SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Xoft, Inc. today announced that the Axxent(R) High Dose Rate (HDR) X-ray Source has been selected to receive an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine as one of the year's most technologically significant products. Established by the editors of R&D Magazine in 1963, the R&D 100 Awards are designed to recognize significant technological achievements and products that leapfrog current technology and that provide simple, elegant solutions to complex or long-standing technical or practical problems.
Over the past 45 years, the R&D 100 Awards have recognized winning products with such household names as the flashcube (1965), the automated teller machine (1973), the fax machine (1975), the liquid crystal display (1980), the Kodak Photo CD (1991), the Nicoderm antismoking patch (1992), Taxol anticancer drug (1993), and HDTV (1998).
"The Axxent miniature X-ray source is a fundamentally new way to deliver therapeutic radiation. Previously, there has been external beam radiation, generally delivered by a linear accelerator, or brachytherapy, a radioactive isotope delivering radiation internal to the body," said Paul Lovoi PhD, CTO and co-founder of Xoft. "The Axxent source can deliver internal or external radiation and, because of the lower energy, can deliver this radiation in any minimally-shielded setting. Until the Xoft miniature X-ray source, there has been no new modality of radiation treatment in over 40 years. The Xoft Axxent X-ray source is the enabling technology for many generations of increasingly more sophisticated, accurate, and accessible radiation treatment systems."
The Axxent(R) HDR X-ray source is a miniature disposable X-ray tube, 2.25 mm in diameter, that can be inserted into the body to deliver a 50 kVp therapeutic dose of radiation for cancer treatment. In comparison, the next smallest medical X-ray source currently in use is more than 10 times larger. The source is part of the Axxent Electronic Brachytherapy System which is FDA cleared for use in the radiation treatment of cancers or other conditions. Specific applicators are cleared for treatment of early stage breast cancer and for endometrial and rectal cancers.
As a platform technology, the Axxent System is designed to deliver non-radioactive therapy directly to cancer sites with minimal radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. Because of its unique characteristics, radiation from the Axxent HDR X-ray Source can be easily shielded, allowing medical personnel to be present during treatment delivery, minimizing patient anxiety.
"Eliminating the need for the heavily-shielded vaults required by existing radiation therapy technologies, such as radioactive isotopes and linear accelerators, will allow the therapy to move to the patient rather than forcing the patient to come to specialty treatment centers. This will make the best treatment available annually to tens of thousands of cancer patients worldwide that otherwise would not receive it. This is especially important for patients that may not have access to specialized vaults because of the cost of travel and lodging plus the impact of being absent from jobs and families during treatment," said Tom Rusch, PhD, VP of Technical Outreach and Xoft co-founder.
"Known as one of the most prestigious honors in the field of research and development, the R&D 100 Award is a mark of excellence known to industry, government, and academia validating that the product is one of the most innovative ideas of the year," said Michael Klein, president and CEO of Xoft. "We are extremely proud of our R&D team and their efforts to invent and bring to market a paradigm shifting technology in the treatment of cancer. Not only does the Axxent System have the potential to dramatically improve access to an easier and more convenient form of treatment, it also supports the federal government directive to develop viable substitutes for radioactive isotopes which carry environmental and national security concerns."
To learn more about the R&D 100 Awards, visit http://www.RDmag.com
About Xoft, Inc.
Founded in 1998, Xoft develops leading-edge technologies for the practice of radiation oncology through Electronic Brachytherapy, which utilizes proprietary miniaturized X-ray tube technology. The Axxent(R) Electronic Brachytherapy System, Xoft's first treatment system, is currently being used in Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation (APBI) for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer and in the treatment of endometrial cancer. For more information, visit http://www.xoftinc.com
Axxent is a registered trademark of Xoft, Inc.
CONTACT: Chris K. Joseph, +1-510-339-2293, chris@ckjcomm.com, for Xoft,
Inc.
Web site: http://www.xoftinc.com/
