Imatron Announces Opening of HeartScan Center in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
........................................
HeartScan-Pittsburgh Marks the Fourth Center in Heartscan Imaging
Inc.'s Coronary Artery
Disease Risk Assessment Network
SO. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Imatron Inc.
(Nasdaq: IMAT)
announced today that its HeartScan Imaging, Inc. subsidiary has opened
a new HeartScan center
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This center, affiliated with the
Cardiology Division of the University of
Pittsburgh Medical Center, uses Imatron's Ultrafast CT(R) scanner to
offer Coronary Artery
Disease Risk Assessment Services to asymptomatic men and women in
their 40's, 50's, and 60's.
The Pittsburgh center is the fourth to be launched in HeartScan's
nationwide network.
This new outpatient facility, located on the campus of the University
of Pittsburgh Medical Center,
offers a specialized Coronary Artery Disease Risk Assessment Program
for the early detection of
coronary artery disease. The program includes testing of blood lipids,
blood pressure, blood
glucose, and resting ECG, as well as a patient history and risk factor
profile. Most importantly, a
Coronary Artery Scan, by Imatron's Ultrafast CT(R) scanner is the
centerpiece of the
HeartScan-Pittsburgh risk assessment. The complete HeartScan(TM)
Coronary Artery Disease
Risk Assessment is priced at $500 and is reimbursed by many insurance
carriers.
Arthur M. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of the Cardiology Division at
the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center, will serve as Medical Director for
HeartScan-Pittsburgh and Dr. Daniel
Edmundowicz will serve as Associate Director. "We at the University of
Pittsburgh Medical
Center are excited about our ability to utilize the Coronary Artery
Scan by Ultrafast CT(R) as an
important new tool in our preventive cardiology program. Early
detection of coronary artery
disease even in persons with no symptoms is the key to effective
intervention in the treatment of
coronary artery disease, the number one cause of death in the United
States," stated Dr. Feldman.
Dale Grant, President of HeartScan Imaging, Inc., commented, "The
opening of
HeartScan-Pittsburgh is an important step in HeartScan's strategy of
developing risk assessment
programs in conjunction with leading medical centers and cardiology
groups nationwide.
HeartScan's strategic affiliation with the University of Pittsburgh
Medical Center and its
cardiovascular network gives us an immediate presence throughout
Western Pennsylvania, and will
greatly facilitate the incorporation of Coronary Artery Scanning into the mainstream of
clinical
practice."
Imatron's Coronary Artery Scan (CAS) is a non-invasive test able to
detect and quantify calcium
in the coronary arteries. The American Heart Association (AHA) in the
September 1, 1996 issue
of its journal Circulation, officially acknowledged the role of
Ultrafast CT(R) Electron Beam
Tomography in the diagnosis and management of heart disease. This
far-reaching Medical
Scientific Statement comes on the heels of a May 31, 1996 AHA press
release announcing a
landmark study that concluded the CAS by Ultrafast CT(R) is "more
powerful than the best
available non-invasive test in predicting heart attack and other
coronary disease episodes, even in
apparently healthy people." The CAS is essential in determining
whether a person has coronary
artery disease, and is a crucial addition to traditional methods of
coronary artery disease risk
assessment.
After completing a $16 million private placement in June, HeartScan is
actively working to expand
its network of Coronary Artery Disease Risk Assessment centers.
HeanScan-Washington D.C.,
affiliated with George Washington University Medical Center, is
expected to open in the fourth
quarter of this year. HeartScan currently operates Coronary Artery
Disease Risk Assessment
centers in Houston, Seattle, and South San Francisco.
Imatron Inc., headquartered in South San Francisco, California, is a
technology-based company
principally engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and marketing high
performance
computed tomography (CT) scanners based on the Company's proprietary
scanning electron
beam technology. Ultrafast CT(R) is a registered trademark of Imatron.
Imatron's Ultrafast CT(R)
scanner is now in use at major medical centers around the world,
including The Mayo Clinic,
University of Iowa, National Institute of Health, UCLA, University of
Illinois, The Royal Brompton
Hospital in London, Tokyo University Hospital, Beijing Hospital, and
other major Hospital centers
around the world. Imatron's Ultrafast CT(R) is distributed in the
United States, Canada, Europe,
and India by Siemens Medical Systems. Imatron's HeartScan Imaging,
Inc. subsidiary provides
Coronary Artery Disease Risk Assessment diagnostic services in a
nationwide network of centers.
/CONTACT: Media/Analyst Inquiries: Anne George of Sitrick And Company,
212-755-2850; or
S. Lewis Meyer, Pres/CEO or Gary Brooks, VP/CFO, both of Imatron,
415-583-9964/
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