ATLANTA, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Radiosurgery is credited with improving patient quality of life, reducing treatment costs and enhancing clinical outcomes. Patients undergoing non-invasive Gamma Knife(R) surgery, which is completed in a matter of hours, generally go home within 24 hours and resume normal activities within a few days.
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More than 220 Gamma Knife(R) units are in operation worldwide and more than 350,000 patients have been treated, according to Jim Rose, Vice President and head of Marketing in North America for Elekta, the system’s manufacturer. “Gamma Knife(R) surgery remains the most accurate and proven means of performing brain radiosurgery, and the single most trusted and utilized solution for treating intracranial disorders without invasive surgery,” he said.
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, which has been voted the most preferred hospital in Los Angeles for all health needs for the past 17 years, will soon add Leksell Gamma Knife(R) 4C to its Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute.
This latest-generation system offers a simplified and more efficient treatment process and enhanced precision through new, integrated image treatment possibilities. It includes Leksell GammaPlan(R) 4C planning software, providing users with a previously unattainable possibility to integrate images from various image sources and as a result achieve higher treatment precision and improved treatment results.
“We continually seek more effective means of treating brain tumors,” said Keith L. Black, M.D., Director of the Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Director of the medical center’s Division of Neurosurgery and Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program. “The efficacy of Gamma Knife(R) surgery, documented in over 2,000 peer-reviewed published papers, makes this an excellent complement to our existing therapies and radiosurgery capabilities.”
Leksell Gamma Knife(R) delivers very high doses of radiation with minimal damage to the normal brain tissue surrounding the problem area. It is used for a variety of neurological disorders, including arteriovenous malformations, vestibular schwannomas, meningiomas, pituitary tumors, trigeminal neuralgia and brain metastases. Research is being conducted on other possible uses of Leksell Gamma Knife(R), such as treating epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and uveal melanoma.
About Elekta
Elekta is an international medical-technology group, providing meaningful clinical solutions, comprehensive information systems and services for improved cancer care and management of brain disorders. All of Elekta’s solutions employ non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques and are therefore clinically effective, gentle on the patient and cost-effective.
Clinical solutions include Leksell Gamma Knife(R) for non-invasive treatment of brain disorders and Elekta Synergy(R) for image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Following the acquisition of IMPAC Medical Systems Inc. in
April 2005, the Elekta Group is the world’s largest supplier of oncology software.
Elekta’s systems and solutions are used in over 3,000 hospitals around the world to treat cancer and to manage clinical operations as well as to diagnose and treat brain disorders, including tumors, vascular malformations and functional disorders.
With approximately 1,700 employees, Elekta’s corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the ticker EKTAb.
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CONTACT: Michelle Lee, PR and Advertising Manager, +1-770-670-2447, ormichelle.lee@elekta.com , or Investor inquiries, United States, LarsJonsteg, VP Investor Relations North America, +46-708-78-37-35, orlars.jonsteg@elekta.com , or International, Peter Ejemyr, Group VPCorporate Communications, +46-733-611-000, or peter.ejemyr@elekta.com , allof Elekta
Web site: http://www.elekta.com//