coming soon to The Ottawa Hospital

from the Ottawa Citizen:

For four years, Dr. John Sinclair, a neurosurgeon at The Ottawa Hospital, has been singing the praises of the CyberKnife. The device uses targeted radiation to destroy tumours anywhere in the body, reaching places a scalpel cannot.

...

Sinclair always hoped he could help bring CyberKnife to Ottawa. “It’s a huge part of the reason why I came back. If someone told me, you’re going to go back but you’re not going to do radiosurgery, I would have thought long and hard about returning.”

The next weeks are crucial as The Ottawa Hospital looks for donors. The Ottawa Hospital Foundation is raising money. An order for the machine must be placed. Sinclair is confident it will all come together.

He hopes to be able to have a CyberKnife operating at The Ottawa Hospital by May.

The CyberKnife radiosurgery program at Erlanger

from the Chattanooga Times:

A few weeks ago, the hospital agreed to buy the CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery equipment, a noninvasive treatment that can be used for cancers of the body and brain and treat complex tumors previously considered inoperable, cancer specialists said.

...

The CyberKnife robotic radiosurgery equipment will cost $7.3 million, an expense shared between Erlanger and its project partner Community Care Inc., an ambulatory surgical center development company.

Last month Dr. Kimsey told hospital budget committee members considering the resolution to buy the equipment.

"I think it's going to launch Erlanger into the No. 1 cancer (center) position here in the community," he said.

The equipment features a robotic arm that administers a targeted, high-dose radiation beam to a tumor, while compensating for almost indiscernible motions such as the patient's breathing to stay on target.

In a CyberKnife treatment session, radiation beams are directed at the tumor from various angles to avoid any extended exposure to the tissue surrounding the tumor.

Conventional radiation therapy delivers low-dose radiation over a more generalized area in 30 to 45 treatments over a period of weeks or months.

The CyberKnife's high-dose radiation treatments can be effective in just one to five treatments, Dr. Kimsey said. That means patients usually will be done with radiation treatments within a week and have minimal side effects, he said.

"From a quality-of-life standpoint, anything we're able to do avoid toxicity in cancer treatment is critically important," he said.

...

UNIQUE IN THE REGION

The CyberKnife radiosurgery program at Erlanger will be the only one of its kind within a 100-mile radius of Chattanooga, officials said. Other medical centers in Tennessee with this technology are in Nashville, Knoxville, Memphis and Bristol. That means growth in Erlanger's patient volume from these treatments likely will come either from outside the region or from patients who previously weren't getting treated, said Joe Winick, senior vice president of strategic planning.

from law360.com:

Switch & Data Fires Back At Shareholder Complaint

Internet exchange company Switch and Data Facilities Co. Inc. has fired back at a putative shareholder class action, saying its proposed $689 million acquisition by Equinix Inc. should be allowed to proceed.

Data Centers as Important As Trading Floor, Says Tabb Group

from information-management.com:

Data centers are the new keystone for U.S. equity trading, said Tabb Group senior analyst and report author Kevin McPartland in a study released this month, “U.S. Equity Technology 2010: The Sell Side Perspective.”

The study, which McPartland discusses in a video presentation available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyVyJD2vXdM , is based on one-to-one interviews with CIOs, CTOs and heads of technology at 24 sell-side firms with bulge-bracket firms accounting for 25% of the participants--equal to two thirds of all bulge bracket firms.

...

"From a sell side perspective, it means that those guys--major data center providers such as Equinix and Savvis-- should look to expand current client footprints as the sell side looks to reduce server scatter (when firms use space in a variety of geographic locations)," McPartland explained to Securities Idustry News. "So if a major dealer is using three separate data center providers, they’ll look to use only one. Whoever wins that deal will see spending by that dealer grow significantly as they consolidate under one roof."

Accelitech’s 7th CyberKnife to Open in Miami

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>Accelitech’s 7th CyberKnife to Open in Miami

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) January 15, 2010 -- Accelitech LLC, is pleased to announce that its 7th CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery System will be placed in partnership with Mercy Hospital in Miami, Florida.

With the launch of the Miami site during the first quarter of 2010, Accelitech locations will represent approximately 6% of the total CyberKnife installations in the US market. Accelitech’s market share and total installations are projected to grow considerably in 2010 and beyond as demand for cancer care increases and capital constraints experienced within the healthcare system continue. Accelitech provides hospitals and physicians with a full array of service to successfully launch and operate cancer treatment technologies including structured capital, business planning, partnership creation, deployment and ongoing program optimization.

Accelitech locations represent approximately 6% of the total CyberKnife installations in the US

Accelitech LLC is a leading developer of stereotactic radiosurgery and cancer treatment programs. Headquartered in Chicago, IL., Accelitech is a privately-held company with extensive experience and resources in healthcare law, finance, development, and clinical operations. Accelitech provides the funds, expertise and legal models to allow physicians and hospitals to bring new technology to market for the benefit of the patients they serve. Accelitech has sites and projects under development throughout the United States.

For additional information about Accelitech and the services provided contact Scott Milligan at (312) 622-3301. www.accelitech.biz

ARAY - new sale by President (BVI) International Investment Holdings Ltd.

NASDAQ OMX Europe certifies Interoute Fast Trade service for algorithmic trading

Interoute Fast Trade guarantees ultra low round trip delay between trading exchanges

London, [13 January 2010] – Interoute, owner operator of Europe’s largest next-generation network, has been approved as a direct connectivity supplier to the pan-European multilateral trading facility, NASDAQ OMX Europe (NEURO).

...

Fast Trade is available in more than two hundred of Interoute’s points-of-presence (PoPs), including eight that are located within key Equinix exchanges.

17 operators keen on NSW data centre consolidation plan

from infoworld.com:

>>17 operators keen on NSW data centre consolidation plan

Seventeen data centre operators have thrown their hats into the ring to help the NSW government consolidate 130 facilities down to two.

The organisations, which include some of the country's most high-profile operators, responded to a request for Expressions of Interest process opened up in October last year.

The list of 17 organisations:

Equinix Australia

...

First & Second CK in Latin America install in Venezuela soon

from the IV MB, by yyy60:

>>First & Second CK in Latin America install in Venezuela soon

Venezuela: primer país Latinoamericano en alcanzar máxima tecnología en radiocirugía

Caracas, 11 Ene. ABN.- Con la adquisición de dos equipos calificados como bisturí cibernético (cyber knife, por sus siglas en inglés) uno para el hospital Miguel Pérez Carreño y otro para el Domingo Luciani, Venezuela se coloca a la vanguardia tecnológica latinoamericana para procedimientos de radiocirugía en el sector público.

Reinaldo López, jefe del servicio de neurocirugía del hospital Pérez Carreño, explicó que el cyber knife es un equipo capacitado para realizar radiocirugía tanto para lesiones del área craneal como de la columna y otras áreas del cuerpo que padezcan afecciones tumorales.

Samsung Touch Remote hands-on photos

HT to cellodude on the IV MB:

>>Samsung Touch Remote hands-on photos



The remote itself looks and feels like a mobile phone, complete with haptic feedback and sound effects found on existing Samsung handsets. The screen is pretty vibrant too. One thing we must say is that it was incredibly responsive to our commands and very easy to use. Taking on a mobile phone exterior also gives the impression it will smash into a thousand pieces if dropped on the floor, so the utmost care will be needed - you won't be able to treat this one like your bog standard Freeview remote.

Samsung's Touch Remote is one of those gadgets that you don't really need but it wold be incredibly awesome if you had one.

The Touch Remote is not exclusive to the C9000 and will be available as an accessory for a selection of LED LCD TVs.