Elekta Digital strategy strengthened through acquisition of quality assurance expert Acumyn
STOCKHOLM, July 27, 2018 – Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) announced today that it has acquired the Canadian quality assurance (QA) company Acumyn, a stand-alone commercial spin-off of University Health Network, Toronto. This follows an exclusive agreement between Elekta and Acumyn, signed in 2014, to commercialize its integrated Quality Management System, AQUA.
AQUA is a comprehensive software platform that coordinates and centralizes all of the quality assurance tests that need to be performed in a radiotherapy clinic, helping to manage and automate these complex tasks and significantly reducing the time they take.
With the rapid adoption of stereotactic treatments, the increased implementation and ambition of centers to provide these advanced delivery techniques for patients are as high as ever. AQUA provides improved end-to-end integration and workflow automation, making it a key addition to the Elekta portfolio. It enables the adherence to demanding QA standards with consistent replication, efficiency and ease of use.
With automated and ready-to-use software, AQUA supports internationally recognized QA tests and standards. It also provides clinics with limited physics resources, particularly those in emerging and frontier markets, the potential to quickly adopt and implement advanced treatment techniques.
“This acquisition is an important step in our Elekta Digital strategy,” said Richard Hausmann, President and CEO, Elekta. ”With AQUA as the backbone for all quality assurance measurements in the clinic, we can now integrate machine data acquisition and analysis across the whole department.”
Elekta plans to fully integrate this software more broadly across its portfolio while further developing its quality assurance offering through the expertise that the Acumyn team brings with it.
Dee Mathieson, Senior Vice President, Portfolio & Business Development at Elekta said: “AQUA fills a big gap that radiotherapy departments have today. A linear accelerator and associated devices need to be calibrated and maintained on a regular basis. AQUA provides a software link between all the disparate systems and manages the workload, scheduling and reporting of routine QA tasks.”
AQUA is a key part of Elekta’s initiative to strengthen its digital portfolio with regards to QA. As with most of Elekta’s software portfolio, AQUA is vendor agnostic and can manage quality control across the clinic. This is important as Elekta recognizes that some customers have existing QA devices from other vendors.
Ferhan Bulca, CEO Acumyn, adds: “The team and I are excited to become part of Elekta and look forward to realizing our development plans for AQUA. We plan to further integrate and automate the incongruous elements of the end-to-end QA process and leverage the wider potential of AQUA across Elekta’s treatment solutions.”
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About Elekta
Elekta is proud to be the leading innovator of equipment and software used to improve, prolong and save the lives of people with cancer and brain disorders. Our advanced, effective solutions are created in collaboration with customers, and more than 6,000 hospitals worldwide rely on Elekta technology. Our treatment solutions and oncology informatics portfolios are designed to enhance the delivery of radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, and to drive cost efficiency in clinical workflows. Elekta employs 3,600 people around the world. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Elekta is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. www.elekta.com