to support 10 treatment machines distributed among four clinics. Although all the therapy systems are from another provider, the organization has virtually standardized on Elekta planning. The versatility of the center’s vendor neutral Elekta TPS has been a major advantage, says Francisco Lopez, Ph.D., Medical Physicist.

“We can treat any part of the body with any kind of plan, whether it’s IMRT or 3D, x-rays or electrons,” he says. “XiO is a system we can count on. If our non-Elekta TPS goes down, we still have seven XiO workstations that can do the job.”

Read more about Elekta’s vendor neutral treatment planning solutions in the February 2012 issue of Wavelength customer magazine.

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

Gert van Santen, Communications Director, Nucletron an Elekta company
Tel +31 6 5356 1242, email: gert.vansanten@elekta.com
Time zone: Central European Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

National Physical Laboratory Acquires Nucletron’s Flexitron Brachytherapy Afterloader

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:00:43 GMT

TEDDINGTON, United Kingdom

2012-03-19

The National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the United Kingdom’s national measurement institute, recently purchased a Flexitron® afterloader from Nucletron, an Elekta company. NPL will continue to offer its brachytherapy calibration service with the new afterloader, and ensure source calibrations in radiotherapy centers remain traceable to NPL’s primary standard.

We chose Flexitron because it is a highly advanced brachytherapy platform that met all our requirements, offering the accuracy necessary to achieve the scientific excellence we strive for,” says Thorsten Sander, Senior Research Scientist at NPL. “Flexitron also provides us the opportunity to collaborate in the development of new technologies, to expand brachytherapy products and applications.”

Nucletron and NPL have collaborated since 1992.

Flexitron is an advanced afterloader that takes brachytherapy to a new level. With robust safety features and flexible 40-channel configuration, Flexitron is designed to treat both very small and very large tumors without reconnections, in intuitive 1 mm steps.

Accurate determination of source positions is simplified and reliability is enhanced with Nucletron’s zero reference source positioning system, which defines dwell positions in absolute values. This significantly reduces the chance of human error; no additional measures or manual recalculations are required. Procedures take less time and are easier to check. Flexitron patented source drives are more precise and durable than ever, providing reliable treatment from year to year.

For further information see http://www.nucletron.com and http://www.npl.co.uk/ionising-radiation.

###

For further information, please contact:

Gert van Santen, Communications Director, Nucletron an Elekta company
Tel +31 6 5356 1242, email: gert.vansanten@elekta.com
Time zone: Central European Time

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time>

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

About Elekta

Irish Hospital Uses Elekta’s Clarity 3D Ultrasound to Guide Prostate Cancer Radiotherapy

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 11:00:00 GMT

Galway

2012-03-08

Clarity integrates with any vendor’s linear accelerator to provide exceptional soft tissue visualization

Soft tissue imaging with 3D ultrasound both at therapy simulation and just before treatment has transformed prostate radiotherapy at University Hospital Galway (UHG). The majority of radiotherapy patients with prostate cancer who visit the clinic will benefit from a new technology that can accurately track the prostate’s position before each treatment. The Elekta Clarity® 3D system provides ultrasound-assisted image guidance to radiation therapy (IGRT), and avoids the additional radiation dose that comes with other IGRT techniques

“The big advantage of Clarity is you’re not adding any radiation dose – you’re getting pictures of the prostate for ‘free,’” says Margaret Moore, UHG’s Head of Radiation Physics. “For planning treatments, CT simulation and Clarity are a great combination. Both modalities add their bit of intelligence to create the certainty that you’re seeing the target.”

Reliably localizing the prostate is critical as its position can change due to bladder and rectal filling, in addition to patient breathing, she adds.

“If you aim the treatment beams at the same spot every day, but the anatomy you want to treat is moving in and out of the spot, then it’s not getting the full dose it should,” Ms. Moore explains. “Clarity allows us to track the prostate’s position before each treatment, and keep the treatment beam on target.”

UHG, which opened clinically in 2005, acquired Clarity in 2008 and began using it with one of its three linear accelerators. Clarity is capable of integrating with any external beam radiation therapy workflow and equipment to support simulation, planning and treatment.

“In the equipment evaluation, we liked the idea of matching the planning ultrasound to the treatment room ultrasound that Clarity offered,” Ms. Moore recalls. “Other similar IGRT options try to match ultrasound to CT, which could affect alignment accuracy. Clarity also wouldn’t require reconfiguring our linear accelerator – we could integrate the system easily.”

Versatile Clarity

Radiation oncologists at UHG have been able to use Clarity routinely to fine-tune prostate contouring, superficially at the bladder junction.

“In some cases, the lobes of the prostate reach up to the bladder, so distinguishing bladder tissue from prostate tissue is difficult using CT,” Ms. Moore observes. “On ultrasound, there’s a huge difference. The bladder is much more distinctive than the prostate gland.”

Clarity has been also been indispensable in facilitating soft tissue imaging of prostate cancer patients with single or bilateral hip prostheses, Ms. Moore adds.

“The metal in artificial hips soaks up the planning CT imaging dose, which creates an artifact that blocks out the view of the prostate and prevents contouring,” she says. “Ultrasound is unaffected by these implants. Clarity is our savior for planning these patients.”

Learn more at www.elekta.com/clarity.

###

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Investor Relations Manager, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Elekta convertible bonds 2012

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:19:58 GMT

2012-03-06

Elekta convertible bonds 2012

To read more about the Elekta convertible bonds 2012, please visit http://ir.elekta.com

Australian Clinic Puts Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy on Fast Track with Elekta VMAT and Integrity Digital Control System

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 13:00:04 GMT

SYDNEY, Australia

2012-03-01

Sydney’s Nepean Cancer Care Centre reduces total treatment time from 15 minutes to 10 minutes

In a single bound, Nepean Cancer Care Centre (NCCC) leaped from traditional 3D conformal radiation therapy for its prostate cancer cases to a dramatically faster therapy delivery method, Elekta VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy), a technique that is even quicker with Elekta’s new Integrity™ R1.1 sixth generation digital control system. NCCC physicians treated their first patient with prostate cancer using Integrity on December 13, 2011, and have recently begun using VMAT to treat disease sites in the head-and-neck.

“We are very happy with the speed and accuracy of treatment delivery for this first patient, who has received 33 of 39 treatments,” reports Kevin Van Tilburg, NCCC’s Chief Radiation Therapist. “We are now planning to use Elekta VMAT to treat all of our radical [curative] prostate cases that employ implanted gold markers.”

Elekta VMAT is a sophisticated radiotherapy technique that delivers treatment in one or more uninterrupted high-speed arcs around the patient, allowing the radiation dose to precisely conform to a tumor by adjusting the radiation beam’s intensity. NCCC’s new Integrity R1.1 digital control system supports Continuously Variable Dose Rate (CVDR), which allows the dose rate to be adjusted to its ideal value during delivery. This makes prescription delivery smoother and faster when compared to previous discrete dose rates, enabling NCCC clinicians to cut VMAT delivery time by 30 percent.

“Elekta VMAT without Integrity would have taken 104 seconds to deliver the beams – which is still fast – but with Integrity we reduced beam delivery time to just 72 seconds,” says NCCC Chief Physicist, Shan Yau.

This 30 percent reduction in beam delivery time has allowed NCCC to decrease total treatment time from the 15 minutes required for 3D conformal radiation therapy to 10-minute VMAT treatments using Integrity, including patient set-up and imaging.

“Every minute saved gives us more flexibility with scheduling the daily patient workload on our Elekta Synergy® system, and affords the potential in the future of increasing the number of patients we can treat per day,” says NCCC Senior Physicist Sean White.

New applications on the horizon

NCCC treats 70-75 patients per day on its two Elekta Synergy systems, 10-12 (15 percent) of whom are patients with prostate cancer. Individuals with prostate, breast or head-and-neck cancers represent half of NCCC’s case volume, patients who NCCC clinicians believe could benefit from VMAT/Integrity speed.

“In a recent head-and-neck case, for example, we used the integrated imaging technology on the Elekta Synergy to perform cone-beam CT imaging acquisitions before and after the patient’s treatment, and found that the patient had moved from his starting position,” Van Tilburg recalls. Significantly shortening beam delivery time with VMAT/Integrity should reduce the likelihood of patient movement.”

With interdigitation enabled through Integrity, clinicians can create fields with complex geometry, which can be beneficial in challenging cases, such as those involving multiple targets, or for targets that require different dose objectives.

“It’s still in the early days, but so far we have noticed a slight reduction in monitor units when planning breast IMRT cases, and have observed that we are getting fewer ‘hot spots,’” White notes.

*Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

###

For further information, please contact:

Johan Andersson Melbi, Investor Relations Manager, Elekta AB

Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com

German Radiotherapy Clinic Harnesses Sun to Run Systems, Cuts Dependence on Power Grid

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 10:57:07 GMT

SINGEN, Germany

2012-02-23

Elekta European Reference Site, Lake Constance Radiation Oncology Centre, is world’s only solar-powered radiation therapy clinic

A video display on the door of Lake Constance Radiation Oncology Centre (Singen, Germany) includes the message “Let the Sun Shine,” exhorting patients to think positively and have sunny thoughts despite the reason for their visit to this Southern Germany clinic. The message might as well also signify a plea for cloudless skies, as the radiotherapy center’s lights, treatment systems and other machines and systems get a major percentage of their power from the sun.

In August 2011, Lake Constance Radiation Oncology Centre installed an array of 232 solar panel modules on its roof, creating a 400m2 energy collector that converts sunlight into hundreds of kilowatt-hours of electricity daily. During the summer, the array’s output will be more than the Radiation Oncology Centre needs to run its two Elekta Synergy® systems, a large bore CT system and the clinic’s IT technology, lighting and air-conditioning. In the winter months, the clinic will need to supplement its solar power generation with electricity from the power grid, resulting in Lake Constance Radiation Oncology Centre purchasing more electricity than it will produce when averaged over 365 days. However, it is the concept of decentralized power production that is critical, according to Holger Wirtz, the clinic’s Technical Director/Chief of Medical Physics, and brainchild of the solar power project.

“This is a brand new idea. We are shifting the paradigm from centralized to decentralized energy production. We are the first in Germany to follow this model in healthcare and the environment and generate our own energy to drive our ‘industrial processes,’” Mr. Wirtz pronounces. “This decreases the financial investment and effort that utilities expend in creating electricity at a central production point – such as an atomic, coal or hydroelectric plant – and distributing it to every energy consumer. Imagine if every home produced energy from its own solar array independent of the power grid; the current needed to be carried on the grid would be much lower.”

Although Mr. Wirtz is a biomedical engineer who chose a medical physics career, he was intensely interested in renewable energy production while in high school and college. That curiosity carried forward to 2011 when he proposed to Lake Constance Radiation Oncology Centre’s management that the clinic adopt solar power to offset its electricity costs.

“I told them that each year energy costs increased three to five percent in Germany,” he recalls. “I calculated a positive return on investment of eight years at that annual energy cost increase and assuming consistent sunshine year to year. Depending on energy cost fluctuations, that could even be less than eight years.”

Mr. Wirtz’s preoccupation with energy conservation and Lake Constance Radiation Oncology Centre’s bottom line even led him four years ago to acquire the two Elekta Synergy systems for the centre and an Elekta Synergy for its satellite department in Friedrichshafen.

“In 2007, these linacs consumed 30 to 40 percent less power than other treatment systems on the market,” he says.

The manufacture of energy-efficient linear accelerators is just one way that Elekta strives to minimize its technology’s environmental impact. For more information, click here.

“With this project, it is now possible to achieve environmentally friendly radiation therapy that patients and employees can identify with,” adds Prof. Johannes Lutterbach, M.D., M.B.A, Medical Director.

###

For further information, please contact:

Johan Andersson Melbi, Investor Relations Manager, Elekta AB

Tel: +46 702 100 451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com

Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Clarity 3D Ultrasound Innovation Offers Remote Automatic Scanning to Guide Prostate Cancer Radiation Therapy

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 13:58:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2012-02-20

Elekta receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Clarity with Autoscan radiotherapy imaging solution

Clarity® soft tissue visualization system now provides an Autoscan option for automated ultrasound scanning from outside of the treatment room, employing a motorized probe positioned at the patient’s perineum. The transperineal approach also benefits planning by providing a clear view of the prostate and surrounding critical areas, such as the penile bulb, thought to be responsible for erectile function. Clearly visualizing these pelvic structures could enable physicians to create plans with tighter margins around intended targets, thus avoiding exposure to uninvolved tissues, including the penile bulb.

Elekta recently received 510(k) clearance for Clarity with Autoscan, enabling U.S. medical centers to implement this new ultrasound scanning innovation.

Clarity with Autoscan provides a flexible alternative to traditional hand-held scanning and is the ideal platform on which to build future live (i.e., real time) imaging applications that will track the prostate and surrounding anatomy during treatment*. Live imaging has become increasingly important for physicians wanting to pursue reduced margin hypofractionated therapy. Clarity with Autoscan, as well as live-imaging works-in-progress, will be part of the Elekta product portfolio highlighted at the Radiosurgery Society meeting in Carlsbad, Calif., February 23-25.

Clinicians at Fletcher Allen Health Care (FAHC, Burlington, Vt.) who have been evaluating Clarity with Autoscan in clinical trials are excited about Elekta’s latest innovation for soft-tissue imaging in radiation therapy.

“In our experience, patients have found transperineal scanning to be more comfortable than transabdominal ultrasound, because it doesn’t require pressing the ultrasound probe on a full bladder,” says FAHC radiation oncologist James Wallace, M.D. “The images we acquire truly are remarkable and the therapists say setup is very user-friendly. In addition, we are excited to begin assessing the impact of real-time Autoscan, which will enable us to use Clarity to track prostate motion in real-time during treatment, facilitating ‘on-the-fly’ adjustments to patient position.”

To learn more, visit www.elekta.com/clarity.

*Works in progress and not available for sale or distribution.

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Elekta’s Fraxion System Brings Proven Immobilization Options Into One Single Solution for Stereotactic Radiation Therapy of the Brain and Cranium

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2012-02-17

Elekta receives FDA 510(k) clearance for Fraxion

The Fraxion™ head frame helps ensure accuracy and precision in stereotactic radiation therapy (SRT) of cancer targets in the brain and cranium. Elekta’s Fraxion is the first to introduce an innovative system that integrates all proven cranial immobilization options in a single solution.

“Building on more than 60 years of stereotaxy experience, Fraxion provides the accuracy and precision that clinicians need for even the most challenging cranial SRT cases,” says Dee Mathieson, Senior Vice President, Oncology Business Line Management. “Coupled with Elekta’s state-of-the-art Monaco® treatment planning and an unequalled specification for high resolution beam shaping with Apex™, Elekta’s latest multileaf collimator, these solutions provide our clinical users with a simple, efficient way to expand their practice into stereotaxy.”

Clinicians at Royal Preston Hospital’s Rosemere Cancer Centre (Preston, U.K.) have been impressed by the head frame’s ease of use, accuracy and patient comfort.

“Fraxion integrates well into our Elekta environment,” says Glyn Shentall, Head of Radiotherapy Physics at the Royal Preston Hospital. “The head frame is a non-invasive, well-tolerated system that provides high intra-fraction immobilization accuracy. Patient setup for treatment is straightforward and radiographer confidence in the system is high.”

Fraxion head fixation can be used for virtually any patient. The patient can be immobilized with a thermoplastic mask, with the vacuum mouthpiece, or even a combination of both systems. Precise repositioning is possible as the system is directly connected to the treatment table and micro adjustments are possible via easily accessible screws for full 6D patient positioning.

The partial and full head thermoplastic masks provide alternative immobilization options for non-invasive setup, without compromising accuracy. Combining the thermoplastic mask with the vacuum mouthpiece increases flexibility in setup options, allowing optimal setup based on the patient’s needs.

“With an estimated patient workload of 72 stereotactic cases per year, the new Elekta Fraxion and Apex equipment provide a flexible solution for a problem many departments face: an increased requirement for highly conformal techniques whilst still maintaining an optimal patient throughput," Glyn Shentall notes.

Learn more at www.elekta.com/fraxion

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Radiosurgery Pioneer, University Hospital La Timone, is World’s First to Acquire Second Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:58:00 GMT

Marseilles

2012-02-16

French hospital on track in 2012 to mark 12,000th patient treated, sees dramatic increase in patients with brain metastases

University Hospital La Timone is among the world’s elite centers whose experience in Gamma Knife® radiosurgery spans decades and whose treated patient volume surpasses 10,000. This summer, La Timone (Marseilles, France), will celebrate its 20th year as a Leksell Gamma Knife user, continuing its progress toward 12,000 patients treated in the world’s first facility to operate two of Elekta’s most sophisticated radiosurgery platform, Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™.

On January 9, clinicians at La Timone treated the first patient on their second Perfexion system. The site of the world’s first Perfexion in 2006, La Timone has been performing Gamma Knife surgery since 1992 and has operated four different versions of Gamma Knife, widely recognized as the gold standard for brain radiosurgery.

With its two Perfexion systems, La Timone will treat as many as 10 patients each day, toward a predicted total exceeding 1,200 patients in 2012, according to Jean Régis, M.D. La Timone neurosurgeon and Gamma Knife program director.

Perfexion streamlines radiosurgery

It was the Perfexion system’s planning speed and ability to streamline radiosurgery – in addition to an ever-increasing workload – that convinced La Timone officials they needed to replace its Gamma Knife 4C with an additional Perfexion, Prof. Régis says.

“As our activities continued to increase we were working longer hours of operation and it was putting a burden on the team,” Prof. Régis says. “With two Perfexion systems running, we end the day much earlier. In addition, the percentage of patients with brain metastases is increasing dramatically – more so than any other indication – and in this group the number of mets per patient also is increasing significantly.”

Historically, La Timone, and many centers worldwide, used Gamma Knife to treat one to three metastases. However, as clinical studies continue to clarify the neurocognitive impact of traditional whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) for multiple metastases, Gamma Knife radiosurgery is gaining in use.*

“We are definitely getting more referrals,” he notes. “In the medical community, the number of clinicians who systematically prescribe WBRT for single and multiple mets is decreasing. More patients and doctors are becoming aware of the toxicity of WBRT and are open to the potential of radiosurgery to avoid it.”

Among La Timone’s patients with multiple mets, the average number of lesions is now three. “Perfexion is the ideal platform to treat multiple metastases – we are much more at ease treating these patients than in the past,” Prof. Régis adds.

In addition to metastases, University Hospital La Timone also has performed Gamma Knife radiosurgery over the years to treat a spectrum of benign and malignant vascular and functional disorders.

* Tsao MN, Rades D, Wirth A et al. Radiotherapeutic and surgical management for newly diagnosed brain metastasis(es): An American Society for Radiation Oncology evidence-based guideline. (in press) Practical Radiation Oncology (2012)

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Elekta Highlights Latest Version of MOSAIQ Oncology Information System at HIMSS12 Meeting

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:49:01 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2012-02-16

Elekta to accept award for MOSAIQ top ranking in 2011 Best in KLAS Awards

Acknowledging the importance of dedicated information management systems for radiation and medical oncology practices, Elekta will demonstrate the most recent version of its MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS) at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s 2012 conference (HIMSS12), Feb. 20-24, in Las Vegas.

MOSAIQ is a comprehensive OIS that centralizes traditional radiation oncology, particle therapy and medical oncology patient data into a single user interface, accessible by multidisciplinary teams across multiple locations. MOSAIQ provides hospitals and oncology staff access to the underlying clinical and administrative data, improving both clinical care and operational efficiency.

Visitors to Elekta booth #1455 will learn how MOSAIQ integrates with a diverse array of hospital systems, treatment devices and imaging systems, increasing accessibility to critical data anytime by remote users on various platforms. MOSAIQ captures the entire patient chart in a common database that users can customize, allowing radiation oncologists and medical oncologists to coordinate care for complex cases. In addition to hospital based centers, MOSAIQ provides all the clinical, administrative and billing needs allowing the stand alone centers to have one, complete, comprehensive oncology system.

MOSAIQ is “Best in KLAS” for 2011

At a HIMSS presentation, MOSAIQ will be recognized for its number one ranking in the recently released 2011 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report. The report is a summary of performance data collected over the past 12 months and ranks the top overall vendors.

“MOSAIQ integrates with hundreds of hospital and laboratory systems at facilities around the world,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “We are enormously gratified that our customer respondents in the KLAS survey recognized the value of MOSAIQ for managing their patients’ care. I believe it clearly demonstrates the strengths of the MOSAIQ community and how we collectively develop and support each other in our common goal of effectively managing cancer.”

KLAS’s data are also supported by the U.S. News & World Report 2011-12 best hospital rankings, which indicate that 46 out of the 50 top-ranked cancer hospitals are users of Elekta’s oncology software.

To learn more, visit www.elekta.com/mosaiq.

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microSelectron Digital (HDR-V3) Brachytherapy Afterloader for Cancer Treatment Receives Shonin Approval from Japanese Ministry of Health

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:36:53 GMT

Tokyo

2012-02-15

Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) granted Shonin approval to market the microSelectron® Digital (HDR-V3) afterloader in Japan.

Nucletron, an Elekta company, the world's leading manufacturer of brachytherapy solutions, announced today that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) granted Shonin approval to market the microSelectron® Digital (HDR-V3) afterloader in Japan.

Designed for precise and targeted treatment of cancer, the microSelectron Digital (HDR-V3) offers proven reliability in afterloading and has the world’s largest installed base. The scalable and upgradable platform, with 6, 18 or 30 channels, meets the needs of many brachytherapy patients and healthcare professionals.

Nucletron brachytherapy solutions treat cancer from the “inside out,” with the radiation source positioned directly inside or next to the tumor. This precise and accurate form of radiation has proven to be a highly effective treatment option, while also reducing the risk of unintended damage to healthy tissues and organs – reducing potential side effects for patients. This makes brachytherapy a complementary and valuable adjunct to any radiotherapy program.

Nucletron’s key technological advances have resulted in an integrated portfolio of treatment planning and delivery systems. With 35 years of experience, Nucletron continues to drive efficiency, efficacy, quality and safety in brachytherapy solutions.

Elekta acquired Nucletron in September 2011.

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Gert van Santen, Communications Director, Nucletron an Elekta company
Tel +31 6 5356 1242, email: gert.vansanten@elekta.com
Time zone: Central European Time

Michelle Lee Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

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, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, 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.

