Denmark's Odense University Hospital Delivers Cancer Patients' Stereotactic Radiation Therapy Nearly Three Times Faster with Elekta's Versa HD System

ODENSE, Denmark, July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Thanks to Odense University Hospital's (OUH) new Versa HD™ system from Elekta, the delivery of the third and final stereotactic radiation treatment for a 69-year-old male lung cancer patient was almost three times quicker than his first two sessions delivered on OUH's existing radiation therapy system. The third "fraction" took 2.5 minutes to deliver the treatment versus seven minutes required on the existing linear accelerator.

Versa HD is a sophisticated radiation treatment system designed to enhance the management of cancer care and treat a broad spectrum of tumors throughout the body. The market's most advanced linear accelerator, Versa HD is a single system capable of delivering conventional therapies for indications commonly seen in the clinic, while also permitting treatment of complex cancers that require exceptional targeting accuracy.

On June 3 – the date of the 69-year-old patient's third treatment – physicians harnessed the system's Agility™ 160-leaf multi-leaf collimator and High Dose Rate mode. Combining High Dose Rate mode with Agility™ meant the patient received his stereotactic treatment in a much shorter time.

"We delivered a large, potent dose of 22 Gy for that single session in the same time it would take to deliver a much smaller dose of 2 Gy on our existing machine," says Olfred Hansen, MD, Head of the OUH Radiation Therapy Department. "Moreover, we did not need to perform the customary 4D cone beam CT imaging step midway through the fraction to ensure the patient hadn't moved. This is a necessary precaution when the delivery times are seven minutes, but with just 2.5 minutes of beam on time, we were confident enough that the patient could lie still, allowing us to skip the scan and perform cone beam imaging at the beginning and end of the treatment."

By eliminating the middle cone beam CT scan and delivering the beams faster, OUH physicians can now reduce the stereotactic slot from three 10-minute slots to two 10-minute slots.

"For every stereotactic patient we treat with Versa HD we will gain a spare slot to use for a non-stereotactic patient," he says. "That could translate into two or three extra patient treatments per day."

For now, Dr. Hansen and his team are comparing the Versa HD plans and treatment deliveries with their current protocol using their existing system.

"We will continue to compare results over the next two to three months, steadily increasing the numbers of stereotactic patients and adding treatment sites," Dr. Hansen says. "By September, we predict we will be using the High Dose Rate mode of Versa HD as the standard procedure. We really expect this to be a big leap forward in stereotactic radiation therapy."

OUH is currently installing a second Versa HD system.

For more information, visit www.VersaHD.com.

Versa HD is not for sale or distribution in all markets.

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46-702-100-451, email: johan.andersson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1-770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,400 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.