JOHNS HOPKINS TO ADD ELEKTA SYNERGY® S TO CANCER TREATMENT LINEUP

PRESS RELEASE
Stockholm, Sweden, August 17, 2007

The Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins Medicine, in Maryland, USA, has placed an order to add an Elekta Synergy® S system to its Leksell Gamma Knife® capability. A Stereotactic Center of Excellence, Johns Hopkins aims to fight cancer with both intracranial and extracranial resources for whole-body cancer treatment with the addition of Elekta Synergy S this fall. Elekta Synergy S integrates high-resolution beam shaping, precise target localization, organ motion control and 3D imaging into one package, taking stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy to a new level.

Theodore L. DeWeese, M.D., is Johns Hopkins professor of Radiation Oncology, Oncology and Urology and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology and Molecular Radiation Sciences. “Elekta Synergy S is an ideal complement to Leksell Gamma Knife radiosurgery,” says Dr. DeWeese. “With it, we are expanding stereotactic radiosurgery to other parts of the anatomy besides the brain.”

Elekta Synergy S: advanced stereotactic radiation

Elekta Synergy S is an image-guided robotic linear accelerator that combines integrated software-driven imaging abilities with powerful high-resolution radiation delivery. At Johns Hopkins’ Kimmel Center, Elekta Synergy S will enable specialists to perform both stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy throughout the body, as well as, stereotactic radiosurgery on cranial tumors unsuitable for Gamma Knife surgery.

Essentially, Elekta Synergy S provides Johns Hopkins with the two most important ingredients for improved patient outcomes: 2D and ultra low dose 3D image-guided accuracy and highly conformal beam shaping. This enables neurosurgeons at the Kimmel Center to use extremely precise stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy on small-field spinal tumors as well as paraspinal indications with larger field-size requirements.

Johns Hopkins’ award-winning legacy

U.S. News & World Report recently named the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center third best in the nation and the top cancer hospital in the Mid-Atlantic Region. The Johns Hopkins Hospital also ranked at the top of its “America’s Best Hospitals” Honor roll for the 17th consecutive year.

Elekta Synergy S will be utilized for extracranial radiosurgery, particularly spine and liver applications, says Dr. DeWeese. “The center expects to treat approximately 20 patients per day with Elekta Synergy S in the first year,” he says, “and about half of those will be stereotactic treatments. Hypofractionated image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) for prostate applications will follow at a later date as well.”

Johns Hopkins also will be using IMPAC for oncology-specific electronic medical records (EMR). IMPAC, an Elekta company, takes oncology management to new levels of efficiency with MOSAIQ™, an image-enabled oncology EMR. MOSAIQ supports all aspects of treatment, from patient charting to billing to data and image storage, as well as, patient assessments and access to online clinical images.

Elekta’s history of innovation and its advancement of radiotherapy and radiosurgery have made Elekta an industry leader. With the development of Leksell Gamma Knife and the addition of Elekta Synergy S, and other advanced linear accelerator systems, Elekta provides unprecedented precision, accuracy and versatility in stereotactic radiosurgery and stereotactic radiotherapy.



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