Medical Physics Pick: Paper Shows Elekta’s Monaco Enables VMAT delivery of SBRT Without Sacrificing Plan Quality

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 14:00:12 GMT

ATLANTA

2012-02-13

Biological-based planning maximizes critical organ sparing in fast VMAT for SBRT of prostate, lung and liver lesions

High-dose Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) has emerged as a critical treatment option for patients with prostate, lung and liver cancer. The challenge has been delivering SBRT’s large doses as quickly as possible, for improved patient comfort and to reduce the chance the patient will move during treatment delivery. While Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) promises much faster treatment delivery, clinicians have been reluctant to sacrifice plan quality to deliver therapy faster. The Editor Pick in the January 2012 issue of Medical Physics is an article by Quentin Diot, Brian Kavanagh, Robert Timmerman, and Moyed Miften that demonstrates that the use of Monaco biological-based planning meets the need for fast SBRT with high quality plans.

“We found that using biological-based optimization and VMAT we could deliver faster treatments with comparable or better plan quality for patients with prostate, lung and liver patients, compared to fixed gantry [i.e., step-and-shoot] IMRT,” says the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Moyed Miften, Ph.D., a senior-author of the paper, Biological-based optimization and volumetric modulated arc therapy delivery for stereotactic body radiation therapy.*

The researchers found that biological-based planning achieves the goal of sparing organs-at-risk (OARs) – the physician’s main concern when delivering SBRT’s significantly larger radiation doses per treatment fraction. Subjects included 24 SBRT patients with prostate, liver or lung cancer.

Biological-based planning v. physical planning

Elekta’s Monaco® uses biological-based plan optimization, in contrast to planning systems that offer only physical planning.

The optimization process entails the twin goals of maximizing the dose to the target and minimizing the dose to OARs. Because targets and OARs are contiguous, these goals compete and the optimizer needs to make the appropriate trade-offs.

With physical-based optimization, the planner manually enters points (volume receiving a given dose or dose volume (DV)) to constrain the optimization based on available clinical data that demonstrate a correlation between tumor control and normal tissue complications and particular DV metrics.

“These metrics are only surrogates of the biological response and different plans that meet the same discrete constraints can have a very different biological outcome,” explains Quentin Diot, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “Conversely, biological-based optimization – such as that provided by Monaco – uses model functions directly related to biological outcomes to guide the optimization, and can distinguish between apparently equivalent physical plans.”

The biological quality of physical plans, therefore, depends strongly on the prioritization of the DV constraints, Dr. Diot says, which rely on the planner, the technique used and the patient anatomy, while the biological quality of biologically-optimized plans depend only on the functional-structure selected for each organ.

“We also found that despite the advanced features and sophistication of the Monaco treatment planning system, it can be successfully implemented in a clinical environment without increasing workload,” Dr. Miften reports.

*Biological-based optimization and volumetric modulated arc therapy delivery for stereotactic body radiation therapy. Med. Phys. 39(1), January 2012.

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Sixth Generation Elekta Digital Control System Boosts Radiation Therapy System Speed and Performance

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA

2012-02-10

Integrity R1.1 receives 510(k) clearance, demonstrates treatment delivery time reductions of up to 30 percent

The advanced functionality of Elekta’s family of digital linear accelerators demands the highest degree of intelligent coordination. Elekta’s latest control system, Integrity™ R1.1, meets this requirement through three tiers of safety, command of MLC interdigitation for exceptional field shaping, and support of virtually limitless options to adjust the radiation dose.

Integrity R1.1 has undergone rigorous tests in eight international centers, which demonstrated safe reductions in treatment delivery times of as high as 30 percent. The receipt of 510(k) clearance for Integrity R1.1 enables U.S. medical centers to realize these treatment speed and safety benefits when Elekta begins delivery of the control systems.

“I appreciate the use of multiple measures to ensure correct treatment delivery,” says Jonas Fontenot, Ph.D., physicist at Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center (Baton Rouge, La.), which has been evaluating a previous release of Integrity since February 2011. “In addition, during Volumetric Modulated Radiation Therapy [VMAT], Integrity constantly captures delivery parameters and sends them back to our MOSAIQ® oncology information system, where they become part of the patient’s electronic record.”

Interdigitation and Continuously Variable Dose Rate (CVDR) boost efficiency

With interdigitation of MLCi2 enabled by Integrity R1.1, MLC capabilities have caught up with the ability of the treatment planning system to create fields with complex geometry. Because MLC leaves can move past one another – or interdigitate – clinicians can employ island fields in difficult cases, such as those involving multiple targets.

“Interdigitation is important for treating multiple targets – such as multiple brain mets – and also when there is a target geometry that consists of different dose objectives,” Dr. Fontenot says. “For example, we may want to treat a primary target to 70 Gy and a nodal region to 57 Gy.”

Quicker, smoother VMAT

Integrity R1.1 supports CVDR, which allows the dose rate to be adjusted to its ideal value during delivery of both dynamic and VMAT prescriptions. This option makes prescription delivery smoother and faster when compared to previous discrete dose rates.

“The additional dose rate options permit the control system to easily navigate complex dose modulation paths,” he explains. “Less variability in gantry speed smoothes VMAT arc motion, which also translates to reduced delivery times.”

Learn more at www.elekta.com/integrity.

Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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Largest Neurosurgical Center in Russia Acquires Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:00:10 GMT

MOSCOW, Russian Federation

2012-02-06

N.N. Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute improves treatment of patients with multiple metastases

Russia’s first Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ system has found a home at the renowned N.N. Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute, just a five-minute car ride from Moscow’s Red Square. On June 2, 2011, a 59-year-old woman was the first Perfexion patient, receiving Gamma Knife® radiosurgery to treat tumor tissue that remained following open surgery. Now, eight months later, the Institute has treated more than 400 patients on the system, half of them with one or more metastases, tumors for which Gamma Knife surgery is increasingly regarded as the preferred frontline treatment.

Gamma Knife surgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease – cancer that has traveled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. The system precisely delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session.

Gamma Knife technology is not new to N.N. Burdenko clinicians – they had operated a Leksell Gamma Knife® C since 2005, treating a total of 1,812 patients, comprising 2,075 radiosurgery treatments over six years. Many of these patients received Gamma Knife surgery to treat multiple metastases, which often involved multiple treatment sessions or single sessions that could stretch to several hours.

“In the United States and European countries, there is some discussion about a threshold for the number of mets treated in a single session – three or four or more, but we’ve tried to treat all of them,” says Andrey Golanov, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Department of Radiotherapy and Radiosurgery. “The most we’ve treated with our previous Gamma Knife is 32 mets in one session, but of course that took many hours. In the past, however, many patients with multiple mets had deposits located in different parts of the brain or had radioresistant mets. Both types of cases have required more than one session. Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion has completely changed our approach to multiple metastases – we no longer have any limitations.”

Perfexion dramatically streamlines the radiosurgery workflow and expands the treatable volume through an automated, multi-source collimator. The result has been faster set-up and treatment delivery to one or more tumors in a single session.

“Everything’s easier with Perfexion, and that makes it easier for both patients and staff,” Dr. Golanov says. “There’s the potential for more indications, it’s easier to plan and treat and the dose planning is superior with higher conformity. This is particularly evident in treating patients with multiple mets. For example, just yesterday we treated a patient with five metastases in only one hour – and these were large lesions requiring more than one beam per tumor.”

“In November 2011, Dr. Golanov won a prestigious radiotherapy award for best treatment of brain metastasis, using Perfexion,” notes Nabil Elias Romanos, Vice President, Elekta Eastern Europe & Middle East. “This recognition by radiation oncology professionals of this system’s applications and efficacy for brain metastasis is good news for patients and clinicians.”

Single and multiple metastases represent 37 percent of Burdenko’s Perfexion weekly volume of 15-20 patients, while classic Gamma Knife indications – a variety of benign and malignant vascular and functional targets – comprise the rest. Dr. Golanov notes that Perfexion also presents the potential to treat new indications.

“We’re really happy to have Perfexion, no doubt,” Dr. Golanov says. “Leksell Gamma Knife has been the gold standard for intracranial radiosurgery for years. Perfexion makes Gamma Knife surgery even more refined, precise and efficient.”

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Elekta Demonstrates Comprehensive Range of Cancer Management Solutions at 2012 Arab Health Congress and Exhibition

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 09:00:37 GMT

Dubai

2012-01-27

An estimated 72,000 healthcare professionals gathered at the Dubai World Trade Centre Jan. 23-26 for the 2012 Arab Health Congress and Exhibition. The meeting also provided the framework for the 2nd Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Cancer Therapy Conference.

During the exhibition, Elekta demonstrated advanced solutions ranging from conventional radiation therapy with Elekta Compact™* to stereotactic neurosurgery with Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, products that provide clinicians with the tools to save and improve the lives of individuals with cancer. In addition, for the first time at Arab Health, Elekta presented advanced brachytherapy solutions.

The theme of the Elekta exhibit was “Experience the Elekta Difference,” which emphasizes the company’s commitment to increasing the user’s clinical confidence by simplifying the variables in treatment planning, patient setup, verification and delivery.

“Elekta was honored to attend Arab Health once again as a Gold Sponsor for the 2nd Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Cancer Therapy Conference,” says Nabil Elias Romanos, Elekta’s Vice President, Eastern Europe and Middle East. “We enjoyed heavy booth traffic and were gratified by the interest in our entire product portfolio, including our brachytherapy solutions. Many of the discussions with hospital administrators and clinicians revolved around key partnerships in the regions, supported by education, training and clinical collaboration.”

In 2012, Elekta will increase its presence in the region, after having already expanded its Dubai office to better serve customers and partners.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is the fourth-ranked cause of death in the wider Middle East Region. The top five cancers in the region, when males and females are combined, are breast, bladder, lung, oral and colon cancer. In addition, the largest increase in cancer incidence in the WHO regions in the next 15 years is likely to be in the wider Middle East Region.

“The unmet need of cancer care will continue to drive demand in Eastern Europe and the Middle East,” Romanos adds. “In these regions, Elekta is committed to providing meaningful support over the wide spectrum of cancer management, combined with personalized training, as well as scalable offerings and services.”

For more information on Elekta solutions, visit www.elekta.com/experience .

*Elekta Compact™ is not available for sale or distribution in all regions. Please contact your local Elekta representative or authorized distributor for further details.

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Ukraine Fortifies Cancer Management Capabilities with New Elekta Technology

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:00:07 GMT

KYIV, Ukraine

2012-01-25

Opened in August 2011, Rivne Regional Oncologic Dispensary’s radiation therapy department treats 50 patients per day

The Rinat Akhmetov (Development of Ukraine) Foundation took bold strides in 2011 to advance patient care by acquiring a comprehensive range of cancer management technology to equip the radiotherapy department at Rivne Regional Oncologic Dispensary in Ukraine. The Foundation chose Elekta to supply a comprehensive radiotherapy treatment solution, which includes an advanced digital treatment system, oncology information system and treatment planning systems.

“The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation needed to address a critical shortage of modern cancer treatment technology in eight provinces in Western Ukraine,” says Tetyana, Shcheglovskaya M.D., Head of the Radiotherapy Department at Rivne Regional Oncologic Dispensary. “For the Rivne center, it considered a combination of factors, including technical sophistication, price and company reputation among several tenders, ultimately selecting Elekta to provide this equipment.”

With its significantly strengthened cancer management capacity, the 240-bed Rivne clinic will serve as a magnet for patient care in a wide region, encompassing the cities of Lutsk, Ternopl and Zhitomyr. In addition, Rivne Regional Oncologic Dispensary will serve patients in Chernobyl, approximately 175 miles to the east. Chernobyl is the site of the 1986 nuclear power plant accident.

In its first three months, Rivne Regional Oncologic Dispensary has increased its daily radiotherapy patient volume to more than 50 and has enjoyed some early clinical successes.

“The results have been very good,” Dr. Shcheglovskaya reports. “For example, tumor shrinkage has been more than 90 percent in clinical cases involving tumor of the maxillary sinus. We have been able to treat a wide range of patient ages, including individuals with retinoblastoma.”

She attributes part of this success to the smooth implementation of Rivne’s Elekta technology.

“We were impressed by the quality of the clinical training for our staff and the problem-free process of the project launch, Dr. Shcheglovskaya says. “From a technology perspective, the big advantages have been the simplicity of the workflow and the reliability of the Elekta equipment. The high level of service also has made an impact on us. When we needed support, it was just a phone call away with rapid on-site help if needed.”

For a city of about 250,000 inhabitants, Rivne Regional Oncologic Dispensary represents a major step forward, she adds.

“We hope to become one of the best radiotherapy centers in Ukraine in a few years, thanks to the help of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation,” Dr. Shcheglovskaya says. “Our aim is to use everything we have received in the best way to help Ukrainian patients.”

Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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Virginia Physicians Use Elekta Software to Better Target Moving Tumors in Patients with Lung or Liver Cancer

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:00:06 GMT

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. and ATLANTA

2012-01-18

Symmetry helps radiation oncologists at Riverside & University of Virginia Radiosurgery Center avoid excess dose to healthy tissues by isolating mobile tumors

In treatments of only the first handful of patients with lung or liver tumors, Riverside & University of Virginia Radiosurgery Center (Newport News, Va.) clinicians have demonstrated the dramatic benefit that Elekta’s Symmetry™ 4D image guidance technology can provide for patients whose tumors move with their breathing. Symmetry essentially yields a more distinct picture of the tumor, without the blurring associated with breathing motion.

By having a clearer picture of the tumor position and its motion, physicians have been able to improve their targeting of tumors, thereby avoiding having to treat a larger margin of healthy tissue around the lesion. A Symmetry scan is acquired just before treatment to ensure that the patient is correctly positioned, and to visualize tumor movement.

“Symmetry scans give us clearer information about the movement of the tumor, allowing us to increase the safety of treating our patients by decreasing the dose to healthy tissues, while hopefully providing a better clinical outcome,” according to Riverside medical physicist Kelly Spencer.

Tumor motion in sharper focus

Before they began using the Symmetry feature in Elekta’s XVI package of IGRT tools, Riverside clinicians were using sophisticated XVI 3D cone beam CT (VolumeView™ CBCT) imaging technology integrated with their Elekta Synergy® S to image tumors. These pre-treatment scans provide physicians with added confidence in the margins that they have planned. Although seeing a target with IGRT technology such as VolumeView has been a key clinical improvement, the motion still created a blur that encompassed the tumor’s range of motion.

“For our current protocol, we would create an ITV [internal target volume] to cover the blur we see on the VolumeView,” Spencer says. “We began using Symmetry on a couple of patients with lower lung lesions near the diaphragm where we would expect tumor motion to be an issue. We were actually quite mesmerized by the images Symmetry provided. We could clearly see the actual motion of the delineated tumor with respect to the patient’s breathing.”

The same Symmetry benefit applied to a recent patient with a liver tumor situated near the diaphragm. In this case, clinicians inferred tumor motion by observing the movement of the liver with the patient’s breathing.

“We wanted to use Symmetry to see how the superior border of the liver moved, and what we observed was that it did not move simply superior to inferior – there was almost a rolling pattern to the liver motion,” Spencer recalls. “We knew that the liver didn’t necessarily move symmetrically on CBCT scans, but it was harder to appreciate due to motion artifact. This movement probably varies between patients, so that is an excellent reason to use Symmetry to evaluate this motion on a case-by-case basis.”

The extent of tumor motion as depicted in a Symmetry scan helps clinicians confirm that the margins around the tumor that they applied during the planning phase are as small as possible, thereby protecting healthy uninvolved tissues.

“For example, The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group SBRT Lung protocol criterion is 1.0 cm margins superior and inferior on the gross tumor volume,” he notes. “With Symmetry we can potentially reduce the standard margins and thereby decrease the dose to the uninvolved lung tissues.”

Accounting for tumor motion is especially important for patients with lung tumors, as Riverside’s protocol calls for beam delivery while the patient is breathing freely.

“Many of our lung cancer patients are older, they often have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or emphysema, so their shortness of breath and erratic breathing pattern makes them unsuited for breath hold treatments or any sort of gating,” Spencer says.

He adds that eight out of 10 patients with lung tumors could benefit from a Symmetry scan.

“We are very excited about our future with Symmetry,” he says. “We expected to be able to see a clearer picture of tumor motion, but we hadn’t appreciated how well we would see the motion in all three dimensions. It hasn’t been just superior to inferior tumor motion; Symmetry shows how a tumor can move anterior to posterior or left to right. In that respect, Symmetry has really exceeded our initial expectations.”

*Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Accelerates Cancer Care with Monaco Planning Software from Elekta

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:42:40 GMT

Leeds

2012-01-09

Clinicians cut VMAT planning times, aim to increase access to rapid radiotherapy for more patients

Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) delivery techniques have dramatically reduced treatment times for thousands of patients. An obstacle to offering this technique to more patients is the time it takes to create a VMAT plan. Physicians at St. James’s University Hospital – the first in the United Kingdom to use Monaco® VMAT clinically – have been able to significantly reduce VMAT planning times, increasing the potential to offer this advanced therapy to greater numbers of patients.

“Our referral rate for radiation therapy is expanding by over seven percent annually,” says St. James’s head of radiotherapy physics Vivian Cosgrove, Ph.D. “We see VMAT as a key way to manage that growth. If we can plan complex radiotherapy quickly and deliver treatment more efficiently with VMAT, then we can treat more patients and derive more benefit from our existing fleet of treatment machines.”

Elekta VMAT is an advanced radiation therapy technique that delivers treatment in one or more continuous high-speed arcs around the patient, enabling the radiation dose to precisely conform to a tumor by modulating the radiation beam’s intensity in multiple small volumes.

The key to rapidly developing Elekta VMAT plans lies in understanding the principles of efficiently producing traditional IMRT plans with step-and-shoot (i.e., non-dynamic) delivery. Medical physics staff at St. James’s have used Monaco since January 2011 to plan head-and-neck IMRT cases.

“Monaco has transformed our IMRT service,” Dr. Cosgrove notes. “After contouring, we can complete a complex head-and-neck plan in two to three hours. This is two to three times quicker than other planning systems we have used. Since we introduced Monaco clinically, we have been able to significantly increase the number of patients receiving intensity modulated treatment: over 260 patients in 2011 and a target to increase this further in 2012.”

That number includes many patients who have received VMAT planned with Monaco, which St. James’s clinicians began performing in August 2011 on one of its 12 Elekta digital accelerators.

VMAT delivery of head-and-neck cases takes 6.5 minutes, half the time of a seven-field step-and-shoot delivery, he says.

Monaco VMAT for lung SBRT
St. James’s physicians are eager to begin using Monaco to plan Elekta VMAT for lung SBRT cases, in which the shorter delivery time will minimize the risk of patient movement.

“Typically, we set aside a treatment slot of about 30 minutes, which includes two X-ray Volume Imaging [XVI] scans with the patient in the treatment position,” Dr. Cosgrove explains. “If the patient moves or treatment delivery is prolonged, we repeat the XVI to ensure there has been no change in the patient set-up. With VMAT, we not only can reduce the patient’s time on the table, but also – by decreasing the likelihood of patient movement – we can avoid having to take further XVI scans. This is a very important consideration for treatment to this site.”

With 12 Elekta digital accelerators operating at St. James’s University Hospital, the potential to dramatically increase VMAT treatment deliveries to reduce patient treatment times is tremendous.

“We have demonstrated the real clinical value of Monaco, but our challenge now is to increase our Monaco provision in the hospital,” he remarks. “We would like to at least double our current provision of two Monaco systems in the short term, and longer term to have a lot more systems in the department.”

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KLAS Oncology Report: Elekta’s MOSAIQ Oncology Information System is 2011’s No. 1 Oncology Software Solution

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 11:13:40 GMT

Atlanta

2011-12-20

Among oncology software products, customers ranked Elekta first for its MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS) in a survey by KLAS, an independent research firm.

The recently released 2011 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services* report showed that MOSAIQ scored 79.1 out of 100 and 88 percent of customers indicated they would buy again. The report, which puts MOSAIQ at the top for 2011, is a summary of performance data collected over the past 12 months and ranks the top overall vendors, as well as leaders in each market segment.

The award will be presented to Elekta at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference & Exhibition in February 2012 in Las Vegas. Elekta experts, available at booth #1455 will be providing MOSAIQ demonstrations during the exhibition, highlighting the OIS’s unparalleled open systems and interface connectivity to the widest range of treatment planning, treatment delivery, LIS, brachytherapy systems and hospital information systems.

“We are enormously gratified that our customer respondents in the KLAS survey recognized the value of MOSAIQ for managing their patients’ care,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “A continually evolving solution since 1992, MOSAIQ OIS was developed not only to streamline complex oncology workflows, but also to enable clinics to integrate vendor-neutral hardware and software as their needs change.”

More than 1,400 U.S. cancer treatment centers trust MOSAIQ to manage their patient information and provide unmatched connectivity to enterprise systems.

MOSAIQ is a complete patient information management system that centralizes radiation oncology, particle therapy and medical oncology patient data into a single user application, accessible by multi-disciplinary teams across multiple locations. As a true open systems platform, MOSAIQ connects seamlessly to virtually any linear accelerator and planning system from any vendor, giving centers the flexibility to choose solutions that perform optimally for their practice and patients.

From the single physician practice to the most sophisticated provider networks with hundreds of users, MOSAIQ provides comprehensive image, data and workflow management customized to exact customer needs. The single application offers users fast and efficient access to the right information when they need it.

KLAS gathers opinions of thousands of healthcare professionals

The KLAS awards are based on data from customer surveys of hospital and clinic executives, administrators, physicians, nurses and other directors and managers interacting with healthcare equipment and infrastructure solutions.

According to KLAS, Best in KLAS designations go to solutions that have excelled in their respective market segments, that show the vendor’s leadership in working with customers to resolve issues and match expectations to reality, and that have the broadest operational and clinical impact to healthcare organizations.

The 2011 Best in KLAS Awards: Software & Services report is available online. To purchase the full report, visit www.KLASresearch.com/BestinKLAS.

Compliant with HITECH Act meaningful use criteria

MOSAIQ version 2.3 has been certified for Stage 1 meaningful use as a complete EHR, and is available for immediate installation.

