Accuray Inc. Licenses Technology From Morphormics for Prostate Cancer Treatment Planning

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY - News), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced today that the company is partnering with Morphormics Incorporated, a start-up company out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, in the development and licensing of autocontouring technology. The technology automatically identifies and draws the boundaries of the prostate and surrounding critical structures, enabling the treatment planning software to focus radiation dose on the prostate and minimize delivering dose to the surrounding critical structures. This partnership reflects Accuray’s focus on advanced technologies to improve the treatment of prostate cancer.

Traditionally in radiation oncology treatment planning, a CT scan is acquired and clinicians work slice by slice to contour -- or draw -- the patient’s anatomy by hand. This process can be challenging and time consuming because the planning CT image offers poor contrast, making it difficult to distinguish the boundaries between the prostate, bladder and rectum.

Autocontouring -- also called autosegmentation -- helps clinicians save time and improves the efficiency of their contouring by offering estimated anatomical boundary contours for the prostate and surrounding anatomy that can be matched to the patient’s CT scan using corresponding image points.

“We looked at a number of companies and believe Morphormics offers the best technology to help our customers improve their productivity and patient outcomes,” said Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., president and CEO of Accuray Incorporated. “In keeping with Accuray’s mission to provide clinically relevant technologies, this endeavor is another example of our commitment to improving clinicians’ ability to treat prostate cancer.”

“We are excited to have Accuray as our first customer and look forward to partnering with them to develop our autocontouring technology,” said Ed Chaney, founder of Morphormics and professor of Radiation Oncology and Biomedical Engineering at UNC Chapel Hill. “As a medical physicist myself, I recognize the importance of extreme accuracy and precision in cancer care and believe this technology is a significant advancement in prostate cancer planning and workflow.”

Accuray will demonstrate the Morphormics prostate autocontouring capability as a technology under development at the company’s booth #1701 during the 50th American Society for Therapeutic Radiology & Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting September 21-25, 2008 in Boston.

About the CyberKnife® Robotic Radiosurgery System

The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is the world’s only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body non- invasively. Using continual image guidance technology and computer controlled robotic mobility, the CyberKnife System automatically tracks, detects and corrects for tumor and patient movement in real-time throughout the treatment. This enables the CyberKnife System to deliver high-dose radiation with pinpoint precision, which minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue and eliminates the need for invasive head or body stabilization frames.

About Accuray

Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY - News), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a global leader in the field of radiosurgery dedicated to providing an improved quality of life and a non-surgical treatment option for those diagnosed with cancer. Accuray develops and markets the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, which extends the benefits of radiosurgery to include extracranial tumors, including those in the spine, lung, prostate, liver and pancreas. To date, the CyberKnife System has been used to treat more than 50,000 patients worldwide and currently more than 140 systems have been installed in leading hospitals in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.accuray.com.

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The foregoing may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties associated with the medical device industry. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements relating to clinical studies, regulatory review and approval, and commercialization of products are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management’s good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make include: market acceptance of products; competing products, the combination of our products with complementary technology; and other risks detailed from time to time under the heading “Risk Factors” in our report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2008 as updated from time to time by our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company’s actual results of operations may differ significantly from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements as a result of these and other factors. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual performance or results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws.

Source: Accuray Incorporated

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