Mountain View, CA - June 23, 2009 - El Camino Hospital, the hospital of Silicon Valley, announced today that El Camino Hospital’s board of directors approved the decision to purchase a CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System for the applied use of treating tumors throughout the entire body. El Camino Hospital and Accuray Incorporated, the manufacturer of the CyberKnife System, also agreed that the hospital will serve as a showcase for the technology and a training center for physicians from around the world.
"The introduction of the CyberKnife System underscores our commitment to bring the latest innovations to our patients’ care,” said Ken Graham, chief executive officer of El Camino Hospital. “And as the hospital of Silicon Valley, we’re excited to be an international educational hub working closely with Accuray to train top physicians and be a showcase for this leading-edge technology."
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Accuray has designed the CyberKnife System to use robotics in conjunction with image guidance technology to precisely deliver radiation to tumors anywhere in the body, while minimizing the dose to surrounding healthy tissue and critical structures. The CyberKnife System will be integrated into El Camino Hospital’s Neuroscience Institute and is expected to be available for patient treatment by fall 2009.
"We could not be more pleased to have partnered with El Camino Hospital and its physicians to create a facility that showcases the CyberKnife technology," said Euan Thompson, CEO of Accuray. "Our close customer partnerships are an important part of the development of our cutting-edge cancer technologies."
Breakthrough Treatment for Wide Range of Tumors
The CyberKnife System was originally developed to treat brain tumors and other conditions affecting the brain and spinal cord but is now used to treat tumors anywhere in the body including the lung, liver, pancreas and prostate.
The Systems have been used to treat more than 60,000 patients to date and more than 164 CyberKnife Systems are currently installed around the world.
"The CyberKnife technology has saved thousands of lives throughout the world," said James R. Doty, M.D., director of the Neuroscience Institute at El Camino Hospital. "We are fortunate that this technology will be available at El Camino Hospital as it will contribute to making the Neuroscience Institute a regional referral center for neurologic disorders."
"This is great news for El Camino Hospital patients because with this technology, instead of needing weeks of radiation to treat a tumor, a patient can be treated in as few as one to five treatment sessions," said Robert Sinha, M.D., medical director of radiation oncology at El Camino Hospital.
Groundbreaking for the showcase center is scheduled to begin the week of June 29. El Camino Hospital expects to begin procedures with the system in January 2010.
About El Camino Hospital
El Camino Hospital, ranked among the top five percent of hospitals nationwide for clinical excellence by HealthGrades, is an acute care, not-for-profit and locally-governed organization with campuses in Mountain View and Los Gatos, Calif. Key medical specialty focuses include cancer care, heart & vascular, neuroscience, genomic medicine, orthopedic & spine and women’s health. El Camino Hospital has delivered the highest level of medical services to the communities of Silicon Valley for more than four decades. The hospital is also recognized as a national leader in the use of health information technology to promote patient safety, including computerized order entry, electronic medical records and wireless communications. To learn more about El Camino Hospital and its services in Mountain View and Los Gatos, visit our website.
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.