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April 4, 2008

Ipswich man's company breaking medical ground

By Steve Landwehr

IPSWICH — Hurricane Katrina left quite a mess in her wake two years ago, not only in New Orleans, but on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, as well. Collapsed oil rigs and damaged pipes littered the ocean floor like Pick Up Sticks dumped out of their box.

Befuddled oil companies didn't know where to begin unraveling the mess, so they turned for help to a small private company whose 3-D imaging technology enabled them to develop a single, holographic image of the damage, and a plan to unsnarl the spaghetti. Actuality Medical is also making waves in the fight against cancer these days.

The company was recently named one of 10 worldwide finalists for the prestigious Ideas That Change the World award, sponsored every other year by marketing giant Saatchi and Saatchi.

Although it didn't win, the company's PerspectaRAD 3-D display for cancer treatment was cited for enabling "the oncology team to prepare a more accurate and effective radiation treatment plan – a critical step in eradicating cancer," according to Saatchi and Saatchi.

Actuality President and CEO Michael Goldstein, an Ipswich resident, has a simple analogy to help explain this very advanced technology.

"We're like Mapquest for the surgeon," Goldstein said.

As one example of the company's products, Goldstein described how it could be used during prostate surgery.

One treatment option is called seed therapy. In it, surgeons place rice-sized radiation pellets directly on the tumor in the prostate gland. But there's a problem, Goldstein said.

"The surgeons can't get seeds to go where they want them to," he said. "The prostrate is soft, and it moves around during surgery."

The company's technology provides real time, dynamic and adaptive information during an operation, Goldstein said.

Eighty percent of the body is made up of soft tissue, and Actuality's technology already has about 40 different applications. The company's software enables computers to converge more information than the human brain can, Goldstein said.

Goldstein, his wife and their three children moved to Ipswich from Toronto when he was chosen to head up Actuality two years ago.

"We looked at communities from Lexington to Newburyport, and we chose Ipswich for the schools."

Actuality's headquarters are in Bedford, but Goldstein may have a shorter commute in the future.

"We're thinking of moving to the North Shore," he said. "It's a great place for emerging companies. It has everything necessary to be successful."

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