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Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion Earns Nearly Perfect Score in 2011 KLAS Radiation Therapy Report

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:41:12 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-12-09

Perfexion and Elekta Infinity at top of customer rankings in report*

With a score of 94.4 out of 100, Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ is “practically perfect in every way,” ranking at the top among six advanced radiation therapy systems, according to KLAS research firm’s recently released customer survey, Radiation Therapy 2011: A Dose of New Technology. The Elekta Infinity™ radiation treatment system garnered the #2 ranking with a score of 84.4, improving its score over the 2010 report.

The 2011 KLAS report – the result of interviews with 213 U.S. provider organizations – referenced respondents’ regard for the Perfexion system’s technological sophistication, making “treating very complicated tumors in a difficult spot easy for providers,” and for the radiosurgery platform’s unprecedented uptime statistics. The report summarized customer opinion by noting: “The speed, accuracy, reliability, and sophistication of the treatments all came together for the Gamma Knife Perfexion to earn the highest score in the study by a 10-point margin.”

Gamma Knife® surgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease – cancer that has traveled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. The system delivers thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous versions, especially for treating multiple metastases.

Supported by three decades of clinical practice in both neurosurgery and radiation oncology departments, more than 50,000 patients each year are treated with Gamma Knife surgery.

*Radiation Therapy 2011: A Dose of New Technology, © November, 2011 KLAS Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved. www.KLASresearch.com

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Renovation of Radiation Oncology Department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital Includes First-time Addition of Elekta Solutions

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:10:04 GMT

Cambridge

2011-12-05

U.K. medical center acquires two Elekta Synergy treatment systems, MOSAIQ oncology information system and image guided radiation therapy workspace

The radiation oncology department at internationally renowned Addenbrooke’s Hospital (Cambridge, U.K.) is upgrading its radiotherapy capabilities with Elekta therapy systems, oncology information system (OIS) and image guided workspace. The two Elekta Synergy® image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) systems replace one Siemens linear accelerator and one Varian linear accelerator that had been in service for more than 10 years at the medical center, which is run by the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Officials at Addenbrooke’s have been eager to more fully exploit techniques and technologies that modern treatment machines provide, according to Simon Thomas, Ph.D., head of radiotherapy physics at Addenbrooke’s. Currently, the medical center treats between 200 and 250 patients each day on seven treatment machines.

“The two capabilities we wanted on the machines were IGRT and VMAT ,” he says. “IGRT provides images of the target and nearby critical structures we want to avoid – with the patient in the treatment position before therapy. With VMAT, single or multiple radiation beams sweep in uninterrupted arcs around the patient, significantly reducing treatment times.”

Acquiring additional IGRT and VMAT-capable treatment machines will enable Addenbrooke’s clinicians to offer these imaging and therapy techniques to more patients, Dr. Thomas adds.

Addenbrooke’s Hospital asked Elekta and three other providers to submit proposals and give presentations on their equipment to replace the outgoing linear accelerators.

“We compared each company against our clinical and financial requirements and developed an overall score,” Dr. Thomas says. “Elekta’s overall score came out highest, and we combined that with the positive opinions we gathered from other Elekta users in the U.K., and decided to go with Elekta’s offerings.”

In addition to the Elekta Synergy treatment systems, Addenbrooke’s acquired the SYNERGISTIQ™ IGRT workspace and the MOSAIQ® OIS.

“To accommodate the new functionality of Elekta Synergy, we switched from the LANTIS™ to MOSAIQ,” he says.

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UK Clinicians Pass 200th Patient Milestone for Advanced Treatment Methods for Lung Cancer

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:00:00 GMT

LEEDS, England

2011-11-22

Doctors at the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust better visualize moving lung tumors with latest tools for image-guided stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT)

Setting the pace in the United Kingdom for lung SBRT treatments, clinicians at the St. James’s University Hospital are becoming increasingly adept in managing respiratory motion and accurately targeting mobile lung tumors, a difficult task before the introduction of advanced technology. For many of the more than 200 patients treated, St. James’s doctors have used Elekta’s Symmetry™ solution, 4D image guidance technology that enables clear visualization of moving targets.

“For certain patients with lung tumors that move a large amount during breathing, Symmetry™ 4D cone beam CT [CBCT] has been incredibly useful,” says John Lilley, physicist at St. James’s, part of The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

“The standard 3D volume imaging system (3D CBCT) on our Elekta Synergy® treatment machine is great for imaging targets that remain still, but moving objects – become blurred,” he explains. “However, by taking the 4D CT planning scan – which shows the ‘envelope’ of space within which the tumor is moving – and matching that to 4D Symmetry reconstructions, which show the tumor’s position during the breathing cycle, we can more easily localize moving tumors.”

Symmetry goes from part-time to full-time

Previously, St. James’s clinicians had been using the capabilities of Symmetry only in three specific instances: 1) cases in which considerable tumor motion was observed in the planning 4D CT scan, 2) if the 3D CBCT images did not provide clear tumor visualization or 3) if the planning 4D CT did not resolve the tumor sufficiently, requiring clinicians to use Symmetry to check tumor motion. Recently, though, they have incorporated Symmetry for all lung cancer cases two days before the patient officially begins treatment (“Day 0”), according to Kevin N. Franks, M.D., Consultant in Clinical Oncology at St. James’s.

“We’re doing it for all patients now to verify that the 4D planning CT scan truly represents the tumor’s motion and to assess whether 4D CBCT is superior for matches for any patient,” he says. “In addition, for patients whose planning 4DCT was sub-optimal we use 4D CBCT to clarify tumor motion earlier in the planning process and adjust the ITV margins if required.

For many patients, after the Day 0 scan, no further Symmetry scans are required if doctors determine that the extent of tumor motion is minimal, the use of Symmetry for every treatment session is unnecessary. However, for patients with mobile tumors, typically smaller tumors and/or those close to the diaphragm, Symmetry scans are repeated up to three times for each of the five SBRT treatment sessions. The first scan is to localize the tumor, the second to verify needed patient position corrections and a third to ensure proper patient immobilization. Notably, the treatments are delivered while the patient is breathing freely.

“For tumors with significant motion, particularly small tumors, it had been very difficult to match up with the 4D planning CT using 3D CBCT on the treatment system,” Dr. Franks recalls. “Symmetry has been invaluable for this group of patients.

Advanced registration tool further protects critical structures

St. James’s clinicians also have been using Intuity™, suite of advanced image guidance tools. Intuity provides the capability to ensure that not only is the tumor’s position accurately accounted for, but also the position of nearby critical structures.

“The dual registration capability of Intuity enables us to set tolerances for organs-at-risk to avoid putting critical structures in the radiation beam’s path,” Dr. Franks says. “We had been using it in an offline way, but next month we will incorporate Intuity dual registration in a prospective, online way with Symmetry. In this way, we can work out tolerances so that when we go to the treatment it will be quicker and more streamlined.”

Symmetry and Intuity are feature sets of version 4.5 of Elekta’s X-ray Volume Imaging (XVI) software solution for Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT). To learn more, visit www.elekta.com/symmetry and www.elekta.com/intuity.

Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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Australia’s Prince of Wales Hospital Launches New Era of Targeted Lung Cancer Treatments with Elekta’s Advanced 4D Motion Management Technology

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:55:50 GMT

Sydney

2011-10-31

First use of Symmetry motion management software in Australasia makes 75-year-old’s treatment more precise

To successfully irradiate a moving lung tumor requires doctors to find a way either to stop the tumor from moving or a means to compensate for its motion. On September 8, clinicians at Prince of Wales Hospital Cancer Centre (Randwick, New South Wales) chose the second option, using Elekta’s Symmetry™ respiratory motion management software for the first time to treat a 75-year-old male patient with a tumor that moved back and forth with his breathing. Symmetry enables physicians to visualize the tumor’s complete range of motion and then ensures that the tumor is always positioned in the treatment beam regardless of its movement.

Accurate treatment of this patient’s tumor, a primary, malignant non-small cell cancer (NSCLC) in the upper lobe of the left lung, was critical due to the therapy approach used. Prince of Wales Hospital clinicians used hypofractionated Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT), which called for precise immobilization of the patient’s body to enable just three treatment sessions (i.e., fractions), each using a highly potent radiation dose.

“The whole concept of hypofractionated stereotactic treatment relies on accurate and precise planning datasets and treatment verification systems,” says Wenchang Wong, M.D., radiation oncologist at Prince of Wales Hospital. “Symmetry afforded us clear visualization of the tumor at the treatment couch and gave me confidence that treatment delivery would be safe and reproducible for this patient.”

Symmetry, a feature set of Elekta’s X-ray Volume Imaging (XVI) software package, enables clear visualization of moving lung tumors by providing a dynamic fourth dimension (4D) of motion to enhance image guidance with the patient in the treatment position.

“Conventional cone beam CT provides only a static, blurred image of a moving lung tumor that cannot tell us in which part of the respiratory cycle it was captured,” Dr. Wong explains. “Conversely, Symmetry provides a dynamic 4D cine/picture of the movement of the tumor mass throughout the entire respiratory cycle. This is especially important in lung cancer treatment given the natural excursion of the tumor with the breathing cycle. Symmetry enables us to see the tumor’s movement in real time.”

Symmetry: From planning to treatment

Hypofractionated SBRT of lung tumors at Prince of Wales involves several Elekta solutions, encompassing planning through to treatment.

To ensure a consistent patient breathing pattern during treatment, planning CT scans are performed with Active Breathing Coordinator™. This Elekta technology enables acquisition of a breathing trace that shows peak inhalation and exhalation points during normal breathing.

“Patients are instructed to hold their breath for 12 seconds at both peak points so that CT scans can be acquired,” says Simon Downes, Director of Medical Physics. “The images show the tumor’s position at both maximum inhalation and maximum exhalation, and guide treatment planning.”

Clinicians plan lung treatments with XiO® treatment planning system. MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System is used to verify and record the plan. For immobilization, Prince of Wales clinicians use BodyFIX®, and Symmetry provides the needed data on tumor position – with Symmetry CBCT scans acquired just before treatment. Patients are treated on the center’s Elekta Axesse™ system.

“All of these different systems come together seamlessly to allow us to perform these lung treatments,” Downes observes. “In particular, it’s remarkable how well Symmetry maps the tumor’s position. In a second Symmetry CBCT scan after treatment, we found that we had achieved less than a two millimeter positional error, meaning that the clinical target volume was still enclosed in the treatment field for the entire therapy session. It was a great result.”

As lung cancer represents about nine percent of New South Wales’ cancer cases, Prince of Wales clinicians anticipate a rapid increase in the number of cases for which Symmetry is employed, he says.

*Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets

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Netherlands Clinic Bids Farewell to World’s Longest-Running Elekta Radiation Treatment Machine

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:00:00 GMT

LEIDEN, The Netherlands

2011-10-18

Leiden University Medical Center retires SL25 linear accelerator after 24 years and continues long Elekta tradition with new treatment system acquisitions

Recently, Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) removed the final components of its first SL25 series Elekta cancer therapy machine, a system that began treating patients at LUMC in 1987. The SL25 digital linear accelerator had reliably delivered over 160,000 therapy treatments to more than 10,000 patients.

“I would compare our first treatment system, the SL25, to your first mobile phone,” says C.A.M. Marijnen, M.D., chair of LUMC’s radiation oncology department since 2009. “To you, it was perfect, easy to use and it did what you needed it to do. But obviously it can’t do all the things smartphones do now. While the SL25 was our most resilient system, after 24 years it was time to take advantage of newer radiation treatment technology.”

The SL25, a Philips product until Elekta acquired the company’s radiation oncology business in 1997, had exceeded its normal lifespan of 10 to 15 years through its exceptional design and the care and attention that LUMC’s physicist Henk de Vroome and engineer Ruud Kuit – both recently retired – had given the system over the decades.

“Except for mandatory modifications, we did all the maintenance on the SL25 ourselves over the last few years too,” de Vroome says. “The system’s longevity also can be attributed to the resilience of expensive components, such as the drum and waveguide. The components of the control system have shorter life cycles, so we replaced those once in a while. It’s like servicing an aircraft, where you do an occasional overhaul.”

For all other Elekta treatment machines, LUMC has maintained a full Elekta collaboration service contract for many years, with Elekta and LUMC engineers working closely together to achieve the highest systems’ performance, uptime and availability.

LUMC staff and Elekta Netherlands representatives gathered in August at the medical center for a celebration to honor de Vroome and Kuit for their years of work with the SL25, and to begin the system’s disassembly.

LUMC is a long-time devotee of Elekta digital linear accelerators. After the SL25 purchase, LUMC installed an Elekta SLi in 1996, which is still in operation, featuring a multi-leaf collimator and electronic portal imaging. In 2001, LUMC acquired an Elekta Precise Treatment System, and, in 2005 and 2006, two Elekta Synergy® Platform systems. These three machines treat most of the department’s daily volume of 120 patients.

By the end of 2011, the SLi will be replaced by an Elekta Synergy®, the first linear accelerator to bring 3D image guidance into the treatment setup process. The system is equipped with imaging tools that help clinicians visualize tumor targets and normal tissue, and their movement between or immediately before fractions. The integration of this technology in the Elekta Synergy gantry enables physicians to perform imaging with the patient in the treatment position at the time of treatment, to optimize patient setup before therapy.

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Elekta Ranks as Top Vendor in MD Buyline Report for 3rd Quarter 2011

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-10-07

Earns highest overall composite rankings in four key radiation oncology solution categories

For the third quarter of 2011, Elekta continued its domination of the number one ranking in MD Buyline’s user satisfaction surveys by earning the top overall composite rankings in all vital business areas: stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), linear accelerators (tie with another provider), oncology information systems (OIS) and treatment planning systems (TPS). For six consecutive quarters, Elekta has placed first in 23 of 24 quarterly results, trending above the market average for the same time period.

Vendors are rated on a 1 to 10 scale according to user satisfaction with system performance, system reliability, system installation/implementation, applications training, service response time and service repair quality. MD Buyline clinical and IT analysts conduct interviews with hands-on users, including clinicians, physicians, biomedical engineers, physicists, nurses, CIOs and IT managers.

Important details of the Q3 survey include:

SRS: Elekta continues to lead the industry, receiving the highest scores in all categories.
Linear accelerators: Elekta tied for first with another vendor.
OIS: Elekta’s MOSAIQ® displaces Varian for the number one ranking and is ranked highest in four of the six performance categories.
TPS: Elekta received the highest overall score and the highest score in four of the six categories.

“We’re gratified that our clinical users have once again rated our solutions and services as among the very best – it’s a trend we intend to continue moving forward,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President Elekta North America.

MD Buyline measures user satisfaction based on evaluations by more than 3,300 hospitals in the member network. Founded in 1983, MD Buyline is a market intelligence organization that provides the healthcare industry with independent analysis and reporting.

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Elekta Raises $53,000 to Support Individuals with Breast Cancer

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 22:00:00 GMT

MIAMI and ATLANTA

2011-10-05

Sandy B. Muller Breast Cancer Foundation received funds, which will help those diagnosed with the disease

Elekta activities at the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 53rd Annual Meeting raised a total of $53,000 for the Miami-based Sandy B. Muller Breast Cancer Foundation. In addition to contributing the proceeds from ticket sales for the Elekta Charity Bash on October 1, Elekta made a donation for each ASTRO attendee who had their badge swiped at the Elekta exhibit. During the Annual Meeting, Elekta focused on how the company supports individuals with breast cancer through the breast cancer continuum, from diagnosis to treatment and follow-up.

From left to right are Sandy Muller, Dr. Linda Marracchini, and Beverly Sage, the founders of the Sandy B. Muller Breast Cancer Foundation. The check was presented by Scott Soehl, Elekta's Senior Vice President, Oncology.

"Our goal is to provide peace of mind through financial assistance to women and men recently diagnosed with breast cancer, who need funds for basic living expenses while they are going through treatment and often unable to work,” says Foundation founder, Sandy B. Muller. “We encourage breast cancer patients to continue treatment free from worry of financial ruin and distress for themselves and their children. We share Elekta's vision to improve patient lives during their cancer journey, and we are grateful that our patients will benefit from these charitable activities.”

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer among women, with an estimated 1.3 million new cancers diagnosed in 2008. Of all cancers, breast cancer is the second most common in the world. To recognize the significance of this disease, countries across the globe have designated October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Learn more about the Foundation at: http://sandybmullerbreastcancerfoundation.org.

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Media Alert: Elekta to Present $50,000 to Miami-Based Sandy B. Muller Breast Cancer Foundation at ASTRO Annual Meeting

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:00:00 GMT

MIAMI BEACH, FLA

2011-10-04

ASTRO Booth #825

Tuesday, October 4 at 10:30 a.m. ET, during the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) 53rd Annual Meeting, at the Miami Beach Convention Center, Elekta will present the Sandy B. Muller Breast Cancer Foundation with a check. The company’s activities at ASTRO raised a total of $50,000 for the Miami-based organization. In addition to contributing the proceeds from ticket sales for the Elekta Charity Bash on October 1, Elekta made a donation for each ASTRO attendee who had their badge swiped at the Elekta exhibit. During the Annual Meeting, Elekta focused on how the company supports individuals with breast cancer through the breast cancer continuum, from diagnosis to treatment and follow-up.

When: Tuesday, October 4, at 10:30 a.m. (Eastern Time)

What: Elekta check presentation to Miami-based Sandy B. Muller Breast Cancer Foundation

Learn more about the Foundation at: http://sandybmullerbreastcancerfoundation.org.
Of all cancers, breast cancer is the second most common in the world. To recognize the significance of this disease, countries across the globe have designated October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Where: Miami Beach Convention Center, Elekta booth #825

Contact: For convention center access, call or email Michelle Lee Joiner, Elekta’s Global Public Relations Director at 678-938-4163 or michelle.joiner@elekta.com .

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Multi-Session Gamma Knife Radiosurgery Gaining Traction in North America to Treat Patients with Cancers in Brain and Skull Base

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2011-09-28

In-booth demonstrations at Congress of Neurological Surgeons to highlight how Elekta’s Extend system enables multi-fraction therapy for hard-to-treat targets

By the end of 2011, as many as nine U.S. medical centers will be offering multi-session Gamma Knife® surgery with Extend™ to treat patients with larger tumors or lesions close to critical structures located in the brain and skull base. Extend technology allows clinicians to non-invasively immobilize the patient’s head, making repeatable or multi-fraction Gamma Knife surgery feasible for these cases.

Used with Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, the key components of Extend are patient-friendly fixation devices, such as a vacuum assisted bite block and head support with vacuum pillow. Accurate repeat fixation is ensured with a one-time use of a CT box to obtain precise stereotactic reference points, followed by repeat checks using reposition check instruments for each Gamma Knife session.

Among the first U.S. centers to acquire Extend, University of Virginia (UVA, Charlottesville, Va.) physicians have employed Extend in 15 cases, mostly for benign tumors of the meninges.

“Extend is clinically advantageous for some patients because it combines Gamma Knife technology with a fractionated approach,” says Jason Sheehan, M.D., Ph.D., Alumni Professor in radiation oncology and neurosurgery at UVA and co-director of UVA’s Gamma Knife Center. “Specifically, you get the accuracy, precision, high dose and steep gradients of Gamma Knife surgery along with the benefits of fractionation. The true advantages of this system will become more evident as institutions begin to publish their results following its use.”

Since January, clinicians at Barnes Jewish Hospital (St. Louis, Mo.) have used Extend in Gamma Knife treatments of nine patients, five of which had recurrences of a fast-growing malignant tumor that had been previously treated with chemotherapy. In each of these cases, the lesion was too large to treat in a single session.

“For large tumors, fractionation is desirable, because large tumors will have a correspondingly larger margin of healthy tissue around them that will receive part of the dose,” says Joseph R. Simpson, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of Barnes-Jewish Hospital’s Gamma Knife of St. Louis. “Fractionation spares this ‘halo’ of normal tissue more effectively than would a high-dose single fraction. With Extend, we can conveniently apply just 7 to 8 Gy per fraction over the course of five sessions to achieve the prescribed dose.”

Other targets that could benefit from a fractionated approach include lesions that abut such critical structures as the optic chiasm or that lie in “eloquent” cortex responsible for motor function or speech, according to Dr. Simpson.

“Extend gives us another ‘arrow in the quiver’ for treating these indications, and gives us more opportunities to use Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, extending the versatility of this treatment system,” he adds.

Avoiding an excessive dose to a critical structure was the rationale for physicians at UW Medicine Gamma Knife Center at Harborview (Seattle, Wash.) to use Extend for the first time in July 2010.

“Our first Extend patient was a 53-year-old female with a tumor that was situated against the right optic nerve,” recalls Jason Rockhill, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology and Neurological Surgery. “To protect this structure we used Extend to give her three Gamma Knife surgery treatments in three consecutive days.”

Since then, the Gamma Knife Center has treated an additional 12 patients who had benign tumors in the meninges, pituitary or pharynx.

“We’re really pleased with Extend,” Dr. Rockhill reports. “The patients have tolerated it quite well with the bite block. We can set up patients accurately and reliably, so the treatments have been quite efficient and the conformality is fantastic. The clinical cases have gone very smoothly.”

Demonstrations of Extend, among other neuroscience solutions, will be available at Elekta booth #1040 during the 2011 Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) Annual Meeting, October 3-5 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C. Learn more at www.elekta.com/extend

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Elekta to Demonstrate How its Solutions Foster Confidence in Cancer Management at ASTRO Meeting in Miami

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT

MIAMI and ATLANTA

2011-09-26

ASTRO Booth # 825 – At the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) 53rd Annual Meeting, October 2-6 in Miami Beach, Fla., Elekta will highlight its broad spectrum of solutions designed to simplify the complex processes involved in radiation therapy, inspiring confidence in healthcare professionals who use Elekta technology.

“Radiotherapy techniques are becoming increasingly sophisticated, requiring more time and skill to ensure safe, clinically effective delivery,” says Elekta President and CEO, Tomas Puusepp. “By simplifying the variables in planning, verification, setup and treatment delivery, Elekta strives to give clinicians greater confidence in the treatment of their patients.”

During the meeting, Elekta will feature two solutions in particular that exemplify its focus on managing complexity: Clarity® with Autoscan* real-time soft tissue tracking and Identify™* radiofrequency identification (RFID) based solution.

