ELEKTA CHOSEN TO DELIVER ADVANCED 3-D BRAIN MAPPING TECHNOLOGY AS PART OF COLLABORATION WITH LEADING FRENCH BRAIN IMAGING FACILITY

Press Release
Stockholm, Sweden, February 22, 2008

Elekta has signed a contract to deliver Elekta Neuromag®, the world-leading equipment for non-invasive registration of nerve cell activity using magnetoencephalography (MEG) technology to the new CEA facility - NeuroSpin in Saclay, France, one of the largest research sites for brain imaging in Europe.

The delivery of Elekta Neuromag is part of a collaboration contract signed between three parties: Le Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), L’Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) both French state-owned research entities with scientific, technical and industrial activity, and Elekta Neuromag Oy, part of the Elekta Group.

The MEG system will be installed during spring of 2008 at the new CEA facility – called NeuroSpin – in Saclay which was recently inaugurated and is planned to soon become the largest European site for brain imaging studies. NeuroSpin will host up to 150 research scientists and engineers from CEA and INSERM with a large number of visiting groups. The core research staff of NeuroSpin has developed a long history of neuro-imaging research on method and instrumentation development (notably Position Emission Tomography (PET) and fMRI). In addition to the Elekta Neuromag MEG system, NeuroSpin will host four cutting-edge Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems entirely dedicated to neuro-imaging research projects.

“Our research group is interested to use a conventional MEG system as a necessary complement for MRI systems, which will contribute to the creation of a center of expertise in medical and cognitive research using MEG and MRI approaches”, says Professor Stanislas Dehaene, Director of NeuroSpin's Cognitive NeuroImaging unit.

CEA and Elekta have previously been collaborating through the European Commission Framework Program on sensor optimization and noise sensitivity for neuro-imaging applications. “This continued and enlarged cooperation between Elekta, CEA and INSERM is of great importance for the development of MEG technology”, says Dr. Claude Fermon, of the nanomagnetism group in the Service de Physique de l’Etat Condensé, CEA.

For Elekta, the collaboration with CEA and INSERM is an important opportunity to bring the MEG technology to a whole new level. “We see this as a major opportunity to work with Europe’s top scientists in this field, enabling us to get further ahead of the competing MEG systems on the market”, says Olof Sandén, Executive Vice President Europe at Elekta.

Elekta Neuromag®

Elekta Neuromag 306 MEG channels sensor array has higher density than any other system on the market and thus covers the brain better with a better representation of brain activity then any other MEG system. With the industry’s lowest noise to signal ratio, meaning that more useful information is acquired, and thus also the highest yield of information per sample.

The unique design of the sensors combined with advanced software makes it possible to gain data with unsurpassed detail even from the deepest realms of the brain. The system also has the highest available immunity to magnetic interference, either patient-related or external. Elekta Neuromag has also the lowest operational costs, with the longest liquid helium refill interval. Elekta Neuromag is technically one of the most sophisticated MEG/EEG devices available on the market today.