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- 1. Department of Healths Simon Burns Visits Elektas Crawley Plant - 12 July 2012 Friday, 13 July 2012 10:04 The Rt. Hon. Sir Simon Burns MP Department of Healths Simon Burns Visits Elektas Crawley Plant, Production Site for Major Cancer Treatment Innovations Mr. Burns, Minister of State, learns about new Agility multileaf collimator (MLC) for radiation therapy beam-shaping CRAWLEY, England, June 21 /PRNewswire/ Rt. Hon Simon Burns MP, Minister of State at the Department of Health, visited Elektas Crawley facility for a comprehensive tour, including a presentation on the companys latest cancer treatment innovation, the Agility* MLC, which promises a new level of precision and speed in radiation therapy treatments for cancer patients. Simon Burns MP is the second minister in as many months to visit the Crawley plant, which hosted a May visit by Iain Duncan Smith, British Secretary for Work and Pensions. Recently released for sale across Europe, and with 510(k) clearance in the U.S., Agility is a revolutionary beam-shaping device integrated into the head of a linear accelerator (linac). Subsequently, NHS hospitals in Leeds and Middlesbrough became the worlds first centers to use Agility in clinical treatments. Minister of State for Health, Simon Burns said: I have been very impressed by the innovative approach of Elekta to provide clinical solutions for treating patients with cancer and brain disorders in the NHS. It has been fantastic to see the latest cancer treatment, the Agility* MLC which promises a new level of precision and speed in radiation therapy treatments for cancer patients. Agility benefits patients by increasing the speed and accuracy of radiation therapy beam- shaping, which is accomplished using the MLC. An MLC is a device composed of many individual tungsten leaves, which shape beams of therapeutic radiation that are delivered from different angles around the patient. Employing twice the number of leaves typical of
- 2. many standard MLCs, Agility precisely sculpts delivered radiation to the unique contours of the tumor, while reducing the risk of exposure to healthy tissue. The new Agility MLC also features ultra-fast leaf movements twice as fast as other MLCs commonly used in the industry enabling clinicians to further exploit advanced radiation therapy techniques. Queens Award In April, Elekta received the Queens Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. The Queens Award for Elekta acknowledges continuous improvement in the companys overseas sales, in addition to its steady growth of exports, calculated at 131 percent over the last six years. Elekta exports 95 percent of its production globally. Crawleys Elekta facility is where the worlds first digital linear accelerator was manufactured. The company supports approximately 680 jobs in Crawley and 1,000 manufacturing jobs in the United Kingdom and an additional 3,000 globally.