Clarity with Autoscan uses non-ionizing ultrasound technology to continuously track prostate anatomy during simulation and treatment without requiring additional non-therapeutic radiation dose. Unlike other technologies, Clarity does not require invasive implants and images are acquired by placing a probe against the patient’s perineum, minimizing any interference or collision risks with the treatment machine. Clarity enables clear visualization of target and critical structure location at any time during treatment delivery and facilitates the highest precision treatments. As an automated, user-independent imaging technique, Clarity with Autoscan provides real-time soft tissue tracking without negative impact on treatment times or clinical workflow.

Identify is designed to ensure patient safety in the clinic and increase staff confidence in the reliability of patient identification and accessories. Identify employs advanced radiofrequency identification technology to ensure the right patient is being treated at the right location and with the correct set up and equipment. Identify is integrated with Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System, enabling patient queuing, automatic opening of patient charts and treatment tracking at the EMR, optimizing workflow and safety.

Other meeting highlights:

The Elekta exhibit will feature a live theater at which speakers will give hourly presentations on Elekta solutions, including Identify and Clarity with Autoscan. Presentations are scheduled to run October 2-4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The 20th Annual Elekta Oncology Users Meeting (EOUM) convenes October 1 at the Eden Roc Renaissance Miami Beach hotel. Customers using any Elekta solution are welcome to attend and take advantage of this free educational opportunity. This year, the Medical Oncology Summit will be held in conjunction with the Elekta Oncology User Meeting.
The annual Elekta Charity Bash, benefiting the Sandy B. Muller Breast Cancer Foundation, will be held at the Ice Palace in Miami on October 1 at 7:30 p.m. Shuttle service will be provided from primary ASTRO, ASRT and SROA hotels. Please join us as we help to make a difference in the community.
Elekta welcomes Nucletron. The acquisition agreement between Elekta and brachytherapy world leader, Nucletron, broadens Elekta’s product offering for patients with cervical, prostate, breast and rectal cancers. The resulting combination of products is particularly important as the combination of brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy treatments continues to emerge as a common therapy for certain diseases.

For information on the EOUM and charity event, visit www.elekta.com/usersmeeting. To learn more about Elekta’s innovations at ASTRO, visit www.elekta.com/experience.

*Identify and the Autoscan component are works in progress and not available for sale or distribution in all markets.

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Finnish Clinic’s New Elekta Radiation Therapy System Demonstrates Benefit of 3D Soft Tissue Visualization for Patients with Cancer

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:00:00 GMT

HELSINKI, Finland

2011-09-20

Image guided treatments jump 20 percent since Helsinki University Central Hospital acquires Elekta Axesse stereotactic system

Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH) doubled its Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) capability with the acquisition of Elekta Axesse™, a system that provides 3D image guidance technology for conventional and stereotactic radiation therapy techniques. After eight months of use, HUCH has increased its Axesse caseload to as many as 30 patients each day for a variety of tumors in the lung, brain, head and neck and pelvis*.

“We wanted to have a modern treatment system capable of 3D image guidance and delivery of complex radiation therapy techniques, such as VMAT,” says Mikko Tenhunen, Ph.D., chief physicist at HUCH. “In addition, we treat many small tumors here, so sophisticated field shaping and patient positioning and immobilization were critical. We compared several machines through the open call for tenders and Elekta Axesse obtained the best overall scores.”

Up to the point of the Axesse acquisition, HUCH clinicians relied on a single Varian IGRT system that provides 2D images, which is not ideal for soft tissue imaging. The Axesse system replaced a dated Varian Clinac® 600C machine.

“Especially for lung and pelvic tumors, 3D cone beam CT beats a pair of orthogonal 2D images in terms of image quality and ability to generate images using a low dose,” he adds. “Axesse has increased the number of image guided treatments by around 20 percent.”

In addition to 3D image guided localization at the time of treatment, Axesse provides ultra-conformal beam shaping with Beam Modulator™, the HexaPOD™ patient positioning system featuring six degrees (x,y,z, roll, pitch, yaw) of remote positional correction, non-invasive patient immobilization and advanced treatment planning with Monaco.

“Axesse has taken its place here at HUCH by clearly showing the value of 3D imaging over 2D imaging,” Dr. Tenhunen says.

Learn more about Elekta Axesse at www.elekta.com/Axesse.

* Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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New Digital Linear Accelerator Control System Demonstrates Treatment Time Savings of Up to 30 Percent

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Crawley, West Sussex, UK

2011-08-29

Sixth generation digital control system designed to optimize therapy safety and efficiency

Elekta announced it has received approval to CE Mark its Integrity™ R1.1 treatment control system in the European Union. Integrity R1.1 combines a three-tier safety system with continuously variable dose rate (CVDR) and interdigitation capabilities for Elekta’s MLCi2™ multi-leaf collimator (MLC). Integrity supports a complete range of delivery techniques – such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) and stereotactic applications – while ensuring maximum patient safety.

Incorporating three tiers of safety, Integrity has undergone rigorous tests in eight international centers, which demonstrated safe reductions in treatment times of as high as 30 percent. The approval of the CE Marking for Integrity enables European medical centers to realize these treatment speed and safety benefits when Elekta begins delivery of the control systems.

“We depend on Integrity to ensure that the linac does what it is supposed to do,” says Prof. Frank Lohr, Vice Chairman of University Medical Center Mannheim (UMC, Germany). “Our data, using Integrity on a variety of plans, shows that VMAT plans are significantly accelerated and treatment delivery is considerably smoother than with the previous control system. On average, Integrity has reduced treatment times by 20 to 30 percent.”

UMC is one of eight centers that participated in testing Integrity and has used the Integrity R1.0 control system for a year on two Elekta treatment machines that are dedicated almost exclusively to delivering IMRT and VMAT. Efficiently delivering these complex techniques has been facilitated by CVDR and MLC interdigitation, both enabled via Integrity.

“Because 60 percent of all our patients received IMRT – with 70 percent of that group receiving VMAT – the ability of Integrity to support MLC interdigitation and CVDR becomes even more critical, as they greatly enhance treatment delivery speed,” Prof. Lohr observes. “Integrity has shown to be a good, reliable product – it does what it should and does it well, enabling us to provide the benefits of IMRT and VMAT to patients who will benefit most from these modulated therapies. Integrity also will help us fully exploit future innovations.”

About Integrity

Integrity combines a three-tier safety system with CVDR and interdigitation for Elekta’s MLCi2. The first Integrity safety tier records and verifies the prescription received from MOSAIQ® oncology information system and checks that all linac parameters are set correctly. The second tier checks and controls MLC leaves, gantry, collimator and dose delivery throughout beam delivery, ensuring that all parameters are in the correct position and the right dose is being delivered. Guardian, the third tier, supervises the proper operation of the other two tiers – verifying in real-time that the field currently being delivered matches the prescribed treatment parameters. If a discrepancy occurs, Guardian will stop the treatment.

Interdigitation and CVDR boost efficiency

With interdigitation, MLC capabilities have caught up with the ability of the treatment planning system to create fields with complex geometry. Because MLC leaves can move past one another (i.e., interdigitate), clinicians can employ island fields in difficult cases, such as those involving multiple targets. Interdigitation is important not just for treating multiple targets but also when there is a target geometry that consists of different dose objectives. For example, clinicians may want to treat a primary target to 70 Gy and a nodal region to 57 Gy.

CVDR allows the dose rate to be adjusted to its ideal MU value during delivery of both dynamic and VMAT prescriptions. This option makes prescription delivery smoother and faster when compared to previous discrete dose rates. The additional dose rate options permit Integrity to easily navigate complex dose modulation paths.

*Integrity is not available for sale or distribution in all markets. Contact your Elekta representative for further details.

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Elekta Deepens Integration of MOSAIQ Oncology Information System with Varian TrueBeam Radiotherapy Delivery System

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 22:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2011-08-11

ATLANTA, GA

The seamless integration of Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System (OIS)* and Varian’s TrueBeam™ radiation therapy system is enabling the introduction of new OIS functionality, such as flattening filter free definition, delivery and alerts and enhanced communication capabilities. Numerous TrueBeam users have connected with MOSAIQ since the interface was introduced in 2010, and increasing numbers of users are expected to make MOSAIQ their OIS. The MOSAIQ interface to TrueBeam exemplifies the unparalleled integration between MOSAIQ and the radiation therapy systems of other providers, such as Siemens and Accuray/TomoTherapy, and particle therapy vendors, such as Hitachi and IBA.

“Integrating MOSAIQ and TrueBeam was only the critical first step,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “This connectivity has facilitated ongoing additional functionality that we’re pleased to offer to TrueBeam users as they strive to improve patient care.”

The MOSAIQ OIS streamlines medical oncology and radiation oncology workflows from the first encounter, through diagnosis and staging, planning, treatment and long-term follow-up. At the heart of MOSAIQ is the image-enabled EMR, through which healthcare providers communicate information about their patients during the cancer management continuum.

The work-in-progress MOSAIQ functionality for TrueBeam users will include:

Characterization of stereotactic cones: In MOSAIQ, TrueBeam users will be able to specify field size limitations and other parameters of stereotactic cones and transmit to the linac console.
Full support of complex SRS treatments, including complicated deliveries. The MOSAIQ interface enables dose verification at the TrueBeam console prior to delivery.
Multi-frame imaging, such as fluoro imaging.
Gating alerts: MOSAIQ will flag the linear accelerator’s control system that a particular patient has been prescribed gated therapy delivery.

“At our center we adopted the ‘best of breed’ approach, where we select the major components of the treatment chain to best suit our clinical practice, and we expect the vendors to ensure seamless exchange of information,” says Vladimir Feygelman, Ph.D., faculty physicist at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. “We were very pleased with the ease of integration, based on the open standards, between the TrueBeam linac and MOSAIQ oncology information system.”

Leveraging more than 20 years of leadership and expertise of IMPAC Medical Systems, MOSAIQ continues to set the standard for connectivity and usability in the most advanced cancer care facilities in the world. From its multiple redundant safety features to industry-leading practice management capabilities, MOSAIQ is the tool of choice to manage cutting-edge treatment centers, and is the first comprehensive OIS to receive complete EMR certification. Complete EMR certification enables U.S. providers to qualify to demonstrate Stage 1 meaningful use under the HITECH Act.

*MOSAIQ® is a registered trademark of its manufacturer, IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc. SEQUENCER is MOSAIQ’s verify & record module.

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With Indian Center’s New Elekta Equipment, Brain Tumors Have Nowhere to Hide

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Mumbai, India

2011-08-05

Advanced navigation and ultrasound in SonoWand Invite system enable ACTREC neurosurgeons to plot course to, and safely remove, lesions in the brain

At Mumbai, India’s ACTREC (The Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research & Education in Cancer), neurosurgeons have employed Elekta SonoWand Invite™ in 15 patients with brain tumors since the center acquired the system in July. The integration of sophisticated intra-operative 3D ultrasound and navigation technology in SonoWand provides both the optimal path to the tumor and – with 3D ultrasound – ongoing images of the operative site, enabling the surgeon to safely remove all visible traces of the tumor.

“The goal in any tumor resection surgery is to extract the tumor – and to extract it completely – without causing any harm to healthy brain tissue, which is quite a challenge,” says Aliasgar V Moiyadi, MCh., Assoc. Professor and Consultant Neurosurgeon at ACTREC, part of Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Centre. “SonoWand addresses this challenge by helping you see what you’re removing, how much you’ve removed and how much more you could take out over and above what you could have seen with just your eyes or with the intra-operative microscope.”

In a compact, single-rack solution, SonoWand Invite combines a high-performance ultrasound scanner with a built-in navigational computer and optical tracking system. The system supports several trackable instruments and accessories, such as navigators and ultrasound probes. Planning and navigation displays enable axial, coronal and sagittal views, in addition to a unique user-friendly and intuitive “anyplane view,” which displays the image information in the plane of the actual surgical trajectory.

Although MRI is regarded as the premier intra-operative imaging modality for its image quality, several limitations make intra-operative MRI for brain tumors impractical, Dr. Moiyadi observes.

“An MRI system is very costly, it’s large and cumbersome to work with and it takes too long to do repeated scans during surgery,” he says. “Plus, MRI is not actually ‘real-time,’ – because you see an image, then take the next surgical step, you’re not imaging and resecting simultaneously. SonoWand is an economical and effective solution.”

SonoWand aids “search and destroy” mission against tumors

The SonoWand-assisted tumor resection starts with a diagnostic, multi-plane MRI, during which the patient’s brain and fixed surface fiducial marks are scanned. The MRI images are imported into SonoWand and clinicians register the fiducial marks on both the images and – with an optically-tracked probe – the fiducial marks on the patient’s scalp. Once this registration is complete, every point in the patient’s cranium will have an “address” (x,y,z) in 3D space, which corresponds to the same point in the image.

“When you touch the patient’s head with the probe, you know that this is exactly the point on the image you’re touching,” he says. “And you can, by extrapolation, know that if you go, for instance, five centimeters deeper in a given plane and trajectory, you will reach a particular structure in the brain without actually seeing it, because you can follow it on the image. That is how navigation helps you plan your entry point into the brain.”

The entry point indicates where the surgeon places the craniotomy. By using the navigational capability of the system, the surgeon is able to customize the craniotomy to just the right size. This avoids unnecessarily large or misplaced craniotomies. Once the craniotomy is performed and the dura mater is opened, however, cerebral spinal fluid in which the brain is suspended is released, causing the brain to shift.

“Therefore, the images that were applied preoperatively are now going to be useless because the anatomy has changed,” Dr. Moiyadi explains. “At that point, we turn to the ultrasound capabilities of SonoWand, which provides a specialized probe that takes a sector view of multiple 2D images and fuses them to afford a 3D volume. That 3D volume now serves as your new image with which to navigate. The best part is that the ultrasound probe is already navigating with the SonoWand computer via optical tracking and navigational spheres so we know exactly which part of the brain is being imaged by the probe.”

Following the predetermined path to the tumor, the surgeon can begin to remove or “debulk” the lesion. As debulking progresses, the brain can shift again, necessitating image updates.

“Ultrasound allows us to update that information repeatedly – as many times as we want – without taking too much time,” he says. “In addition, it’s important to note that the SonoWand dedicated cranial ultrasound provides image quality that is far superior to any conventional ultrasound system.”

Exceptional preoperative navigational capabilities and high-quality, navigated ultrasound have clearly benefited patients at ACTREC, helping ensure safer access to brain tumors and more complete removal via real-time imaging, Dr. Moiyadi observes.

“Intra-operative ultrasound – especially one like SonoWand, which is 3D, real-time and combined with navigation – caters to all our needs, including our financial requirements,” he says.

For additional information, visit www.elekta.com/sonowand.

*Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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Elekta’s Eastern European Users Convene for First Conference

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:00:00 GMT

MOSCOW, Russian Federation

2011-07-28

Elekta increases support/service infrastructure in a region that is rapidly acquiring advanced cancer management technology

To further develop the capabilities and cohesiveness of Elekta users in Eastern European countries, Elekta and its Russian distributor, MSM Medimpex, organized the first Eastern European Users Meeting, which convened in Moscow, June 24-25, at the Renaissance Moscow Monarch Centre Hotel. More than 80 customers from over 40 different centers in Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine participated in the gathering, which featured presentations and interactive discussions on a wide variety of technological and cancer management topics.

“Once a region reaches a ‘critical mass’ in acquisitions of our cancer management solutions, it becomes vital to build a stronger support network around them,” says Irina Sandin, Elekta Business Director for Eastern Europe. “That encompasses not only this important first users meeting, but also commitments to ensure our Eastern European customers are trained in the proper use of their equipment and that they receive ongoing clinical support. It also includes clinical collaborations, the establishment of helpdesks and reinforcement of our parts and service organizations.”

The energy level of Elekta’s first Eastern European Users Meeting was particularly high, as more than half of the participating centers had been awarded new equipment during the last two to three years through national programs designed to improve cancer care services to regional populations, Sandin adds.

“From the first presentation, the format of lively and open debate was set,” Prof. A.V.Boyko, Head of Radiation Therapy Division of Hertsen Oncology Institute (Moscow) says. “Presenters and attendees demonstrated significant improvements in clinical results, which were directly related to their use of modern radiation therapy equipment and techniques. The forum also presented an opportunity to discuss hot topics and share their experiences among their peers in a setting they rarely had up to this point.”

Among the significant outcomes of the conference was the establishment and new relations between business, science and medical representatives. For example, Elekta, MSM and another distributor agreed to organize and conduct specialized training courses for doctors and medical physicists, both in leading European clinics and in regional countries, provided in the residents’ languages. The group also planned to develop support services, such as remote consultations on treatment methods and treatment planning.

“The Elekta/MSM initiative on targeted training for clinical professionals will address a need in Russia to harmonize training to the standards of our leading universities,” says A.P. Chernyaev, Vice-Rector of Moscow State University, where the training center will be located.

In addition to user presentations, Elekta representatives gave three talks on the subjects of patient safety and quality assurance, new IGRT solutions with Clarity™ soft tissue visualization and updates to MOSAIQ® oncology information system.

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Elekta Emphasizes Commitment to Safety in Cancer Management at Joint Radiation Physics Annual Meeting

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 22:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA and VANCOUVER

2011-07-26

American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) and Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists (COMP) 2011 combined meeting is forum to showcase breadth of Elekta’s portfolio

Encompassing virtually every aspect of modern cancer management, Elekta (booth #401) will demonstrate not only the depth and breadth of its offerings, but its commitment to maximize safety in radiation therapy delivery at the joint 2011 AAPM/COMP meeting. The conference will convene July 31 - August 4 in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

“Radiation therapy is one of the most effective ways to treat cancer today,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “When performed correctly, radiation therapy also is among the safest treatment methods available.”

Spanning the entire radiation therapy workflow, Elekta provides solutions to ensure high set-up integrity, precise control of radiation delivery and accurate recording of treatment data. “The Integrity™* digital linac control, for example, features three tiers of safety to ensure confidence in radiation delivery,” Hoey adds. “Elekta’s Guardian technology will stop treatment if any discrepancy occurs in the first two safety tiers. By simplifying the variables in planning, patient set up, treatment verification and delivery, Elekta provides confidence so our users can focus on their patients.”  
Visitors to the Elekta exhibit will be offered a free “safety kit,” a USB flash drive that contains white papers and case studies that explain in detail Elekta’s approach to radiation medicine safety.

Elekta will demonstrate the breadth of its portfolio with a variety of products, including:

•   Advanced, integrated treatment planning capabilities, including Monaco® with VMAT, MOSAIQ® Evaluate and Locate
•   MOSAIQ Oncology Information System , the first comprehensive oncology EMR certified for Meaningful Use
•   Agility™*, Elekta’s prototype multi-leaf collimator, featuring 160, 5 mm leaves across the full 40 x 40cm field
•   Sophisticated, comprehensive stereotactic radiation therapy solutions that combine the most advanced planning, image guidance, soft tissue visualization, patient positioning and immobilization, and delivery technology available

During AAPM/COMP, Elekta will host a Leksell GammaPlan® Luncheon, Monday, August 1 at 12:30 p.m., and an Elekta Customer Luncheon, Tuesday, August 2 at 12:30 p.m. Register for either or both events at www.elekta.com/aapmevents .

To learn more about Elekta’s commitment to patient safety, visit www.elekta.com/confidence .

*Works in progress and not yet cleared for sale in the United States or Canada

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Elekta European Users’ Conference Attracts Top Minds in Cancer Management

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:00:00 GMT

STOCHOLM, Sweden

2011-07-22

Elekta users from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, North America and Africa converged on Hotel Hohe Düne in Warnemünde, Germany June 16-19 to participate in Elekta’s fifth European Users’ Conference. Approximately 390 clinicians and scientists attended 31 presentations and workshops given by Elekta users and company representatives on a wide range of cancer management topics. The Users’ Conference was preceded by the Elekta Stereotactic Users’ Meeting, June 15-16

“We are pleased that the European Users’ Conference has evolved to become an established, respected platform on which the absolute forefront of modern radiation therapy is discussed,” says Olof Sandén, Executive Vice President, Europe and AFLAME. “This meeting continues to attract the most technologically and clinically sophisticated physicians and scientists in this region of the world to share experience and knowledge with peers.”

The scientific program included presentations on:

The relative roles of 2D, 3D and 4D IGRT
The efficiency and precision of Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT)
MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System organization and management
Patient positioning and motion management
Single fraction and fractionated stereotactic cranial treatment with Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ and Extend™
Clarity® soft tissue visualization

Umberto Ricardi, M.D., radiation oncologist at the University Hospital of Turin was among several invited speakers. Dr. Ricardi discussed Turin’s nine months of clinical experience with Elekta Axesse™ as a dedicated system for stereotactic radiation therapy and radiosurgery of body and brain tumors, and lately, spine tumors as well. Radiation delivery in most cases is with Elekta VMAT™.

“We have treated 190 patients for a total of 210 lesions, and my impression is that the system is quite good – we really appreciate it,” he says. “The HexaPOD™ table works very well – it’s an indispensable component to our Axesse system, particularly for stereotactic radiation therapy using ablative doses. The table offers precise positioning in six axes. In addition, the iGuide® system provides accurate localization of the patient not only in body cases, but also for brain tumor cases as well. We also appreciate the ability to finely shape treatment fields with the 4 mm leaves of Beam Modulator™.”

Two months ago, the University Hospital began using Elekta Axesse for SBRT of spine tumors, and has completed six cases. Clinicians are mirroring an RTOG protocol that employs a single fraction of 16 Gy.

Dr. Ricardi also gave a presentation on soft tissue IGRT, specifically the use of Clarity soft tissue visualization for patients with prostate cancer. “We are using it for patients who are candidates to receive radical treatments [i.e., radiation only] as a guide for hypofractionated radiation therapy,” he says.

Having attended all five gathering of the Elekta European Users’ Conference, Dr. Ricardi was impressed by the caliber of the 2011 meeting.

“The quality of the scientific program continues to increase – from a scientific standpoint and in the breadth of subject matter,” he observes. “There were talks on general radiation oncology and specific presentations on cranial tumors, lung tumors, pediatric oncology and many others. The venue was great, as were the social aspects of the meeting. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 10.”

