American Shared Hospital Services (AMS), a provider of advanced radiosurgical and radiation therapy services, has entered into a contract to upgrade a Gamma Knife to Perfexion specifications at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the 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 chairman and CEO Ernest Bates said they are pleased that their creative financing solutions made it possible for Lehigh Valley Hospital to step up most advanced radiosurgery technology at an affordable price.
Elekta said Gamma Knife Perfexion reduces unwanted body dose to the patient by up to 100 times compared with technologies, which is particularly important for treatment of children and women of childbearing age, and allows for an increased treatable volume, which is expected to increase the number of patients that can benefit from Gamma Knife surgery.