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Biotech / Medical : IMAT - ultrafast tomography for coronary artery disease -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John R Resseger who wrote (2785)	12/17/1998 9:59:00 PM
From: art slott	Respond to of 3725

I may drop dead if I make any money here, but stranger things have happened. I've owned this other stock on the way down and luckily still do. Message 6881450

To: John R Resseger who wrote (2785)	12/17/1998 10:40:00 PM
From: rairden	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3725

My understanding of the sensors... I'm looking at page 5 of the 1996 annual report (1997 issue had no such technical drawings). Similar drawing appears on Imatron homepage. A steerable very narrow, say 1/16-inch, electron beam hits a metal target ring which is horseshoe shaped under the patient. The collision of high speed electrons on metal creates x-rays coming off in all directions from this 1/16-inch point, like a broad beam flashlight shining upward through the patient and casting a shadow on the ceiling. The sensors are a bunch of small crystals, maybe 1/4-inch, maybe two hundred of them, lined up along that arch above the patient, recording the shadow. The key now is to move that electron beam to a new spot under the patient and record the shadow from a different angle. An electron beam can be steered fast enough to capture maybe a hundred different angles in the fraction of a second between heartbeats. That is something which a conventional CAT scanner cannot do, because a conventional scanner must move a big heavy mechanical assembly of x-ray source and detectors around the patient. All these shadows from all these angles are fed into a computer program to calculate what the cross section of the patient must look like. The table ratchets for each successive cross section at each heartbeat to build a 3-dimensional image of the heart. In regards to Bruce's redesign, the relevant dimension is to have the x-ray source on one side of the heart and the sensors on the other side, so the diameter of this ring or arch or horseshoe thing must accommodate sticking a whole person into it, preferably without inducing claustrophobia. Having the person horizontal seems a more stable situation than vertical for incrementing him a set distance between slices. Whether the table can move 12 inches or six feet probably doesn't affect the cost much. I think a big cost driver is the oddly shaped vacuum assembly containing the electron beam and metal target ring. Perhaps it could be made more compactly, but you still need to be able to steer the beam 180 degrees around the patient to obtain a full set of data suitable for tomographic reconstruction. Having sensors closer to the patient maybe can reduce their required size, but you'll still need just as many if you want the same imaging resolution. And I think that resolution is a requirement to obtain a valid calcium score. In short, I doubt there is much simplification to be done on the overall concept. Hopefully Imatron engineers can implement some design improvements to enhance manufacturability or reduce the maintenance requirements. Maybe they could outsource more subassemblies, or maybe a higher volume of orders will increase profit margins. Additional medical research applications will make this machine more attractive. I think we still have hopes that this could turn into a profitable enterprise. At least the stock price should turn higher after tax-selling season ends in two weeks. Caveat, a little knowledge might be misleading; I've been scanned and I know a little about tomography, but I don't work for Imatron or have access to any proprietary info. The sizes of beam and crystal are wild guesses here.