Breast Cancer Treatment is More Effective and Accessible with MammoKnifes

BY ALISHA BROWN, DIRECTOR OF MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS, MICHBIO BASED ON INFORMATION PROVIDED BY EHMET HEALTH

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lifetime, according to 2014 - 2016 data from the National Cancer Institute.

Even with approximately 90% 5-year survival rates, breast cancer still results in over 41,000 deaths per year in the United States and over 260,000 new cases diagnosed each year. Of those, over half undergo radiation as part of their treatment resulting in radiation departments nationwide dedicating nearly one-quarter of their resources to the treatment of breast cancer. Unfortunately, though much progress has been made in early detection, radiation machines used in treatment are often outdated and not specifically designed to treat breast cancer. In addition, women in rural America are faced with a lack of precision therapies near their home contributing to both higher mastectomy and mortality rates. Ehmet Health, with its proprietary technology, will shift the paradigm of care while simultaneously improving patient outcomes and reducing unwanted side effects.

Ehmet Health is a privately-held medical device company headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan with an innovative product, the MammoKnife, designed to address the challenges faced by hospitals and patients including complications from radiation, economics around reimbursement, and patient access for breast cancer radiotherapy. “Current practices in radiation therapy for breast cancer patients have some concerning aspects,” says Neal Clinthorne, Chief Technology Officer at Ehmet Health, “which are not the fault of the hospital or the doctor but instead result from the expense of radiation equipment.”

Most radiation departments rely on a machine capable of treating many types of cancer. In most cases, breast cancer patients will lie in a supine position, on their back, and these linear accelerator-type machines will use radiation beams from two angles to target specific areas on the breast where cancer is present. However, the supine position puts the patient at significant risk for excessive burning or scarring on the skin, as well as, damage to critical organs such as the heart and lungs, as stated by the American Heart Association.

“Radiation departments are expensive to build, equip and maintain with the average start-up cost running upwards of $10 million,” continued Clinthorne, “which is why many hospitals invest in equipment that can treat many cancers, even if the lack of specialty results in unwanted side-effects for some. The expense is also a reason most rural or small hospitals don’t have radiation therapy departments at all.”

A study in Iowa found that 50% of patients travel more than 30 minutes to receive radiation treatment and patients in the most rural areas could travel more than three times that long for treatments that need to take place daily or several times a week. This, when coupled with the high risk for sideeffects, is concerning for patients who may choose to forgo or shorten the recommended treatment.

“When you take all of these aspects – the lack of cancerspecific design in radiation machines, the possibility of side-effects, and the logistical impediments faced by many patients,” continued Clinthorne, “you can see the opportunity for innovation.”

Ehmet Health’s flagship product, a self-shielded radiation machine designed specifically for treating breast cancer patients, appropriately named the MammoKnife, focuses on two things – allowing patients to lie comfortably in the prone, downward facing, position for effective treatment and being affordable enough that hospitals, regardless of their size, can make the investment without sacrificing their bottom-line.

“The MammoKnife has two features that set it apart from other radiation machines used for breast cancer,” says Clinthorne. “First – it’s self-shielding which means it doesn’t need to be housed in the typical bunker-style radiation department. In fact, the MammoKnife is designed to be deployed in a standard trailer, making it the first-of-its-kind precision radiation therapy equipment offered in a mobile setting driving precision radio therapy closer to the patient. Second, MammoKnife allows patients to lie in a prone position with breast tissue resting in a cavity in the machine. The patient can then rotate 360 degrees within the unit to deploy the treatment beams at precisely the right angle – reducing unwanted irradiation of healthy tissue and damage to critical organs near the cancer site, as well as, potentially achieving better cosmetic outcomes.”

Michael Teicher, Ehmet Health CEO notes, “The MammoKnife is not just a product, it is a movement that will create a global brand by bringing life-saving technology to women in segments – both demographically and geographically – that have historically been neglected.”

With a team of experienced professionals dedicated to bringing “a distinguished honesty to the medical device industry,” Ehmet Health is working to improve patient outcomes and increase accessibility of radiation treatment for breast cancer patients for the MammoKnife.

EHMETHEALTH.COM