Healthcare Industry News: Perfexion
News Release - March 7, 2011
American Shared Hospital Services Announces Upgrade to Gamma Knife Perfexion System
SAN FRANCISCO--(Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network)-- AMERICAN SHARED HOSPITAL SERVICES (NYSE AMEX:AMS), a leading provider of turnkey technology solutions for advanced radiosurgical and radiation therapy services, announced today that it has entered into a contract to upgrade a Gamma Knife® to Perfexion(TM) specifications at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the flagship hospital of the Lehigh Valley Health Network. As part of the upgrade, AMS has agreed to the early termination of the existing 10-year lease on the Gamma Knife system it supplied to Lehigh Valley Hospital in 2004, and Lehigh has agreed to purchase the Perfexion system. AMS expects pre-tax income of approximately $1.3 million from this transaction in 2011.AMS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ernest A. Bates, M.D., said, "We are pleased that our creative financing solutions made it possible for Lehigh Valley Hospital to step up to today's most advanced radiosurgery technology at an affordable price."
About Gamma Knife® Perfexion(TM)
Gamma Knife Perfexion maintains full clinical compatibility with the classic Gamma Knife and is supported by efficacy and outcome data from 500,000 treated patients worldwide and thousands of peer-reviewed scientific articles, making it a proven choice for radiosurgery of the brain. According to its manufacturer, Elekta, Gamma Knife Perfexion reduces unwanted body dose to the patient by up to 100 times compared with competing technologies, which is particularly important for treatment of children and women of childbearing age, and allows for a dramatically increased treatable volume, which is expected to increase the number of patients that can benefit from Gamma Knife surgery. Elekta estimates that the fully automated and efficient single push-button approach can save 3-5 working weeks of physician time per year at an average Gamma Knife center.
About AMS
American Shared Hospital Services (www.ashs.com) provides turnkey technology solutions for advanced radiosurgical and radiation therapy services. Since 1991, AMS' creative financing solutions have enabled its clinical partners to make the latest advances in radiation oncology available to patients at an affordable price. AMS is the world leader in providing Gamma Knife® Radiosurgery equipment, a non-invasive treatment for malignant and benign brain tumors, vascular malformations and trigeminal neuralgia (facial pain). The Company also offers the latest IGRT and IMRT systems, as well as its proprietary Operating Room for the 21st Century® concept. AMS also is a leader in proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT), the next great growth opportunity in radiation oncology. AMS currently is developing PBRT centers in Dayton, Ohio (Kettering Medical Center), Boston (Tufts Medical Center), Orlando (Orlando Regional Healthcare) and Long Beach, California (Long Beach Memorial Medical Center), and is negotiating additional projects. AMS also owns a preferred stock investment in Still River Systems, developer of the compact Monarch 250 PBRT system, which has not yet been approved by the FDA.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may be deemed to contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and future plans of American Shared Hospital Services, which involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the risks of the Gamma Knife and radiation therapy businesses, the risks of developing The Operating Room for the 21st Century program, and the risks of investing in a development-stage company, Still River Systems, Inc., without a proven product. Further information on potential factors that could affect the financial condition, results of operations and future plans of American Shared Hospital Services is included in the filings of the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009, the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2010, June 30, 2010, and September 30, 2010, and the definitive Proxy Statement for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on June 2, 2010.
Source: American Shared Hospital Services
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