Investment in Equity Securities

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Investments, All Other Investments [Abstract]

Cost-method Investments, Description [Text Block]

Note 4. Investment in Equity Securities

As of March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015 the Company had a $579,000 investment in the common stock of Mevion Medical Systems, Inc. (“Mevion”), formerly Still River Systems, Inc., representing an approximate 0.46% interest in Mevion. The Company accounts for this investment under the cost method.

The Company carries its investment in Mevion at cost and reviews it for impairment on a quarterly basis, or as events or circumstances might indicate that the carrying value of the investment may not be recoverable. During the period ended December 31, 2015, the Company determined that its investment was other than temporarily impaired. In determining the fair value of the Company’s common stock in Mevion, the Company engaged a third party expert to review and corroborate its assessment of the fair value of the investment. The third party utilized the market approach and an option waterfall model calibrated to Mevion’s last round of funding. Each equity class was examined and priced according to its liquidation preferences. The fair value of the Company’s investment in Mevion, as of December 31, 2015, was approximately $579,000 with an impairment loss for the year then ended of $2,140,000.

The Company reviewed this investment at March 31, 2016 in light of both current market conditions and the ongoing needs of Mevion to raise cash to continue its development of the first compact, single room proton beam radiation therapy (“PBRT”) system. Based on its analysis, the Company determined no additional impairment needs to be recognized as of March 31, 2016.

The first MEVION S250, located at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, MO (“Barnes-Jewish Hospital”), treated its first patient on December 19, 2013. The second MEVION S250, located at the Ackerman Cancer Center in Jacksonville, Florida (“Ackerman Cancer Center”), treated its first patient in April 2015. The third MEVION S250, located at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey (“Robert Wood Johnson”), started in May 2015. The Company’s first MEVION S250 treated its first patient on April 6, 2016.