-- Heidelberg University Hospital pioneers use; providing precise and efficient treatments
SUNNYVALE, California, April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), announced today that Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany, has treated the world's first patients with the new TomoEDGE™ Dynamic Jaws technology combined with VoLO™ Planning as part of its TomoTherapy® System. The new TomoEDGE Dynamic jaws technology was introduced at ASTRO 2012 as the newest evolution to the TomoTherapy System. The managing director of the department of radiotherapy, Jurgen Debus, M.D., and Florian Sterzing, M.D., radiation oncologist, both with Heidelberg University Hospital, were in charge of these first treatments at Heidelberg University Hospital.
"We treated our first patients on March 25, 2013 using the TomoEDGE technology, and we have successfully treated both prostate and breast patients," said Florian Sterzing, M.D., radiation oncologist with Heidelberg University Hospital. "With TomoEDGE we are now able to treat, faster, the entire spectrum of the radiation oncology patients."
"With the new TomoEDGE technology, we can provide the most precise and personalized treatment plans while also achieving significantly better dose distributions and at the same time reduce overall treatment time," added Jurgen Debus, medical director of the department of radiation oncology and radiotherapy with Heidelberg University Hospital.
The new TomoEDGE technology allows for sharper dose sculpting and reduces treatment time for many patients by approximately half, which will enable clinics to treat more patients per day. TomoEDGE Dynamic Jaws are optimized to open dynamically as they sweep across the target. This combines the benefits of narrow jaw widths to better sculpt dose at the edges of the treatment volume with larger jaw widths to complete treatment in a shorter time. The result is a precise, yet faster and more customized treatment delivery that is as unique as each patient.
The TomoTherapy System also includes the VoLO Technology a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)-based treatment planning which includes high-speed parallel processing for both dose calculation and optimization. VoLO leverages advanced graphics processing technology and a new calculation algorithm to significantly reduce treatment planning time and flexibility in developing even the most complex radiation therapy plans. Its speed allows users to explore a range of parameter settings in a short time to maximize plan conformality, sparing of normal tissues, and treatment efficiency.
"We are committed to our TomoTherapy users and continue to innovate to provide the most advanced treatments in radiation oncology with the goal of improving patient care," said Joshua H. Levine, president and chief executive officer of Accuray. "We are proud that we have had the opportunity to collaborate with the renowned Heidelberg University Hospital and are excited that they are the first to see what TomoEDGE has to offer to the hospital, its physicians and their patients. It will enable unprecedented speed and efficiency ensuring the highest quality of care from the routine to the most complex cases."
About Heidelberg University Hospital and Department of Radiation Oncology
Internationally recognized patient care, research, and teaching - Heidelberg University Hospital is one of the largest and most prestigious medical centers in Germany. The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University belongs to one of the most internationally renowned biomedical research institutions in Europe. Both institutions have the common goal of developing new therapies and implementing them rapidly for patients. With about 11,000 employees, training and qualification is an important issue. At the department of radiation oncology and radiotherapy, the entire range of state-of-the-art radiation therapy diagnostics and treatment is offered at the highest international level. Each year, more than 4,000 cancer patients are treated at the department, which offers the full range of up-to-date treatments.
About Accuray
Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), is a radiation oncology company that develops, manufactures and sells personalized, innovative treatment solutions that set the standard of care with the aim of helping patients live longer, better lives. The Company's leading-edge technologies deliver the full range of radiation therapy and radiosurgery treatments.
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