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SBRT for Medically Inoperable Early Stage Lung Cancer a Key Topic for Elekta Presenters at Lung Cancer Conference

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 22:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2011-07-20

During the 14th World Conference on Lung Cancer, leading users of Elekta Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) technology presented their findings on the use of SBRT to treat early stage, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The most common form of lung cancer, NSCLC arises from a number of causes, including active smoking, passive smoking (secondhand smoke), and exposure to other carcinogens.

In an oral presentation, Dr. Andrew J. Hope, Radiation Oncologist, Princess Margaret Hospital (Toronto, Canada) discussed the experience of a multinational consortium of Elekta collaborators that has treated operable, early stage lung cancer. Titled, Outcomes of operable patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) treated with image guided stereotactic body radiation therapy (IG-SBRT), the consortium found that the 505 tumors in the 483 operable patients declining a thoracotomy and subsequently treated with IG-SBRT had overall survival and cancer-specific outcomes similar to reported surgical series. With the condition that additional follow-up would be required, the data support continued investigation of IG-SBRT, suggesting that IG-SBRT is potentially an equivalent alternative to surgery in operable patients with early stage lung cancer.

According to Dr. Hope, this finding supports ongoing clinical trials that are comparing non-invasive radiation treatments, such as IG-SBRT, with surgery. “It may be that someday, patients could choose between a thoracotomy or a completely non-invasive approach to cure early stage lung cancer*.”

Dr. Hope is a member of the Elekta Lung Research Group (ELRG), an international collaboration of physicians and physicists that is evaluating clinical outcomes in early stage NSCLC patients. To date, they have accumulated data on more than 500 such patients and identified medical and technical factors that affect tumor control and toxicity. Their collective experience is among the largest multinational series of patients treated with IG-SBRT to date.

The ELRG includes participants from William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan; Princess Margaret Hospital; Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg in Würzburg, Germany; and The Netherlands Cancer Institute-Antoni van Leeuwenhoek hospital in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Advanced Elekta SBRT technology used today includes Elekta Axesse™ and Elekta Synergy® S treatment systems, as well as Symmetry™ and Intuity™ software**. Symmetry is a breakthrough technology that enables highly accurate, yet completely non-invasive lung tumor treatments without requiring additional intra-fraction radiation imaging. Intuity ensures that the positions of both the tumor and nearby healthy critical structures are accounted for. These two innovations contribute to a more patient-friendly and safe treatment.

*ACOSOG Z4099/RTOG 1021: Phase III Study of Sublobar Resection versus Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in High Risk Patients with Stage I Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) Radiotherapy Form

**Symmetry and Intuity are feature sets of XVI R4.5. Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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Latest Releases of Elekta’s XiO Planning and Focal Contouring Systems Designed to Increase Efficiency in Planning Therapy for Patients with Cancer

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 08:02:41 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-07-18

Customer input at heart of latest improvements

The new releases of Elekta’s XiO® treatment planning system and Focal contouring system (v. 4.62) will enable clinicians to develop and deliver radiation therapy plans more efficiently.

The XiO enhancements include an improved Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) segmentation algorithm, fluence map smoothing and DICOM dose import via Focal. Focal now provides improved tools for contouring, enabling clinicians to contour anatomy faster and more easily. Together, these new XiO and Focal features contribute to an approximate 30 percent reduction in segments and approximate 20 percent reduction in IMRT monitor units (MU)*, which translates into lower integral dose and faster treatment times.

Focal 4.62 now also features plan summation for any number of plans, allowing physicians to determine the cumulative dosimetric effects. The summed dose from multiple plans can be saved into a single plan.

In addition, the planning and contouring improvements support Elekta linear accelerators using MLCi2, which allows for multiple apertures and potentially fewer MUs to be delivered to the patient.

“Our XiO and Focal users requested these new features as ways to increase their clinical efficiency,” says Virgil Willcut, Vice President of Product Management, Physics & Research for Elekta Treatment Planning. “We listened to our customers and worked to make these new XiO and Focal releases a reality.”

*Data collected by Elekta on Smart Sequencing™ compared to step & shoot XiO plans.

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Latest Releases of Elekta’s XiO Planning and Focal Contouring Systems Designed to Increase Efficiency in Planning Therapy for Patients with Cancer

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2011-07-18

Customer input at heart of latest improvements

The new releases of Elekta’s XiO® treatment planning system and Focal contouring system (v. 4.62) will enable clinicians to develop and deliver radiation therapy plans more efficiently.

In addition, the planning and contouring improvements support Elekta linear accelerators using MLCi2, which allows for multiple apertures and potentially fewer MUs to be delivered to the patient.

*Data collected by Elekta on Smart Sequencing™ compared to step & shoot XiO plans.

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New Release of Elekta’s Monaco Treatment Planning System Prepares Software for Stereotactic Radiation Therapy

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2011-07-18

Part of Monaco 3.0, Dynamic Conformal Arc Therapy receives 510(k) clearance

Among the many new features of Monaco® 3.0, Dynamic Conformal Arc (DCA) Therapy provides clinicians with a simple way to deliver highly conformal stereotactic plans by using the multi-leaf collimator (MLC) to dynamically conform around a target as the treatment beam rotates around the patient. DCA recently received 510(k) clearance for Monaco from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“DCA can be used to render more conformal plans by creating multiple arcs in a non-coplanar fashion – in such a way that the geometry of each arc minimizes the dose to the adjacent organs during the gantry rotation,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “When this technique is used in conjunction with micro-MLCs – such as the new Apex™* MLC, which is now supported in Monaco 3.0 – it can yield very conformal plans and is much easier in terms of quality assurance measurements.”

DCA is particularly well-suited for stereotactic treatments because it eliminates the need to modulate the typically higher doses per fraction in stereotactic therapy. DCA’s benefit, therefore, is fewer monitor units and reduced treatment time compared with other delivery methods.

“With DCA, clinicians have the option to obtain a comparably conformal plan with approximately half the treatment time and reduced scatter dose,” Powell adds.

Monaco 3.0 offers array of stereotactic tools

Streamlining the stereotactic workflow is a major goal of Monaco 3.0, which includes:

Apex micro-MLC: 2.5 mm nominal leaf resolution, 12 x 14 cm field size
Planning with multiple isocenters: Enables same-fraction, single-plan stereotactic treatment of, e.g., multiple brain mets, multiple brain lesions
Plan review and summation for any number of plans
Summed dose from multiple plans can be saved into a single plan
Sensitivity analysis data table integrated into prescription
Workflow-enhancing changes to graphical user interface
New dose analysis tools

*Apex is a works in progress and not yet available for sale in the U.S.

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Christian Medical College & Hospital First to Upgrade Elekta Compact Linear Accelerator with MLCi2

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Ludhiana, India

2011-07-11

MLCi2 provides more accurate delivery to tumors while limiting radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues

Christian Medical College & Hospital (CMC) Ludhiana is the site of the first Elekta Compact™ linear accelerator in the world to be field-upgraded to an MLCi2-equipped Elekta Compact, completing the transformation in less than a week. MLCi2 shapes treatment beams, enabling doctors to provide more accurate delivery to the target, while limiting radiation exposure to surrounding structures.

An Elekta installation team, which worked to integrate the MLCi2 full field 80 leaf multi-leaf collimator in March, took only another three days to install the system’s iViewC™ digital imaging system. The Elekta team commissioned both technologies in a single day.

“The speed with which we can integrate MLCi2 in Elekta Compact demonstrates not only the skill of our installation teams, but also the inherent modularity of MLCi2, such as the way the head itself is fitted and the installation of computer cabinets,” says Russ Cox, Senior Product Manager. “iViewC was designed as a module to make it simple to install and commissioning is easy because we’re dealing with a single energy for the treatment system. Installation teams are dedicated to achieving upgrades within specified timescales, even working longer hours if required to get the job done. We are committed to further reducing field upgrade times to make it even more seamless, enabling our customers to return to treating patients as quickly as possible.”

The quick conversion of Elekta Compact – which uses asymmetric jaws and blocks for beam shaping – to an MLC-equipped Elekta Compact was impressive, according to M.K. Mahajan, M.D., Professor and Head, Department of Radiotherapy at CMC.

“This was a commendable effort on the part of the Elekta installation team,” he says. “It was an easy process and has enabled us to begin working quickly to enter dose output data into the treatment planning system and complete dose modeling so we can start treating patients. I’m quite pleased with how easy this major technological improvement was.”

Elekta Compact was designed for modular upgrades, which will help us to incorporate technological improvements as they become available or when CMC is ready for them, he adds.

Dr. Mahajan predicts that CMC’s daily patient volume on Elekta Compact should quickly increase to 50 per day within a year. Consequently, he was encouraged to learn that Elekta was committed to providing not only a comprehensive multi-year service contract, but also rapid service response to address equipment issues. “They were glad to tell us that they will be able to provide service to us in less than 24 hours.”

For additional information, visit www.elekta.com/compact.

iViewC™ and Elekta Compact™ are not available for sale or distribution in all regions.

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Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion is Ranked 2011’s Best in KLAS for Radiation Therapy

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-06-24

Elekta’s Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ earned the number one ranking in the KLAS research firm’s recently released 2011 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Medical Equipment & Infrastructure* report. Perfexion received Best in KLAS in the radiation therapy category.

In the report, Perfexion scored 92.9 out of 100 and 95 percent of customers indicated they would buy again. On a 1 to 9 scale, Perfexion received an 8.6 from respondents for satisfaction with product uptime, the highest score among all vendors rated in the market segment.

“Leksell Gamma Knife has been the gold standard for radiosurgery for many years,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “Our latest generation solution, Perfexion, was designed and developed based on the insight of expert Leksell Gamma Knife users. The Best in KLAS designation recognizes not only the sophistication of this radiosurgery platform, but also the contributions of our clinical partners in making it a reality.”

Elekta posted record-breaking sales of Leksell Gamma Knife systems in 2010, confirming the growing demand for the system as a safe, effective modality to treat brain metastases and other cranial disorders.

Gamma Knife® surgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease – cancer that has traveled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. The system precisely delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session. Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion provides even greater speed and ease of use than previous versions, especially for treating multiple metastases.

Supported by three decades of clinical practice in both neurosurgery and radiation oncology departments, more than 50,000 patients each year are treated with Gamma Knife surgery .

KLAS gathers opinions of thousands of healthcare professionals

“Best in KLAS recognition – which indicates leadership in working with customers to resolve issues and match needs to delivered solutions – is awarded to healthcare vendors who have consistently excelled in their market segment(s),” says Adam Gale, president of KLAS. “We are pleased that the healthcare industry recognizes the value of the ‘Best in KLAS’ award. The awards in this report help put the aggregate perceptions and opinions of healthcare executives and clinicians into perspective – especially as their peers consider major investment decisions.”

The 2011 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards: Medical Equipment & Infrastructure report is available online. To purchase the full report, visit www.KLASresearch.com/BestinKLAS.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta to acquire Nucletron, complementing its product offering with world-leading brachytherapy technology

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Stockholm

2011-06-21

Elekta has agreed to acquire Nucletron for EUR 365 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Elekta’s cash earnings within twelve months. The transaction remains subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in early autumn 2011.

Through this compelling combination Elekta will offer a complete range of radiotherapy planning and delivery technologies, enhancing its combined ability to meet the clinical needs of cancer patients and health care providers throughout the world.

Elekta today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Nucletron, the world leader in brachytherapy treatment planning and delivery. Nucletron is the global market leader in brachytherapy with 2010 reported revenues of EUR 128 million and EBITDA of EUR 26 million.

Nucletron will add 1,000 new customers to Elekta’s customer base of more than 5,000. The two companies have highly synergistic product and technology portfolios. The combination will lead to enhanced solutions for customers and patients, and will allow the enlarged group to take mutual advantage of Nucletron’s expertise in brachytherapy combined with Elekta’s global presence, particularly in emerging markets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Elekta will pay cash consideration of EUR 365 million to acquire Nucletron on a cash and debt-free basis. The transaction, which has been approved by the Board of Directors of both companies, is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in early autumn 2011.

The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Elekta’s cash earnings within twelve months. The transaction will be financed through existing cash on hand and available credit facilities. The proforma business will continue to have a strong financial profile.

“Elekta and Nucletron have a long history of collaboration. Nucletron has a very talented team and the company has created a truly market leading business. The combination creates an excellent opportunity for our patients, customers, employees and shareholders.” said Elekta President and CEO Tomas Puusepp. “The combination with Nucletron enhances Elekta’s product portfolio, offers significant opportunities and extends our geographic reach and distribution capacity.”

“This integrated product portfolio is particularly important, as the combination of brachytherapy and external beam radiation therapy treatments continues to emerge as a leading course of therapy for cancer worldwide,” he added.

“By joining forces with Elekta, Nucletron becomes part of a world leading provider of therapy for many types of cancers. I believe the combination represents a unique opportunity to realize Nucletron’s true potential, gain critical mass and continue to invest in the development of brachytherapy. We look forward to working with our new colleagues”, said Nucletron CEO Jos Lamers.

BofA Merrill Lynch served as Elekta’s exclusive financial advisor on the transaction, and NautaDutilh served as its legal counsel. Jefferies International served as exclusive financial advisor to Nucletron. Allen & Overy served as Nucletron’s legal counsel.

For questions please contact:
Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications at +46 8 587 25437.

Elekta hereby invites analysts and media to a web and telephone conference at 10.00 CET, Please register on http://webeventservices.stream57.com/20062011elekta/

It will also be possible to dial in and listen to this event: Password: 898145

Swedish dial-in number: +46 (0)8 505 20 110
Dial-in number the Netherlands: +31 (0)20 7965 008
UK dial-in number: +44 (0)20 7162 0077
US dial-in number: +1 334 323 6201

A replay of the event will be available until June 28, 2011. Please use the same link as above or call the numbers below and give the access code 898145.

Swedish replay number: +46 (0)8 505 203 33
UK replay number: +44 (0) 207 031 4064
US replay number: +1 954 334 0342

The above information is such that Elekta AB (publ) shall make public in accordance with the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was published at 07.00 CET on June 21, 2011.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

French Cancer Center Doubles Patient Volume with VMAT Radiation Therapy Technique from Elekta

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Metz

2011-06-17

Clinique Claude Bernard’s Private Radiotherapy Center of Metz marks 2,500th patient treated with Elekta VMAT

In just four years, Clinique Claude Bernard’s Private Radiotherapy Center (PRCM, Metz, France) will have doubled the number of patients receiving radiation therapy treatments per year – from 1,100 to a predicted 2,200 patients by the end of this year. This achievement was enabled by equipping first one, then all three of its Elekta Synergy® treatment systems with Elekta VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy). With VMAT, single or multiple radiation beams sweep in arc(s) around the patient, which can significantly reduce treatment times. On April 28, a patient with breast cancer became PRCM’s 2,500th to receive VMAT since the clinic began using the technique in 2009.

“We treat all disease sites with VMAT, including palliative patients,” says Guillaume Faure, M.D., co-director of radiation oncology at PRCM, the first center in France to use Elekta VMAT. “We started VMAT breast treatments last month and 37 patients per day are under treatment on one of our Synergy systems. Our early results show that VMAT increases homogeneity to the treated volume and reduces the irradiated lung volume. Skin reactions also are reduced since VMAT obviates the use of electron beams to treat the internal mammary lymph nodes, and precludes the use of radiation boost fields – which is the case for conventional 3D conformal therapy and Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy [IMRT] breast treatments.”

For breast VMAT, treatment time in some cases is reduced by 20 percent, since radiation therapists don’t have to reenter the room to set up electron fields, he adds.

“Using VMAT also speeds up pre-treatment quality assurance, decreasing PRCM’s staff workload (when compared to IMRT), while reducing the source of errors by decreasing the number of beams to transfer and verify,” says Romain Ruchaud, M.Sc., co-director of PRCM.

At PRCM, radiation therapy for a variety of disease sites now takes seconds to deliver rather than minutes:

102 seconds: head-and-neck
98 seconds: brain
81 seconds: rectum
79 seconds: prostate
79 seconds: lung
124 seconds: breast
61 seconds: metastases

Beyond treatment speed, VMAT offers patients with metastatic disease major quality of life advantages, Dr. Faure observes.

“Organ-at-risk sparing allows us to confidently employ hypofractionation schemes with no difference in toxicity, while reducing the number of treatment sessions and travel for the patient,” he says.

VMAT also has created new possibilities to emphasize treatment plan quality over speed.

“This can lead to delivery time increases of up to 30 percent and more dual arc treatment deliveries,” Dr. Faure notes. “However, we are now approaching dose distributions that are comparable to helical tomotherapy, but with much greater workflow efficiency. On a daily basis, VMAT is enabling us to raise the quality of patient care.”

*Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Doctors Use Leksell Gamma Knife for First Time in Chile

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Santiago

2011-06-13

System for treating cancer and disorders of the brain delivers therapeutic radiation beams non-invasively

On March 3 and 4, neurosurgeon Dr. Claudio Lühr and his team performed Chile’s first Gamma Knife® surgeries. The treatments occurred at Hospital Militar de Santiago’s new Gamma Knife Center Santiago S.p.A., a private venture dedicated to bringing Gamma Knife radiosurgery to Chile.

“The treatments were very successful and performed without any problems,” Dr. Lühr says. “The patients went home the next day in very good condition.”

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is an effective but gentler alternative to traditional surgery for life threatening brain disorders such as benign and malignant tumors, vascular malformations and functional disorders. One type of malignant tumor that Dr. Lühr and his team anticipate treating is metastatic brain tumor, which occurs when cancer has spread to the brain from elsewhere in the body. With pinpoint accuracy, the Gamma Knife system delivers thousands of highly focused low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session.

Gamma Knife Center Santiago’s (a.k.a. Gamma Knife Chile) acquisition of Leksell Gamma Knife addresses a severe shortage of radiosurgery technology in this country of about 17 million inhabitants. Only two other centers practice radiosurgery in Chile, but they use linear accelerators that also must be used for standard radiation therapy treatments. Leksell Gamma Knife is a dedicated intracranial radiosurgery system.

“Before we obtained the system, the only option for Chilean patients to receive Gamma Knife surgery was to travel to another country in South America or to the United States,” Dr. Lühr says.

He predicts that Gamma Knife surgery at Hospital Militar – a modern 350-bed, multi-specialty tertiary care medical center – will build patient volume over time, as doctors and patients appreciate and experience the advantages of Leksell Gamma Knife first hand.

“I foresee an exponential increase in our program as Gamma Knife surgery is recognized as a healthcare option in our public and private health care insurance systems,” he says.

The first Gamma Knife seminar was held at the hospital on March 18, where Dr. Roberto Martinez, a neurosurgeon from Hospital Ruber Internacional (Madrid, Spain) and Dr. Alvaro Martinez, a radiation oncologist from William Beaumont Hospital (Royal Oak, Mich., USA), gave presentations on their combined more than 30 years of Gamma Knife surgery experience.

To learn more, visit www.gammaknifechile.com

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Year-end report May-April 2010/11

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Stockholm

2011-06-09

Year-end report May-April 2010/11

Order bookings increased 10* percent to SEK 9,061 M (8,757).
Net sales rose 13* percent to SEK 7,904 M (7,392).
Operating profit increased to SEK 1,502 M (1,232).
Net income rose to SEK 1,031 M (833).
Earnings per share after dilution improved to SEK 10.91 (9.01).
Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 840 M (1,056). Cash flow after investments was SEK 491 M (968), including acquisitions of SEK -259 M (0).
The board proposes a dividend of SEK 4.00 (3.00) per share, corresponding to around SEK 378 M and 37 percent of net profit.
For fiscal year 2011/12, net sales is expected to grow by more than 10 percent in local currency. Operating profit in SEK is expected to grow by more than 10 percent. Currency is estimated to have a negative effect of about SEK 125 M including hedging effects on earnings for fiscal year 2011/12.

Table included in attached PDF file
* Compared to last fiscal year at unchanged exchange rates.

President and CEO Tomas Puusepp comments

I am very pleased with Elekta’s solid performance in the fiscal year 2010/11. All regions and product areas developed in line with our expectations. Order bookings increased by 10 percent based on unchanged exchange rates. Operating profit rose by 22 percent to SEK 1,502 M (1,232) with an operating margin improvement to 19 percent (17).

Region Asia Pacific showed the strongest increase in demand withChina,IndiaandAustraliabeing the fastest growing individual markets. InJapan, the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 had minor effects on demand. However, we expect that priorities to rebuild the affected areas of the country may lead to short-term delays in investment decisions in cancer care.

Demand in Region Europe showed continued solid development. The financial crisis had limited effect on order bookings. Elekta performed particularly well in Russiawhich is now entering its third year of the nationwide program to invest in the expansion of radiation therapy. Germany, Italy, the Netherlandsand Turkeyhad a positive development while demand was lower in the UKand in the Nordic countries. In parts of Northern Africa demand was subdued, due to the political unrest in the region.

In Region North and South America theU.S.recovery continued following the financial crisis and economic downturn, andBrazilreported continued strong growth. Development in the fourth quarter for the region should be seen in light of a very strong corresponding period of last year, when Elekta booked one of its largest orders in the history of the company withSwedishHospitalinSeattle.

The need for cancer care is growing world-wide. Elekta is market leader in emerging markets, where demand for clinical solutions like Elekta’s is particularly strong. These markets now account for about one third of net sales and are showing accelerated growth. In the coming years we will step up our investments in geographical expansion to make cancer care available to more people around the world. We expect to capture further market share in emerging markets and to grow our installed base in emerging and established markets. Key success factors are our long term customer relations, our innovative capabilities and commitment to the highest level of service and customer care.

Elekta develops world leading solutions in image-guided radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery and oncology software in collaboration with the foremost universities and hospitals world-wide. In the coming years we will accelerate our investments in research and development to provide state-of-the-art clinical solutions for cancer care. The growing interest for stereotactic radiosurgery for the treatment of cancer and multiple metastatic tumors has once again led to a record year in order bookings for Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™.

Prospects are good for continued profitable growth. For fiscal year 2011/12 net sales is expected to grow by more than 10 percent in local currency. Operating profit in SEK is expected to grow by more than 10 percent. Currency is estimated to have a negative effect of about SEK 125 M including hedging effects on earnings for fiscal year 2011/12.

