September 6, 2011 – Accuray announced the launch of Accuray Exchange in Radiation Oncology (AERO), a global organization for CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System and TomoTherapy Radiation Therapy System users dedicated to advancing patient care through worldwide clinical and technical collaboration.
AERO's mission is to provide a global forum for the clinical exchange of information between clinicians and physicists for the purpose of setting a new standard in patient care and safety across treatments in the fields of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)/stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and conventional radiation therapy. The organization will be led and co-directed by a board of clinicians and physicists from around the world and will be administratively managed within Accuray's Medical Affairs group. The organization will consist of four regional chapters: Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, India, Middle East and Africa (EIMEA), and Japan, each with its own board of luminary leaders. Within AERO will be two main divisions, one for the fields of SRS and SBRT and one for the fields of IMRT and extended/conventionally fractionated radiation therapy. Membership to AERO is free and open to all users of the CyberKnife and TomoTherapy Systems who are eligible as defined by membership requirements.
Members of AERO will gain access to global and region-specific online communities for the exchange of clinical and technical information, as well as updates on peer-reviewed publications, tailored training and continuing education opportunities focused on patient care.
Professor Eric Lartigau, M.D., Ph.D., head of academic radiotherapy, Centre Oscar Lambret, Lille, France, will serve as the global president of AERO. Lartigau is an experienced user of both the CyberKnife and TomoTherapy Systems.
"I look forward to the opportunity to lead AERO," said Lartigau. "A global forum like AERO will be critical as clinicians adopt and use new technologies to improve patient care and safety as well as develop new advances in radiation oncology."
The impetus for the formation of this new organization was the need to support a broader user base across both the TomoTherapy and CyberKnife platforms and the increasing demand to provide this support globally. These needs have outgrown the capacity of the two existing CyberKnife and TomoTherapy user support structures. Accuray will no longer be providing financial support to the CyberKnife Society (CKS), which is an independent entity that was originally formed by Accuray in 2002. Members of CKS who meet the membership eligibility requirements of the new organization will now have access free of charge to an expanded level of support globally through AERO. In addition, the TomoExchange activities will become part of the new organization and will further be expanded over the next several weeks.
Accuray is planning to partner with AERO to hold a global users meeting during the summer of 2012.
For more information: www.accurayexchange.com
July 31, 2024 