Tomas Puusepp
President and CEO

For further information, please contact:

Håkan Bergström, CFO, Elekta AB (publ)
Tel: +46 8 587 25 547, e-mail: hakan.bergstrom@elekta.com

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB (publ)
Tel: +46 8 587 25 437, e-mail: stina.thorman@elekta.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
http://www.cisionwire.com/elekta/r/year-end-report-may---april-2010-11,c9132866

The following files are available for download:

The full report

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta to accelerate revenue growth and sees continued strong EBIT growth

Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Stockholm

2011-06-09

Elekta to accelerate revenue growth and sees continued strong EBIT growth

Elekta’s strategy will result in accelerated revenue growth and continued strong EBIT growth. This was the message from Tomas Puusepp, President and CEO at today’s Capital Markets Day.

Following the release of Elekta’s year-end report for 2010/11, Tomas Puusepp described how Elekta is well positioned to drive growth in several areas. “Our first priority is to accelerate growth from delivering systems to solutions.” He says Elekta can increase market share in established markets through extended solutions while investing in emerging markets to capture growth opportunities. Puusepp also said that strategic acquisitions could support growth areas.

“Our second priority is to increase margins and establish industry-leading efficiency. This includes improving G&A efficiency and driving higher margins by continuing to increase our sales in services and software,” he said.

Puusepp revealed Elekta’s strategy for sustainable profitable growth for the coming years. In 2015 Elekta is foreseen to reach a revenue growth of 13-15 percent. EBIT, earnings before interest and tax, is expected to show continued strong growth, helped by a decrease in SG&A from 22 to 19 percent of net sales. Earnings per share is expected to have shown an increase by more than 60 percent in year 2015 and net debt to equity is expected to be below 0.5.

The Capital Markets Day is held on June 9 from 09.00 CET to 12.00 CET, at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. A webcast from the event will be available on Elekta’s website (www.elekta.com).

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guidelines Available in Elekta’s MOSAIQ EMR

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-06-08

Elekta collaboration is first to provide integrated access to leading guidelines in cancer treatment

Elekta has collaborated with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) to integrate the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines™) into Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System. The collaboration offers Elekta users real-time access to NCCN’s evidence-based clinical content directly from within the MOSAIQ patient record.

“The NCCN Guidelines are widely recognized as the standard for clinical policy in oncology in the United States and increasingly internationally,” says William T. McGivney, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, NCCN. “It is important that the NCCN Guidelines recommendations be available to clinicians in electronic decision-assist tools. The integration of NCCN Guidelines into MOSAIQ is a critical step in enhancing the evidentiary basis of clinical decision-making in oncology.”

The integration of the NCCN Guidelines in MOSAIQ eliminates the need for clinicians to change screens and login to separate systems, or to purchase the license separately. Now, from an open patient chart, MOSAIQ users simply right click to view the NCCN Guidelines pertaining to an individual patient’s cancer diagnosis. Easy access to the NCCN Guidelines results in real and measureable time-savings and faster, more informed decision making.

“This is just one more example of Elekta taking the leadership position in refining the capabilities of its electronic medical record (EMR) solution,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “Most recently, MOSAIQ became the only oncology-specific, comprehensive EMR certified for Meaningful Use under the federal government’s HITECH Act. Now, with NCCN, we have significantly enhanced the ability for clinicians to use MOSAIQ as a clinical decision-making tool.”

The NCCN Guidelines are available now with MOSAIQ version 2.2 or above. To learn more, visit www.elekta.com/MOSAIQ-NCCN

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta's MOSAIQ Far Ahead of Contenders in Black Book Rankings User Survey of EMR Vendors

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-06-03

MOSAIQ EMR earns top position in 13 of 18 EMR vendor performance criteria

Elekta’s MOSAIQ® oncology electronic medical record (EMR) – the first and only oncology-specific comprehensive EMR to receive complete certification under the HITECH Act – has propelled Elekta to the top rank overall among 20 comprehensive oncology / hematology EMR vendors in the annual Black Book Rankings for 2011. The four end-to-end service lines defining a “comprehensive ambulatory EMR vendor” were: electronic health records and document management; practice management and revenue cycle management; e-prescribing; and patient accessibility.

In the third quarter of 2010, Black Book Rankings (a division of Brown-Wilson Group, Inc.), surveyed 576 qualified users, implementers and administrators of oncology / hematology physician practices in the focused Black Book study of the top 20 EMR vendors. Eighteen Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), or criteria of operational excellence, are employed, scored on each respective vendor by client type, and ranked on a 0-10 scale per KPI.

Elekta achieved a nearly perfect score on 13 of the 18 KPIs (avg. 9.84). The EMR vendor receiving the number two overall rank in the survey achieved top marks in only two of the 18 KPIs. Elekta’s top KPIs included (were):

Deployment and EMR implementation
Reliability*
Innovation
Breadth of offerings, client types, delivery excellence
Support and customer care
Best of breed technology and process improvement
Client relationship and cultural fit*
Scalability, client adaptability, flexible pricing
Vendor overall preference/vertical industry recommendations
Marginal value adds
Trust
Brand image and marketing communications
Viability

One of the key findings* of the survey was that the KPIs of client relationship and cultural fit, and reliability, were among the most important attributes influencing EMR Services client satisfaction with their 2011 EMR providers.

Leveraging more than 20 years of leadership and expertise of IMPAC Medical Systems, MOSAIQ is the tool of choice to manage cutting-edge treatment centers. Learn more about the world’s most widely used oncology information system at www.elekta.com/MOSAIQ.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta and ScandiDos Sign Distributor Agreement for Pre-Treatment Verification Tool for Radiation Therapy

Wed, 25 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Crawley

2011-05-26

Elekta and ScandiDos AB have entered into a non-exclusive global agreement to distribute ScandiDos’s Delta4PT quality assurance (QA) tool. Delta4PT can be used with Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) techniques to provide complete pre-treatment QA that ensures that the dose prescribed in treatment plans is delivered accurately and safely to patients.

“We’re very pleased that Elekta, a true innovator and leader in the radiation oncology industry recognized the value of our ScandiDos Delta4PT QA solution,” says Görgen Nilsson, CEO at ScandiDos. “We hope this is the beginning of an ongoing relationship with Elekta and its customers as they strive to make radiation therapy the safest, most effective tool in the fight against cancer and other serious diseases.”

Delta4PT, used to verify IMRT and arc therapy delivery techniques since 2006, enables clinicians to verify dose delivery without compromises, in 3D; instantly analyze and approve plans; evaluate the clinical significance of deviation; and identify the cause of deviations. The benefits are improved efficiency by increasing the volume of patients that can be treated as well as enhanced verification accuracy – enabling more qualified QA decisions to be made.

The agreement will make Delta4PT accessible to the Elekta customer network, further complementing the Elekta QA solutions portfolio and widening the breadth of choices for its customers.

“As an open source, vendor neutral company, our partnership with ScandiDos ensures that our customers can select QA solutions that best meet their needs and clinical resources,” says Brett North, Marketing Director, Oncology at Elekta.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta to Feature Certified MOSAIQ EHR at Electronic Health Records Lab During the 2011 ASCO Annual Meeting

Mon, 23 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

2011-05-24

For the fifth straight year, Elekta has been selected to demonstrate at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Electronic Health Records (EHR) Lab, June 4-6, at McCormick Place in Chicago.

In the spotlight will be Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System, the first and only oncology-specific comprehensive EMR certified for Meaningful Use under the federal government’s HITECH Act. MOSAIQ is fully prepared for centers planning attestation in 2011 or 2012.

Elekta is among 12 providers chosen to present at the EHR Lab , a forum for ASCO members to discover the latest EHR technology. With nearly 30,000 members, ASCO is the world's leading professional organization representing physicians who care for people with cancer.

Elekta’s integrated Oncology Information Systems features a complete, patient-centric chart optimized for medical oncology, radiation oncology and comprehensive practices. During the Lab, Elekta clinical experts will be available to provide hands-on demonstrations of MOSAIQ, and show how this unique, single-database EHR can perform clinical decision support, chemotherapy ordering and Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) case selection.

"Elekta has repeatedly demonstrated and followed through on its commitment to deliver a comprehensive and robust oncology-specific EHR and to support emerging healthcare trends,” says Grant Spencer, Vice President, Product Creation, Oncology Information Systems. “For example, Elekta was a leader in support of government initiatives by offering the first comprehensive EHR to receive complete ONC-ATCB certification, and we were ready to implement ICD-10 diagnosis codes years ahead of the deadlines. Elekta is committed to the delegates of ASCO, our customers and clinical partners by providing efficient, streamlined workflows that allow them to focus on patient care."

To download a complimentary copy of Elekta’s HITECH Act Action Plan, visit www.elekta.com/hitech . For the latest MOSAIQ news, stop by booth #16097 in the McCormick Place exhibit hall, or visit www.elekta.com/mosaiq

New Report Details The Future of Radiation Medicine

Sun, 22 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

ATLANTA, GA

2011-05-23

Experts in radiation medicine predict increased accuracy, shorter treatment courses and non-cancer indications

According to a report released today, radiation medicine holds promise to be an even more effective weapon in the battle against cancer and may ultimately prove to be useful in chronic pain and neurodegenerative disorders. The report is a compendium of the 2011 “Future of Radiation Medicine ” symposium, sponsored by Elekta, a company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. During the symposium, leading researchers and clinicians discussed how the field of radiation medicine is rapidly changing.

In the past two decades, significant advances that have been made in radiation medicine with the introduction of computers, robotics and imaging systems. These tools help to sculpt radiation therapy to the precise dimensions of tumors, therefore increasing accuracy and limiting radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissues. Nearly two-thirds of all cancer patients will receive radiation therapy during their illness.

“In the future, radiation therapy for cancer will be significantly different than today’s treatments, simply because current outcomes are unsatisfactory to patients,” predicted Dr. Robert D. Timmerman, professor and vice chair of radiation oncology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “Patients expect that we are actively changing to improve radiation therapy treatment.”

For example, Timmerman predicted that conventional radiation therapy, which requires six to eight weeks of daily treatments at much lower doses, will largely be replaced by hypofractionated radiation therapy, which delivers very potent, focused beams of radiation to tumors in five or fewer outpatient sessions of less than 30-60 minutes each. Hypofractionated radiation therapy might also offer a new way to improve survival in properly selected patients with emphysema by selectively causing scarring, or fibrosis, that allows more efficient breathing.

Dr. Dheerendra Prasad, director and associate professor of radiation and neurosurgery at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, said the increased desire of patients to enhance quality of life during brain cancer therapy will lead to widespread use of hypofractionated radiation to specifically target brain tumors – rather than irradiating the entire brain – to save normal brain tissue and preserve brain functions such as memory and fine motor control.

With these same advances in targeted radiation therapy, some radiation oncologists are beginning to deliver the entire course of radiation at the time of breast cancer surgery, which is the most efficient delivery of care.

The report can be viewed and downloaded at www.elekta.com/future

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta Acknowledges Cancer Registrars’ Contribution to Human Care at NCRA Education Conference

Thu, 19 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

2011-05-20

Best Paper Award recipients and Cancer Registrar of the Year recognized

At the National Cancer Registrars Association’s (NCRA) 37th Annual Education Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Elekta joined the Journal of Registry Management (JRM) to announce recipients of the Elekta / JRM Best Paper Award. Elekta and JRM, the official journal of NCRA , collaborate on this award to recognize exemplary work in the cancer registration field.

Published in the winter 2010 issue of JRM, the Elekta Award for Journal of Registry Management: Best Paper of the Year 2010 went to: “Impact of Automated Data Collection from Urology Offices: Improving Incidence and Treatment Reporting in Urologic Cancers." Lynne T. Penberthy, MD, MPH; Donna McClish, PhD; Pamela Agovino, MPH co-authored this paper. The 2010 Honorable Mention was awarded to: “Including Self-reported Race to Improve Cancer Surveillance Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives in Washington State,” which was published in the summer 2010 issue of JRM. Megan J. Hoopes, MPH; Maile Taualii, PhD, MPH; Thomas M. Weiser, MD, MPH; Rachel Brucker, RN, MPH; and Thomas M. Becker, MD, PhD co-authored this paper.

“Elekta is honored to have the opportunity to work with the Journal of Registry Management and to sponsor the Best Paper Award,” says George Rugg, Elekta’s Senior Vice President for LIS and Decision Support Products. “It is interesting to learn how registry professionals are working to advance the cancer registry data collection and analytics science. We would like to join the JRM in congratulating the 2010 publication winners.”

To learn more about National Cancer Registrars Association’s JRM, go to http://www.ncra-usa.org/jrm.

Elekta selects Cancer Registrar of the Year
During the conference, Elekta also paid tribute to the 2011 Registrar of the Year. Honoring registrars who make valuable contributions to the success of their registry, as well as extend those contributions to benefit the broader medical facility and community, Becky Wheeler, Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR®) at both The Ohio State University Medical Center (Columbus, Ohio) and Southeastern Ohio Regional Medical Center (Cambridge, Ohio) was recognized as Registrar of the Year.

Recognized for 25 years of service, Wheeler was nominated for the passion she brings to the profession, from compiling data that provides valuable information for monitoring and improving cancer treatments to conducting research and targeting prevention and screening programs. Board President of the Guernsey County American Cancer Society, Becky is involved in the Tar Wars program, where she has visited almost every fifth-grade class in Guernsey and Noble counties to educate students on the dangers of smoking. In addition, Becky spearheaded an awareness program, Think Pink, to increase the number of women receiving breast cancer screenings.

“A kind and generous mentor to fellow registrars, Becky manages all aspects of her registry and still finds the time to volunteer, coordinate a variety of screening programs and remain active in NCRA, the Ohio Cancer Registrars Association and the Cancer Registrars Association of Central Ohio,” says Bonnie Bolyard, office manager, Genesis Hematology & Cancer Treatment Center. “Truly patient focused, Becky has the kindest heart of anyone I know.”

An honorable mention also was awarded to Dolores McCord, RHIT, CTR, a veteran with more than 25 years in the cancer registry field and the manager of cancer analytics at Atlanta’s Piedmont Hospital.

“What better honor than recognition from one’s colleagues?” asks Rugg. “We at Elekta would like to congratulate Becky and Dolores for their tireless efforts and contribution to their registry programs.”

To learn more about Elekta’s solutions for decision support, visit www.elekta.com/METRIQ.

IBA’s Proteus TK2, a Two-Room Turnkey Proton Therapy Center, to Include Patient Management Solutions from Elekta

Tue, 10 May 2011 08:11:13 GMT

Philadelphia and London

2011-05-10

Details highlighted at the 50th meeting of PTCOG, Philadelphia, Penn., USA and the 11th Biennial ESTRO Conference, London, UK

Elekta, a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders, will integrate cancer workflow and patient management tools into the Proteus TK2™, a turnkey proton therapy center from Belgium-based Ion Beam Applications (IBA). The IBA proton therapy system includes a cyclotron, beam line, gantry treatment room and a fixed-beam treatment room.

IBA and Elekta announced their collaboration at the European Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) Anniversary Congress in London, UK, 8-12 May 2011, and the Particle Therapy Co-Operative Group (PTCOG) conference in Philadelphia, Penn., USA, 8-14 May 2011.

“IBA’s Proteus TK2 is a ‘no worries’ approach for a cancer center’s executive to successfully build a proton therapy department for their patients,” says Pierre Mottet, Chief Executive Officer of IBA. “It covers everything from project planning to financing, construction, proton system installation and day-to-day operations and service. Incorporating Elekta’s integrated patient management tools provides a consistently reliable diagnostic and treatment system in which clinicians and patients can completely trust.”

Elekta software and devices included in the Proteus TK2 center are the MOSAIQ® oncology information system designed specifically for oncology settings, including proton therapy clinics; auto-segmentation solutions, comprehensive treatment planning functionality that supports conventional radiation and proton-beam therapies – including uniform scanning, scattering and spot scanning with Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy; non-invasive patient immobilization and positioning systems that provide accurate and reproducible positioning for proton therapy; and respiratory motion management to help reduce treatment margins.

“Elekta’s world leading patient management solutions, which deliver oncology optimized workflow solutions will enhance the patient experience, reduce clinical risk and maximize return on investment,” says Stewart Pegrum, Director Particle Therapy, Elekta. “And, clinicians know Elekta will refine its software and hardware with every advance in proton therapy technology and treatment.”

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About IBA

IBA develops and markets leading-edge technologies, pharmaceuticals and tailor-made solutions for healthcare with a focus on cancer diagnosis and therapy. Leveraging on its scientific expertise, IBA is also active in the field of industrial sterilization and ionization. Listed on the pan-European stock exchange EURONEXT, IBA is included in the BelMid Index. (IBA: Reuters IBAB.BR and Bloomberg IBAB.BB).

Website: www.iba-worldwide.com

IBA’s Proteus TK2, a Two-Room Turnkey Proton Therapy Center, to Include Patient Management Solutions from Elekta

Mon, 09 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

2011-05-10

Details highlighted at the 50th meeting of PTCOG, Philadelphia, Penn., USA and the 11th Biennial ESTRO Conference, London, UK

First-ever Gamma Knife in Paris Offers New Treatment Options for Patients with Cancer and Other Brain Disorders

Mon, 09 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

2011-05-10

World-renowned Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpétrière’s new Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion could provide alternative to whole brain radiation therapy for treating multiple brain metastases

Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpétrière, a world-renowned teaching hospital, and among Europe’s largest medical centers has continued its long tradition of excellence in neurosciences and its expertise in radiation therapy with the acquisition of Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™. On October 25, 2010, clinicians used Perfexion – Paris’s first and only dedicated radiosurgery system – to treat Salpétrière’s first patient, a 55-year-old woman with a brain metastasis.

“Her Gamma Knife® surgery went very well and her follow up examination in February showed she is doing well post-operatively,” says Charles Ambroise Valery, M.D., a neurosurgeon and head of the radiosurgery department at 1,600-bed Salpétrière. “Perfexion will have a huge impact due to our large population and the incidence of cerebral pathologies that can be treated with radiosurgery. Neurosurgeons have confidence in Gamma Knife, and particularly in Perfexion because it is designed as a dedicated specialist tool for intracranial brain diseases in contrast with other radiosurgery systems. In two or three years, I predict we could treat 700 patients per year.”

Solution for multiple brain metastases

Since October, Salpétrière has treated about 177 patients presenting 375 lesions, of which about 75 percent were patients with brain metastases.

Since 2005, Salpétrière had been using a linac-based system equipped with “micro multi-leaf” beam shaping technology to treat patients with brain tumors, but also had to use this system for tumors in the rest of the body as well. Salpétrière’s current high volume of patients with brain tumors – and high potential volume of patients with other serious brain disorders that would benefit from radiosurgery – demanded a solution dedicated to brain and head treatments.

For now, Salpétrière clinicians have many patients with metastases, a majority with more than a single lesion. Before Perfexion arrived, the threshold number of brain metastases above which the patient was scheduled for multiple treatment sessions or referred to whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) was much lower.

“The linac we used was not dedicated to brain cases,” he says. “Prostate cases would start in the morning, and we would get the machine for two or three hours in the late afternoon. We had time to treat three brain mets maximum per patient per session. If the patient had six metastases we had to schedule another treatment session, or if the patient had many more we had to refer for WBRT, which is undesirable due to the possibility of neurocognitive deficits.

“With Perfexion,” he continues, “it is more convenient because we can treat any number of metastases with no delay and much less likelihood we’ll refer for WBRT. For patients, the treatment day is shorter, which is important because they are wearing a frame.”

Dr. Valery reports that in a recent case, they treated a patient with 13 brain metastases in a single session in just over two hours of treatment time.

Gamma Knife has been a long time in coming to Paris, he adds, noting that a colleague, Prof. Philippe Cornu, began lobbying the public hospital organization in 1993 to enable its purchase.

“We knew it would take a long time,” Dr. Valery says. “But, now we are very happy that we’ll be able to treat any patient who requires this system. They won’t have to travel to Marseilles or Lille, and it will be much easier to ensure a proper follow-up. For all these reasons, we are very pleased to attain Perfexion.”

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37
email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447,
email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Elekta to Demonstrate Advanced Solutions for Managing Cancer Safely and Effectively at ESTRO 2011

Thu, 05 May 2011 08:14:29 GMT

London

2011-05-05

New RFID product emphasizes safety via accurate tracking of patients and equipment

At the 2011 European Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ESTRO) exhibition, 8-12 May at the ExCel Centre in London, Elekta will demonstrate advanced solutions that provide clinicians with the tools to save and improve lives of cancer patients worldwide. This includes Elekta’s new RFID system, Identify*, which is designed to increase staff confidence in the integrity of patient identification and set up.

Identify harnesses precision radiofrequency identification technology and will ensure the right patient is being treated at the right location and with the correct set up and equipment. Identify will feature complete integration with Elekta’s MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System, enabling patient queuing, selection of patient details and monitoring of set-up position, optimizing workflow and enhancing safety. Identify will be a scalable solution – from the treatment room to the entire department – allowing centers to grow as needs change.

“Elekta has spent decades continually improving our radiation oncology solution, based significantly on customer input and collaboration,” says Olof Sandén, Executive Vice President, Europe and AFLAME. “The result has been products that combine increasing technological capabilities with easier, more confident use. The addition of Identify to our portfolio will address the desire of our customers to confidently use the most advanced therapies while also ensuring that these treatments are as safe as possible.”

Other meeting highlights

Throughout the five major solution areas at Elekta booth #020, the company will demonstrate how its digital platforms offer robust upgrade paths to accommodate a wide range of clinical requirements. The solution areas are:

Secure workflow – personalized efficiency
Stereotaxy – premium solutions for the most challenging cases
Delivery – clinically focused, digitally controlled
Imaging – inspiring clinical confidence
Quality Assurance – completing the picture

In addition, Elekta will host a lunch symposium titled Throughput with Confidence on Monday, 9 May from 13:00 - 14:30 at the Capital Suites, Level 3 in rooms 7-9. An interactive forum, the symposium will feature presentations by notable experts in the field of radiation oncology:

Prof. Frank Lohr, University Hospital, Mannheim, Germany: Efficient VMAT Planning and Delivery
Ben J. Mijnheer, PhD, NKI/AvL, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Experiences from AvL with EPID-based In-Vivo Dosimetry
PD Dr. Reinhart A. Sweeney, University Hospital, Würzburg, Germany; Christian Hieronimi, Elekta: Identify - who, what, where and how. Now!

To learn more about Elekta’s innovations at ESTRO, visit www.elekta.com/experience.

*Identify is a works in progress and not available for sale or distribution in all markets.

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Elekta to Demonstrate Advanced Solutions for Managing Cancer Safely and Effectively at ESTRO 2011

Wed, 04 May 2011 22:00:00 GMT

London

2011-05-05

New RFID product emphasizes safety via accurate tracking of patients and equipment

Other meeting highlights

Secure workflow – personalized efficiency
Stereotaxy – premium solutions for the most challenging cases
Delivery – clinically focused, digitally controlled
Imaging – inspiring clinical confidence
Quality Assurance – completing the picture

Prof. Frank Lohr, University Hospital, Mannheim, Germany: Efficient VMAT Planning and Delivery
Ben J. Mijnheer, PhD, NKI/AvL, Amsterdam, Netherlands: Experiences from AvL with EPID-based In-Vivo Dosimetry
PD Dr. Reinhart A. Sweeney, University Hospital, Würzburg, Germany; Christian Hieronimi, Elekta: Identify - who, what, where and how. Now!

To learn more about Elekta’s innovations at ESTRO, visit www.elekta.com/experience.

*Identify is a works in progress and not available for sale or distribution in all markets.

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Automation Shaving More Time Off of Radiation Therapy for Patients with Cancer

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Crawley

2011-04-27

Advanced Elekta software enables 3D detection of implanted gold seeds in prostate, surpasses conventional 2D techniques

As image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) techniques have enhanced radiotherapy precision, Elekta continues working to decrease treatment session times through automated IGRT tools. Odense University Hospital (OUH, Odense, Denmark) clinicians are the first in the world to use a 3D seed matching feature of Elekta’s Intuity™ IGRT package. The software quickly and automatically pinpoints the position of gold seeds that doctors implant in the prostate to confirm the organ’s position before each treatment.

3D detection provides boost to proven gold seed method

Because the prostate can shift position inside the body, implanted gold seeds – also known as fiducial markers – have been used as a fixed standard of reference for comparison or measurement every time the patient has their radiation treatment. In contrast to soft tissues such as the prostate, the gold seeds are more easily visualized using 3D cone beam CT. Localizing the prostate’s position in this way can help doctors reduce treatment margins around the prostate, reducing toxicity to the rectum and bladder and resulting in fewer side effects.

Not only does the software’s automation ensure that the procedure is executed quickly and without human error, it also is superior to current methods:

Due to the markers’ high contrast, clinicians can use a low dose – comparable to that of 2D techniques – to perform the scan

At maximum speed, the 3D scan is rapid, therefore the time to acquire the scan and register the markers is comparable to 2D methods

The 3D technique clearly separates the markers, avoiding the possibility that a marker will obscure another, a problem noted using 2D techniques

OUH clinicians have been using 3D seed matching with success since January 2010 on three (of four) Elekta Synergy® systems on which Intuity is installed.

“Previously, we were manually matching the markers’ position on the planning scans with their position on the cone beam CT scan that we acquire with the patient on the treatment table,” says Knud Aage Werenberg, head physicist at OUH. “This only took about two minutes, but 3D seed matching takes about half the time. It is really fast and the results are more consistent because the task is automated. Equally important, the patient spends less time on the treatment table.”

Learn more at www.elekta.com/intuity.

* Intuity is a feature set of XVI R4.5. Approval of indications may vary between different countries. Additional regulatory clearances may be required in some markets.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Robotic Couch Provides Extra Degree of Precision for Patients Undergoing Radiation Therapy for Cancer

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 22:00:00 GMT

New York, NY

2011-04-25

The Farber Center for Radiation Oncology uses advanced HexaPOD Evo RT system from Elekta

Accuracy in radiation therapy demands careful targeting and patient positioning – precision measured in millimeters. The Farber Center for Radiation Oncology, the first and only freestanding cancer center of its kind in Manhattan, is among the first treatment centers to adopt Elekta’s HexaPOD™ evo RT system, a unique fully robotic patient positioning system that enables clinicians to fine-tune the patient’s treatment position not only in three dimensions (x, y and z), but also pitch, roll and yaw. These six independent degrees of freedom enable doctors to easily reposition patients, which decreases treatment time and achieves maximum accuracy.

“The HexaPOD system is just one more smart way for us to provide the most accurate – and therefore, least invasive -- radiation treatment possible,” says Dr. Leonard Farber, Radiation Oncologist and founder of the Farber Center, which has been using the new HexaPOD system in patient treatments.

“The imaging technology on our Elekta Infinity™ treatment system allows us to detect any organ movement before therapy with the patient in the treatment position. Then, HexaPOD helps us make extra, minute position changes to obtain the most precise treatment possible – zeroing in on the target, while also avoiding radiation exposure to normal healthy tissue to the greatest extent possible.”

Related links:
www.thefarbercenter.com
www.elekta.com/hexapod

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta Takes Elekta Compact to Next Level with Optional Multi-Leaf Collimator

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Crawley

2011-04-20

Elekta’s most affordable linac now also available with iViewC MV imaging solution

Elekta Compact™ has graduated to the next level by enabling easy integration of the MLCi2 full field 80 leaf multi-leaf collimator, which will permit clinicians to quickly and accurately shape the radiation beam more closely to the target volume as well as deliver IMRT treatments. By introducing the optional MLCi2 for Elekta Compact, Elekta has followed through on its commitment to provide an ongoing stream of modular upgrades for the system, launched in 2007. Elekta also will offer Elekta Compact customers the option to install the iViewC™ electronic portal imaging device, which facilitates rapid, precise patient set-up, imaging and positioning.

“Advanced beam shaping and patient set-up and repositioning options transform Elekta Compact from a great starter treatment system to one that shares many of the capabilities of our top-of-the-line linear accelerators,” says Peter J. Gaccione, Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Software Initiatives. “MLCi2 and iViewC now combine with XiO® treatment planning and MOSAIQ® oncology information system (OIS) to make Elekta Compact an exceptional choice in emerging, developing and even mature markets.” With this Elekta Compact solution, clinics can now plan, verify and deliver a variety of treatments including IMRT.

MLCi2 boosts dose conformance
MLCi2 provides more accurate delivery to the target while limiting radiation exposure to surrounding structures. With its easy integration, MLCi2 maintains Elekta Compact system’s unrivalled patient clearance, which offers greater flexibility in setup and delivery of different techniques.

The active leakage reduction mechanism in MLCi2 uses the diaphragms to automatically track the trailing leaf, thereby minimizing interleaf transmission. This feature plays a valuable role in reducing integral dose to the patient.

The integrated MLCi2 provides highly efficient workflows. With a continuous 40 x 40 cm field size, there is no need to split field when large field sizes are required. The efficiency of the MLCi2 is enhanced through its fast leaf speed and accuracy in leaf positioning for all treatment delivery techniques.

iViewC provides accurate patient position verification
The new electronic portal imaging system – iViewC – offers an effective patient verification solution. Using advanced CCD (charge-coupled device) technology, iViewC affords high quality, real-time images that verify that the patient is in the correct position at the time of treatment. This helps to ensure patient safety and reduced margins during therapy delivery.

The digital architecture of iViewC ensures rapid patient set up and positioning, faster patient throughput and valuable workflow efficiencies compared to X-ray film, such as digital image storage and no waiting time between image acquisition and analysis. iViewC provides workflow oriented tools that can be used in online or offline modes to generate table displacement values.

Planning and information management
Elekta Compact is available as a complete solution for clinics with a wide range of software options to support treatment planning and OIS. Both XiO treatment planning system and MOSAIQ OIS are configurable from entry-level to full capabilities as clinical needs change.

XiO: Treatment planning solution featuring patient contouring, plan review, automated image fusion, virtual simulation, conformal treatment planning and DICOM RT connectivity.
MOSAIQ: Elekta’s dedicated OIS, which streamlines the entire therapy workflow, from initial diagnosis and staging, through planning, treatment and subsequent follow-up. MOSAIQ features patient administration, evaluation and diagnosis, workflow management, independent treatment verification, and reporting and analysis.

Elekta Compact also offers a comprehensive range of accessories and support to allow radiation treatment centers to expand their clinical practice. Learn more at www.elekta.com/compact .

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Australian Center Readies Brain Research Program for Addition of Elekta MEG System

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Melbourne

2011-04-18

Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology acquires Elekta Neuromag TRIUX magnetoencephalography (MEG) system to study brain in action

Certain brain processes happen in the blink of an eye – and even faster – which has made pinpointing these events virtually impossible. The advent of magnetoencephalography (MEG) changed all that, enabling researchers to capture brain electrical activity measured in milliseconds, and offering the potential to reveal the nature of innumerable brain disorders and diseases. Swinburne University of Technology is set to join the global MEG community with the acquisition of Elekta Neuromag® TRIUX, Elekta’s latest generation MEG system .

“With MEG, you can localize and map where brain activity is happening and you can do that in real-time – from moment to moment – with millisecond resolution,” says Prof. Michael Kyrios, Director of Swinburne’s Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre. “This degree of ‘temporal resolution’ is unavailable in any other form of imaging, such as MRI, which provides great images but not particularly great temporal resolution. MEG is relatively new technology, it offers new possibilities and we want to be part of that.”

Swinburne’s Elekta Neuromag TRIUX system, scheduled to become operational in mid-2011, will be a part of the University’s Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre and will be sited in the new Advanced Technology Center (ATC) . The ATC houses a formidable array of complementary brain research technology, such as a 3.0T MRI, EEG and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Additional ATC facilities include clinical trial, psychopathology and baby labs, as well as a center to disseminate evidence based psychological treatments via the Internet.

Prof. Kyrios is presently overseeing the recruitment of several research staff who can exploit MEG’s unique capabilities in many areas. Broad categories include:

Cognitive and visual processes, such as decision-making and facial processing. For instance, MEG can be used in multifocal visual source localization, as well as studying people’s reactions in various situations requiring a decision, for example, in response to a moral dilemma or a market product.
Neurological diseases/disorders, such as stroke and dementia. Epilepsy also is a major focus, as MEG has been used widely to map epileptic foci before surgically treating the disease. Swinburne investigators will be working closely with a local epilepsy center to determine how MEG can assist its program.
Mental health disorders, such as ADHD, autism, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), compulsive hoarding and buying, and body dysmorphic disorder, in which sufferers dwell on minor physical imperfections.

“People with autistic tendencies pick up different types of social cues and they process social information quite differently, while those with ADHD process cognitive cues in unique ways,” he explains. “We want to know the differences between various disorders and normal functioning.”

“A study I will coordinate is an investigation of moral reasoning in OCD,” he continues. “We know that people with OCD have a hyperdeveloped sense of morality, so we can use MEG to compare how they perform certain tasks with people who have an underdeveloped sense of morality.”

Swinburne researchers will use their Elekta Neuromag TRIUX not only to explore the nature of diseases and disorders, but also to assess the impact of different treatments, Prof. Kyrios adds.

“MEG will be very useful in helping us disentangle how various therapies work and what are the differential processes,” he observes. “Are drugs working differently than behavioral therapies? Do they work differently than cognitive therapies? Are rehabilitation treatments for stroke and dementia useful and how do they work?”

The addition of its new Elekta MEG system once again demonstrates Swinburne University of Technology’s devotion to clinical research that makes a difference to the people of Victoria, according to Prof. Kyrios.

“At the end of the day, we just want to make an impact on the community,” he says. “We want to do research that will help us develop applications that improve the well-being of our people. Our new MEG system is consistent with that mission.”

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta Emphasizes Advantages of Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion Over Competing Systems at 2011 AANS Meeting

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA and Denver, CO

2011-04-08

Latest generation radiosurgery system offers combination of clinical and safety benefits to treat intracranial targets with confidence

At the 2011 American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) Annual Meeting, April 9-13 at the Colorado Convention Center, Elekta (booth #1717) will highlight characteristics of Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ that separate the system from other radiosurgery solutions. These include its dedication to intracranial cases, complete solution integration, industry-leading accuracy, “shrink-wrap” dose conformity and extensively proven clinical efficacy. Demonstrations of the system will emphasize that Perfexion is designed to minimize the risk of human error and radiation toxicity, while optimizing accuracy and dose conformance.

The ability of Leksell Gamma Knife® to limit radiation exposure to normal tissues was presented in an article published in a recent issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery¹. Investigators found that among three different treatment platforms, therapy planned with Leksell Gamma Knife would result in “much smaller normal brain volumes receiving any particular dose” than plans developed with the two other systems.

Extending the reach of Gamma Knife surgery

The opportunity to expand the clear clinical and safety advantages of Perfexion is realized in the Extend™ system, which also will be exhibited at the Elekta booth. Extend enables multi-session hypofractionation of a therapy that is traditionally a single-session treatment. Extend enables clinicians to treat – over two to five fractions – patients with larger tumors or lesions close to critical structures located in the brain, skull base and in other head/neck regions. Extend non-invasively immobilizes the patient’s head, making hypofractionated therapy using Perfexion practical for these cases.

Other meeting highlights

At AANS, Elekta also will exhibit several other solutions that improve the management of neurological and neurosurgical cases, including:

Elekta Neuromag® TRIUX, the latest generation magnetoencephalography (MEG) system
Elekta Axesse™, an advanced, versatile stereotactic treatment system, designed to facilitate highly targeted stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and radiosurgery (SBRS) anywhere in the body
SonoWand Invite™, an intra-operative imaging system with high quality 3D ultrasound and navigation for brain surgery
Leksell Stereotactic System® for functional neurosurgery. Exceptional imaging, high platform rigidity and ease of use ensure that critical accuracy requirements are met for this surgical discipline
Leksell SurgiPlan®, Elekta’s advanced image-based neurosurgical planning software specifically designed for Leksell Stereotactic System®

Leksell Radiosurgery Award winner to be announced

On April 11, the AANS will present the 2011 Leksell Radiosurgery Award to Dr. Robert Starke from the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center. As part of the program, Dr. Starke will give a talk, titled “Gamma Knife Radiosurgery of Meningiomas Located in the Posterior Fossa: Factors Predictive of Outcome and Recurrence.”

1. Ma L, Petti P, Wang B, et al. Apparatus dependence of normal brain tissue dose in stereotactic radiosurgery for multiple metastases. Published online March 4, 2011; DOI: 10.3171/2011.1.JNS101056.

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Study Shows Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Patients with Multiple Brain Metastases is Best for Sparing Healthy Tissue

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-03-30

Metastatic brain cancer is most common form of brain disease, occurring in up to 20 percent of all cancer patients

The volume of normal brain tissue exposed to radiation during treatment for multiple metastases appears to depend on which stereotactic radiosurgery system is employed, according to a recent study in the Journal of Neurosurgery¹. Comparing treatment plans developed for use by three different treatment systems for a single patient (already previously treated with Leksell Gamma Knife®), researchers found that Gamma Knife plans would result in “much smaller normal brain volumes receiving any particular dose” than the two other systems’ plans.

The study compared treatment plans by Washington Fremont Hospital’s (Fremont, Calif.) Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™, the University of Utah’s (Salt Lake City) BrainLAB Novalis™ system and the University of California San Francisco’s Accuray CyberKnife® system and involved a patient with 12 metastatic brain lesions. Gamma Knife is widely regarded as the gold standard for treating brain metastases.

“The discrepancy in normal brain volumes exposed between the Gamma Knife plans and those from CyberKnife and BrainLAB was generally on the order of two to three times lower for the Gamma Knife plans,” says David Larson, M.D., Ph.D., Radiation Oncologist and Co-Medical Director at Washington Fremont Hospital’s Gamma Knife Program. “You could expect that patients and physicians would look more favorably on any radiation therapy treatment option that can demonstrate lower unintended radiation exposure to normal tissues.”

This study is particularly compelling given trends in cancer survival and incidence. A major outcome of improved cancer therapies is that patients are living longer², which in turn may result in a higher incidence of patients experiencing recurrent brain metastases³. Accordingly, for this growing population of cancer survivors, effective treatment of multiple brain metastases is increasingly essential.

About Gamma Knife surgery

Gamma Knife radiosurgery is a gentler alternative to traditional brain surgery for illnesses such as metastatic disease, which is cancer that has traveled to the brain from elsewhere in the body. With pinpoint accuracy, the system delivers up to thousands of low-intensity radiation beams to one or more targets in a single session.

Elekta Software Making Strong Inroads in Clinics Providing Proton Therapy for Patients with Cancer

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Villigen

2011-03-29

Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institute and Elekta collaborate in proton therapy development

The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland and Elekta are collaborating to further develop treatment planning and oncology information systems (OIS) for proton therapy, a form of external beam radiation that uses protons instead of X-rays or electrons to treat certain types of cancer and other diseases.

PSI integrated Elekta’s XiO® treatment planning system and MOSAIQ® OIS into its Centre for Proton Therapy to manage the flow of information and image data between treatment delivery, treatment planning, treatment simulation and the patient’s electronic medical record. In clinical use for nearly a decade, XiO is in use at more proton and carbon ion facilities than any commercial vendor with a similar product. Elekta recently received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for XiO to plan spot scanning, a proton therapy delivery method that involves constructing a highly conformal placement of dose to the tumor by using thousands of small individual beamlets instead of a single large beam.

“Through XiO, Elekta provides a combination of advanced tools for scanned proton beam therapy. Elekta also provides a clear road map to further develop intensity modulated, image guided and adaptive proton therapy,” says Antony Lomax, Ph.D., Professor and Head of Medical Physics at the Center for Proton Therapy at PSI. “A deciding factor in entering into this relationship was Elekta’s willingness to leverage the significant experience of our team to increase the capabilities of XiO proton planning.”

Prof. Lomax adds that there is a clear strategy from Elekta to integrate* the planning features of XiO with MOSAIQ, the market’s leading radiation oncology OIS. MOSAIQ is designed to support different types of radiation systems and modalities, including proton and carbon ion therapy*, Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) and Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) all in alignment with Elekta’s long-standing history of supporting multiple vendors and open systems to support new technologies.

“We believe that the combination of the flexibility and usability of XiO with the administrative power of MOSAIQ will lead to a state-of-the art package for proton therapy,” he says.

The Centre for Proton Therapy at PSI pioneered scanning beam proton therapy, and treated its first patients with this approach in 1996. Subsequently, PSI upgraded this treatment modality to deliver Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT), treating its first patient with this technique in 1999.

"Radiation therapy is evolving rapidly in many areas, thanks in large part to innovations in intensity modulation, image guidance and workflow enhancing information management systems over the last decade,” says Stewart Pegrum, Director Particle Therapy, Elekta. “Elekta has driven most of these improvements on the linear accelerator, as centers such as the Paul Scherrer Institute have advanced the discipline of proton therapy. Our collaboration with PSI focuses on combining technological advances in conventional radiation therapy and proton therapy to create the best possible therapeutic solution. We firmly believe that both Elekta and its customers can substantially benefit from this collaboration as PSI is one of the leading institutions in the field of proton therapy.”

To learn more about Elekta’s particle therapy solutions click here

*MOSAIQ/SEQUENCER support of carbon ion therapy and MOSAIQ RTP are a works in progress. SEQUENCER is MOSAIQ’s verify and record module.

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta Releases MOSAIQ Oncology Information System Interface to Xstrahl Treatment Units

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-03-28

Elekta’s MOSAIQ® version 2.20 now includes an interface to Xstrahl’s superficial and orthovoltage radiotherapy systems, enabling users of these therapy machines to prepare, deliver and record treatments via MOSAIQ. The Xstrahl family of treatment systems treats superficial tumors and benign lesions (e.g., basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, keloid scars and dermatological conditions) with low-energy radiation.

The two first users of the MOSAIQ interface have reported success at their institutions, Sequoia Hospital (Redwood City, Calif.) and St. James’s University Hospital (Leeds, U.K.).

“MOSAIQ 2.20 is recording and verifying the treatments we’re giving patients, which is very important to us,” says Helen Monk, Manager, Radiation Oncology at Sequoia Hospital, a MOSAIQ user for more than a decade. “MOSAIQ helps ensure that every step we’re taking is correct. If a setting or filter has somehow been set incorrectly on the Xstrahl system, the machine will not turn on because it does not match what we set in MOSAIQ. If you’re working by yourself, it’s nice to have that added comfort knowing that MOSAIQ is double-checking everything you do to ensure safety.”

St. James’s University Hospital’s Peter Enever, Advanced Practitioner, concurs with Monk regarding the added assurance of safety that the new interface brings.

“You can’t get the combination of filters and applicators wrong,” he says. “The intelligent ‘engine’ in MOSAIQ automatically drives the workflow and checks that each step has been done correctly. From our point of view that is a very good safety feature and it gives users added confidence in what they’re doing.”

Enever adds that MOSAIQ interface’s similarity to that of a linear accelerator made training literally a five-minute process. “It looks and behaves exactly the same way as a linac interface,” he observes.

St. James’s has been moving steadily to a centralized patient record and the addition of the MOSAIQ interface to Xstrahl supports that effort.

“St. James’s Institute of Oncology’s aspiration to achieve a single integrated patient pathway has moved one step closer with the introduction of the MOSAIQ-Xstrahl interface,” Enever says.

*MOSAIQ® is a registered trademark of its manufacturer, IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc. SEQUENCER is MOSAIQ’s verify and record module.

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta-sponsored Ceremony Honors Arizona Cancer Heroes

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Phoenix, AZ

2011-03-24

Elekta recognizes contributions of local oncology practitioners, patient advocacy organizations with Arizona Cancer Heroes award

Recognizing the important role oncology practitioners and patient support groups play in the lives of those fighting cancer, Elekta, provider of radiation therapy technology to treat cancer, honored select individuals with the Arizona Cancer Heroes Award on March 23, 2011 at the Ritz-Carlton in Phoenix. Recipients were chosen after a three-month call for nominations in which residents of Phoenix and the surrounding areas were encouraged to nominate individuals they felt provided heroic support to them throughout their cancer journey.

During the ceremony, grants were awarded to several local non-profit organizations for their support of cancer patients. Lauren Daniels accepted on behalf of her organization, Happily Ever After League (HEAL). Founded in 2004 in response to Lauren’s personal cancer experience, HEAL provides financial support to Arizona mothers recovering from cancer by helping to pay for rent, utilities, medical bills and groceries. The organization opened HEALing House, which offers social support and outreach and includes a small food bank, in 2007 for the cancer patients and their families.

“Lauren and her Board of Directors set a goal to never turn away a mom in need and in the past six years the organization has kept this goal,” reports Sean Daniels, HEAL Board Member. “Nearly 500 mothers struggling with the rigors of cancer have been helped through Lauren’s vision and commitment.”

After losing best friend Michelle Singleton to cancer, Jody Berens dedicated herself to bringing hope, help and support to single parents with cancer. With operations in the Phoenix metro area – and expanding soon to Flagstaff – Jody’s organization, Singleton Moms, offers programs such as Michelle’s Kitchen, Michelle’s Pockets, Michelle’s Clean-up Crew, and more, that provide emotional, financial and domestic support to single parents undergoing cancer treatment. Singleton Moms has helped more than 100 families since its 2006 inception, some of whom have remained with the group as volunteers.

The Children’s Cancer Network was initiated by the Luttrell family to help children and families dealing with childhood cancer by providing financial and cancer-education support, as well as sponsoring events and activities designed to build patient, sibling, and parental self esteem. Patti Lutrell received a Heroes nomination for her tireless leadership of CCN volunteers in the execution of programs and to raise funds for children and their families. “Some heroes come to light because of a single act and others by quietly living their daily life in the service of others. The latter best describes my hero – Patti Luttrell,” opened Patti’s nomination.

Additional recipients of the Arizona Cancer Heroes Award include:

Dr. Aaron Ambrad, Radiation Oncologist, Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers, for clinical expertise delivered with empathy, respect and humor in a way that gives his patients hope
Dr. Linda Benaderet, Medical Oncologist, U.S. Oncology, for her whole-patient treatment approach to help her cancer patients live with joy and honor
Dr. Mike Janicek, Surgeon, Arizona Oncology Scottsdale, for outstanding surgical skills and exceeding patient expectations with compassionate self-extension
Eileen Gibbs, Oncology Nurse, St. Joseph’s Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center, for her commitment to customer service as well as patient care
Angela Mercado, Medical Assistant, Ironwood Cancer & Research Centers, for reaching beyond duty to positively interface with patients in multiple capacities
Anne Corssen, CRNA, for her inspirational creative work helping Arizona adults, children and families deal with all stages of cancer

Special recognition was also given a unique nominee, Willie, a Portuguese Water Dog. Willie and his handler, Marsha Goodman, are volunteers with Pets on Wheels of Scottsdale, a pet-visitation therapy program serving some 22 health care centers in Scottsdale. “...what makes [Willie] a hero is his ability to lift the spirits of the staff and patients,” read Willie’s nomination.

“Elekta is proud to honor the oncology practitioners who exemplify the commitment, dedication and skill that dramatically impact the experience of cancer patients and their loved ones as they fight to overcome perhaps the greatest challenge of their lives,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President of Elekta North America.

More information on the Arizona Cancer Heroes program may be found at www.azcancerheroes.com

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta Demonstrates Cancer Management Solutions for Radiation Therapy at ChinaMed Exhibition in Asia

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Beijing

2011-03-23

At the 23rd International Medical Instruments & Equipment (ChinaMed) Exhibition, March 25-27 in Beijing, Elekta (booth # 3A001) will showcase its comprehensive oncology solutions for managing cancer safely and effectively.

“To serve its large population, China is making unprecedented healthcare investments, increasing the demand for new care capacity, particularly for patients with cancer,” says Ian Alexander, Executive Vice President of Elekta’s Asia Pacific Region. “Through acquisition and innovation, Elekta has a strong portfolio of solutions that supports the management of a patient's cancer care and we’re proud to participate in the effort to deliver advanced technology to more people in the region.”

During the exhibition, Elekta will introduce its 3D ultrasound technology, Clarity™, to the Chinese market. Prioritizing patient comfort and safety by exploiting a non-invasive, non-ionizing imaging modality, Clarity system solutions are available to provide image guidance for patients with cancer of the breast, prostate, gynecological, liver, bladder or head and neck cancer.

In addition, Elekta also will demonstrate:

Symmetry™ , a feature set of Elekta’s X-ray Volume Imaging package of software for IGRT. The software enables clinicians to add the fourth dimension (i.e. 4D) of motion to enhance image guidance with the patient in the treatment position just before therapy. Lung SBRT offers a more gentle treatment option for patients who may not be ideal candidates for surgery, and Symmetry provides the imaging workflow to ensure confident visualization of lung tumors.
Elekta Compact™ , a cost-effective, versatile linear accelerator that provides a range of treatment techniques. With its modular design, Compact is designed to accept new features and functions as department needs grow. For example, Elekta’s MLCi2 is now available for seamless integration with Compact. With MLCi2, the radiation beam can be shaped to the target volume quickly and accurately, enhancing patient care. Compact now can be optionally equipped with iViewC™, a digital imaging system designed to optimize treatment accuracy. Utilizing CCD (charge-coupled device) technology, iViewC affords quality, real-time images that verify that the patient is in the correct position at the time of treatment. This helps ensure safety and reduces margins.
MOSAIQ® , Elekta’s dedicated electronic OIS in the Chinese language. MOSAIQ streamlines the entire therapy workflow – from initial diagnosis and staging, through planning, treatment and subsequent follow-up – to maximize efficiency and minimize patient queues.
Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ , the intracranial gold standard for brain tumors, Perfexion affords the ability to treat multiple targets in a single session and is designed to treat the most complex cases in the head and neck. During the new technology seminar at ChinaMed, Professor Christer Lindquist, neurosurgeon and medical director of the Gamma Knife Centre at Cromwell Hospital, will discuss the management of brain mets Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion.
Flexible radiation treatment planning tools, including Monaco®, XiO® and Atlas-based Autosegmentation, which enhance workflow and help make the planning process easier, more straightforward and clinically reliable.

According to Gilbert Wai, Managing Director for Elekta China, Elekta has become the market leader in China.

"Our history in the country dates back to 1982, and has resulted in a focused and strong organization, conducting a full range of business activities, such as R&D, engineering, manufacturing, sourcing, sales, marketing and clinical and technical services,” he says. “Elekta has truly evolved into a comprehensive solutions partner in China. We are dedicated to support the rapid growth in demand, not only in equipment, but also in clinical implementation and training services to improve access to high quality cancer treatment and management in China.”

ChinaMed, among the most influential exhibitions in Chinese medical instruments and equipment industry, is co-organized by the Health Department of General Logistics Department of Chinese People’s Liberation Army, China World Trade Center Co., Ltd., Hui Tong Xingye International Exhibition (Beijing) Co., Ltd. and Messe Düsseldorf (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. China Med expects more than 26,000 show attendees from 48 nations and regions.

*Clarity™, iViewC™ and Elekta Compact™ are not available for sale or distribution in all regions. Please contact your local Elekta representative or authorized distributor for further details.

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta Designates Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center as Leksell Center of Radiosurgery

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA and Winston-Salem, NC

2011-03-21

Wake Forest clinicians, Elekta stereotactic radiosurgery technology to be highlighted in public television program and commercial

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center’s (WFUBMC) acquisition and use of Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ and Elekta Axesse™ radiosurgery systems for brain and body cancers has earned it the designation, Leksell Center of Radiosurgery, the first in the United States.

A Leksell Center of Radiosurgery is highly qualified and prepared to forward the successful application of SRS/SRT via a multi-disciplinary program of clinical development, peer education and community outreach. A facility designated as a Leksell Center has entered into a formal collaboration with Elekta to participate in clinical studies, provide user training and support community education through case studies and seminars.

“With these two dedicated systems, clinicians can apply radiosurgery to any target in the brain and body,” says Jay Hoey, Executive Vice President, Elekta North America. “Wake Forest was a logical choice for our first Leksell Center due to its prolific use of Perfexion and Axesse over the last two years, and to its commitment to work with Elekta on a range of collaborative projects.”

Gamma Knife surgery role has bright future
With a yearly volume of 300 patients receiving Gamma Knife surgery and 3,000 patients treated, WFUBMC’s Gamma Knife program is the third busiest in the nation. As medical literature continues to clarify the impact of whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT), the role of radiosurgery at WFUBMC and other Gamma Knife centers will become more important, according to radiation oncologist and Gamma Knife program Co-Director, Michael Chan, M.D.

“As better systemic therapies help patients live longer after being diagnosed with brain metastases, patients who receive WBRT are more likely to develop neurocognitive decline and with longer survival, that decline will become more severe,” he says. “Gamma Knife surgery has proved to be a much gentler technique to treat brain metastases. Patients can receive Gamma Knife surgery and not stop their chemotherapy or worry about increased toxicity. There is plenty of evidence to show that combining WBRT with chemotherapy can worsen the patient’s toxicity from the WBRT.”

Elekta appreciated the multidisciplinary structure of WFUBMC’s Gamma Knife program in its Leksell Center selection criteria, Hoey adds.

“Representatives of both the radiation oncology and neurosurgery departments work together as a team with the patient as the owner of the team,” says Stephen Tatter, M.D., Ph.D. WFUBMC neurosurgeon and Gamma Knife program Co-Director. “Each of us sits down with the patient to determine what their goals are, what their fears are, what side effects they’re most worried about, and then we try to put ourselves in their position—knowing the strengths of the other people on the team, or the other modalities we have to offer. It’s hard to overemphasize the value of that.”

Body radiosurgery triples after implementation of Elekta Axesse
Wake Forest clinicians recognized the potential of radiosurgery methods as alternatives to open surgery or less targeted techniques, such as WBRT.

“Radiosurgery has become more important as we try to tailor treatments more precisely to tumor targets, enabling us to avoid exposing normal tissues while also using higher, more therapeutic doses,” says James Urbanic, M.D., WFUBMC radiation oncologist. “Particularly for body tumors, radiosurgery has emerged as a non-invasive option for patients who are not ideal candidates for surgery.”

Since WFUBMC acquired Elekta Axesse , its body radiosurgery cases have tripled to more than 100 cases per year, comprising a variety of cancer sites throughout the body, he adds.

Dr. Urbanic serves as director of the Wake Forest stereotactic radiotherapy course, Principles and Practice of Image Guided Hypofractionated Radiotherapy , which Elekta supports in conjunction with the Leksell Center program. Since 2009, WFUBMC has conducted four courses for radiation therapy professionals and is scheduled to instruct four more in 2011.

Elekta radiosurgery technology to get TV time
Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion and Elekta Axesse will receive exposure to national audiences in the form of an upcoming technology update special and an Elekta commercial. The technology update will feature Wake Forest clinicians and their use of Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, and is scheduled to air throughout 2011. The Elekta commercial will highlight Leksell Gamma Knife and Elekta Axesse and will air on major cable networks. The commercial is scheduled to begin airing March 21, 2011.

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Nottingham University Hospital is First U.K. User of Elekta’s Electronic Medical Record Workspace for Image Guided Radiation Therapy

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Nottingham

2011-03-15

From single workstation, U.K. center coordinates advanced IGRT therapy for patients with cancer

Delivering Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) effectively and safely involves careful coordination of sophisticated systems, such as the therapy machine and its imaging subsystems, as well as the electronic medical record (EMR) used to schedule and record patient treatments. Clinicians at Nottingham University Hospital are piloting their new IGRT program with SYNERGISTIQ™, Elekta’s workflow management system for Elekta Synergy® linear accelerators. Nottingham’s Radiotherapy Services Manager, Russell Hart, reports that SYNERGISTIQ is streamlining IGRT by orchestrating MOSAIQ® EMR and Elekta Synergy activities from a single workstation.

“The cone beam CT capabilities provided by the two Synergy systems we acquired are new to this department,” Hart says. “Given that, and looking at the high potential workflow for these systems – as many as 40 patients per day per system – we wanted the IGRT be as efficient as possible. We were impressed with how SYNERGISTIQ provided a very streamlined workflow for the radiographer, who operates the linac.

The fact that Nottingham already operated four Elekta Precise Treatment System™ linacs did not confer an advantage to the company during equipment evaluations, as National Health Service (NHS) guidelines for major procurements require that centers evaluate the solutions of all relevant providers, Hart notes.

“Only Elekta was able to offer that single workstation for the operator, which the others claimed to have but, in reality, did not,” he says. “That meant that Elekta presented a total solution that included workflow and oncology information management, as well as the Elekta Synergy treatment systems and treatment planning with Monaco®.”

MOSAIQ oncology information system went clinical at Nottingham in June 2010, followed by the Elekta Synergy systems with SYNERGISTIQ in October and November.

Implementing a streamlined IGRT workflow
“The systems’ cone beam CT is currently undergoing commissioning for regular clinical use, but we have seen the impact of SYNERGISTIQ on IGRT workflow involving individual patients, and it’s great,” he says. “It’s going to allow the operator to perform all IGRT functions at the SYNERGISTIQ workstation, rather than having to move to different workspaces, monitors and keyboards. That includes basic treatment readiness, imaging, image analysis interacting with MOSAIQ, interacting with the cone beam CT – all from one workstation.”

According to Hart, another advantage, enabled by Auto DICOM push, is that all patient images will be available via the patient’s electronic medical record – without having to go into the separate imaging database.

“This means you can distribute those images across your department via MOSAIQ, so doctors can access MOSAIQ and review images at a location outside of the radiation oncology department,” Hart says. “SYNERGISTIQ unites patient records, scheduling, treatment coordination and images all in one tool. This will completely streamline the whole IGRT process.”

To learn more about SYNERGISTIQ, visit www.elekta.com/SYNERGISTIQ .

###

For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Nine-month interim report May – January 2010/11

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Stockholm

2011-03-08

Nine-month interim report May – January 2010/11

Order bookings increased 10* percent to SEK 6,041 M (5,705).

Net sales rose 14* percent to SEK 5,328 M (4,835).

Operating profit increased to SEK 751 M (553).

Net income rose to SEK 500 M (358).

Earnings per share after dilution improved to SEK 5.30 (3.91).

Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 460 M (589). Cash flow after investments was SEK 142 M (527), including acquisitions of SEK -255 M (0).

For fiscal year 2010/11, net sales is expected to grow by 12-14 percent in local currency. Operating profit in SEK is expected to grow by 16-20 percent.

Table included in attached PDF file

* Compared to last fiscal year at unchanged exchange rates.

President and CEO Tomas Puusepp comments

I am very pleased with Elekta’s solid performance in the first nine months of fiscal year 2010/11. Order bookings increased by 10 percent based on unchanged exchange rates.
Operating profit rose by 36 percent to SEK 751 M (553) with an operating margin improvement to 14 percent (11).

Order intake for the nine-month period was particularly strong in Region North and South America, helped by a strong third quarter in the North American market and a positive development in Brazil. In the Asia Pacific region, China, India and Australia represented the strongest growth markets. Demand in Europe, Middle East and Africa showed a mixed picture. Eastern Europe, Russia and Italy reported continued solid growth while activity was lower in the UK and in the Nordic countries.

There may be quarterly fluctuations in demand in the respective regions. However, we expect sustainable growth rates for region Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as for North America at mid to high single digit levels, and double digit growth rates for the Asia Pacific region.

The need for cancer care is growing world wide. Elekta is market leader in emerging markets, where the demand for clinical solutions like Elekta’s is particularly strong. We continue to make cancer care available to more people around the world through geographical expansion. Key success factors are our long term customer relations, our innovative capabilities and our commitment to the highest level of service and customer care.

Elekta provides world leading solutions in image-guided radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery and oncology software in collaboration with the foremost universities and hospitals worldwide. There is an increasing interest for stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer and multiple metastatic tumors.

With good visibility for the remainder of the fiscal year, Elekta’s financial outlook for the fiscal year 2010/11 has been changed. Net sales is expected to grow by 12-14 percent in local currency. Operating profit in SEK is expected to grow by 16-20 percent.

Tomas Puusepp
President and CEO

For further information, please contact:

Håkan Bergström, CFO, Elekta AB (publ)
Tel: +46 8 587 25 547, e-mail: hakan.bergstrom@elekta.com

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB (publ)
Tel: +46 8 587 25 437, e-mail: stina.thorman@elekta.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
http://www.cisionwire.com/elekta/nine-month-interim-report-may---january-2010-1199198

The following files are available for download:

The full report

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center Chooses Elekta for Major Oncology Upgrade

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Stockholm

2011-03-08

Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina has entered into a long-term agreement with Elekta to upgrade and modernize its radiation oncology facilities, including its main campus and satellite facilities. The agreement includes Wake Forest Baptist’s acquisition of multiple radiation therapy treatment systems, electronic medical record systems and clinical consulting services, as well as a reload of their Leksell Gamma Knife® Perfexion™ radiosurgery system. The order is included in Elekta’s fiscal third quarter.

“Based on our experience with the Elekta Axesse™ radiosurgery system, MOSAIQ® oncology information system, and technology vision, we believe Elekta is best suited to meet the hospital’s current and future radiation oncology technology needs,” says A. William Blackstock, Jr., MD, Chair of Radiation Oncology at Wake Forest Baptist. “Since acquiring the Elekta Axesse, its body radiosurgery cases have tripled to more than 100 cases per year, comprising a variety of cancer sites throughout the body.”

The Comprehensive Cancer Center at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is ranked among the nation’s best hospitals for cancer care by U.S. News & World Report. It is one of only 40 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Elekta has a long-term relationship with Wake Forest Baptist as a provider of neurosurgery and oncology solutions and services.

“Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center is a world-class center of excellence, and Elekta is excited to deploy its cutting-edge technology alongside Wake Forest Baptist’s clinical expertise to improve patient care,” says Elekta’s Jim Rose, Vice President, Oncology Systems. “We are very pleased with WFUBMC's renewed confidence in Elekta for the provision of state-of-the-art integrated oncology systems.”

Domingo Valpuesta, Business Manager, Radiation Oncology at WFUBMC says: “We value the consultative services Elekta is bringing to Wake Forest. With our combined resources, we believe we can achieve our vision of creating an oncology information system to manage all our information needs, integrate with our hospital-wide EMR, improve our daily efficiency and enhance patient safety protocols.”

The multi-system agreement with Elekta covers Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and its affiliated and owned cancer centers: Cancer Center of Davidson County at Lexington Memorial Hospital (owned); Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital (affiliated); and Caldwell Memorial Hospital (affiliated).

The technology specifically includes four Elekta Infinity™ linear accelerator systems, the MOSAIQ oncology information system for complete electronic medical records, practice management and workflow enhancements; the SYNERGISTIQ™ workflow management system which integrates MOSAIQ and Elekta Infinity from a single workstation, and Clarity® for soft tissue visualization. It also includes MOSAIQ Oncology Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS), cobalt reload for Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion, and consulting services.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Number of outstanding shares in Elekta AB (publ)

Sun, 27 Feb 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Stockholm

2011-02-28

Number of outstanding shares in Elekta AB (publ)

During February, 1,167 new B shares were issued in Elekta through the exercise of warrants distributed within the framework of the established option program.

The total number of shares in Elekta as of February 28, 2011 amounts to 94,204,627 divided between 3,562,500 A shares and 90,642,127 B shares.

One A share entitles the holder to ten votes and one B shares to one vote.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com

Elekta’s Oncology-Specific MOSAIQ Receives Complete ONC-ATCB EMR Certification

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Atlanta, GA

2011-02-25

Cancer centers to qualify for ARRA financial incentives with meaningful use certification from the Drummond Group

Elekta’s MOSAIQ®* oncology electronic medical record (EMR) has received complete EMR certification. Complete EMR certification officially validates the Elekta software and enables eligible providers to qualify to demonstrate Stage 1 meaningful use under the HITECH Act.

Tested and certified under the Drummond Group’s Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Testing and Certification Body (ONC-ATCB) program, the EMR software is Stage 1 compliant with criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The complete certification of MOSAIQ makes it the first comprehensive, oncology EMR to receive this important certification.

“MOSAIQ is a popular solution in many of the world’s leading cancer care facilities, so certification is a huge step for this software and puts our customers at the front of the line for incentive funds,” says Todd Powell, Executive Vice President, Elekta Software. “We have worked to make MOSAIQ not only the most comprehensive, interoperable and robust solution available, but also equipped it to perform functions that all modern EMRs should have to increase efficiency in patient care. Certification is additional evidence of these efforts.”

Drummond Group’s ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification program tests and certifies that EMRs meet the meaningful use criteria for either eligible provider or hospital technology. In turn, healthcare providers using the EMR systems of certified vendors are qualified to receive federal stimulus monies available under the HITECH Act upon demonstrating meaningful use of the technology – a key component of the federal government’s push to improve clinical care delivery through the adoption and effective use of EMRs by U.S. healthcare providers.

In addition to providing a certified EMR, Elekta offers custom programs through its STRATEGIQ™ consultative services to help clients prepare to demonstrate meaningful use.

“Whether an existing MOSAIQ user seeking to qualify for incentives or a new customer wanting to adopt the Elekta EMR solution, STRATEGIQ experts can conduct a thorough audit of a cancer center’s operations, then provide an action plan specific to their needs,” says Powell. “The oncology field requires specific workflows and processes unique to the profession, and it is important that sites – from practices with a single clinician to groups with more than 100 physicians – develop an implementation plan that ensures success.”

Leveraging more than 20 years of leadership and expertise of IMPAC Medical Systems, MOSAIQ is the tool of choice to manage cutting-edge treatment centers. Learn more about the world’s most widely used oncology EMR at www.elekta.com/MOSAIQ .

This EHR module is 2011/2012 compliant to prove meaningful use under the HITECH Act and is certified by an ONC-ATCB in accordance with the applicable certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. This certification does not represent an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or guarantee the receipt of incentive payments. MOSAIQ was certified February 25, 2011, Certification ID number 02252011‐1018‐6 for Clinical Quality Measures: NQF0013, NQF0024, NQF0028, NQF0038, NQF0041, NQF0385, NQF0387, NQF0389, NQF0421. No additional software used

*MOSAIQ^® is a registered trademark of its manufacturer, IMPAC Medical Systems, Inc.

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For further information, please contact:

Stina Thorman, Vice President Corporate Communications, Elekta AB
Tel: +46 8 587 254 37, email: stina.thorman@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European

Michelle Lee, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1 770-670-2447, email: michelle.lee@elekta.com
Time zone: EDT: Eastern Daylight Time

About Elekta

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.

Visit Elekta - www.elekta.com