SuperSonic Imagine Highlights the Clinical Benefits of Real-Time ShearWave(TM) Elastography in the Middle East

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE--(Marketwired - Jan 30, 2017) - SuperSonic Imagine (EURONEXT PARIS: SSI) (FR0010526814), a company specializing in ultrasound medical imaging, announced today its participation in the Arab Health Show, January 30 - February 2, in Dubai, to demonstrate the clinical benefits of ShearWave™ Elastography (SWE™) in assessing major diseases such as chronic liver disease, cancer of the breast, prostate and thyroid, and in the domain of musculoskeletal imaging.

SuperSonic Imagine's Aixplorer®, is the only ultrasound system available to deliver shear wave elasticity imaging (SWE™) in real-time in a large anatomic region of interest. SWE is a quick, non-invasive exam that provides color coded maps and quantitative measurement of tissue stiffness. This information is used by physicians to help identify potentially malignant or other diseased tissue. As of today, over 300 peer-reviewed articles have demonstrated the clinical benefits of SWE in a wide range of clinical applications.

Liver diseases, such as chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), have become a serious health issue for the Middle Eastern population. The World Health Organization estimates that there are at least 21.3 million hepatitis C virus (HCV) carriers in the Eastern Mediterranean countries, which is close to the number of carriers estimated in the Americas and Europe combined.¹

To date, over 100 publications have demonstrated the reliability and effectiveness of SWE to assess chronic liver disease including hepatitis B, C and NAFLD. Liver biopsy has traditionally been considered the standard for assessing liver fibrosis but this invasive method has major drawbacks, including significant incidence of morbidity, procedure and hospitalization costs, and clinical shortcomings^2-3.

"The Middle East has become a strategic territory and we are seeing a rapidly growing interest in our Aixplorer ultrasound system, particularly for its ability to non-invasively and in less than 60 seconds assess liver fibrosis and improve lesions diagnosis. We have strengthened our distributor network and we believe that the proven clinical benefits of our technology will position SuperSonic Imagine as a major player of ultrasound imaging in this market," explains Jacques Souquet, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of SuperSonic Imagine.

SuperSonic Imagine will also showcase its new solution for microvascular visualization, Angio PL.U.S. - Planewave UltraSensitive™ imaging. Angio PL.U.S. provides a new level of microvascular imaging through significantly improved color flow sensitivity and spatial resolution. This information is instrumental in helping the diagnosis of cancerous tissues in areas such as breast, liver, lymph nodes and thyroid as well as in musculoskeletal pathologies.

"Physicians in the Middle East are very open to new technological innovations. Aixplorer is being used today in several hospitals in the region, and these clinicians clearly appreciate the benefits of Aixplorer in their daily work and its ability to help characterize tissue stiffness in real time and improve biopsy guidance, and in many reduce the number of negative biopsies," said Kurt Kelln, SuperSonic Imagine's Chief Business Officer.

SuperSonic Imagine will be exhibiting at booth S1.G57 and will be hosting live demonstrations at the booth throughout the meeting.

¹ Poustchi H, Sepanlou S, Esmaili S, Mehrabi N, Ansarymoghadam A. Hepatocellular carcinoma in the world and the middle East. Middle East J Dig Dis. 2010 Jan;2(1):31-41.
² Sampling error and intraobserver variation in liver biopsy in patients with chronic HCV infection. Regev A, Berho M, Jeffers LJ, Milikowski C, Molina EG, Pyrsopoulos NT, Feng ZZ, Reddy KR, Schiff ER. Am J Gastroenterol. 2002 Oct;97(10):2614-8. Sources of variability in histological scoring of chronic viral hepatitis. Rousselet MC, Michalak S, Dupre F, Croue 
³ A, Bedossa P, Saint-Andre JP, Cales P; Hepatitis Network 49. Hepatology. 2005 Feb;41(2):257-64.

About SuperSonic Imagine
Founded in 2005 and based in Aix-en-Provence (France), SuperSonic Imagine is a company specializing in medical imaging. The company designs, develops and markets a revolutionary ultrasound system, Aixplorer®, with an UltraFast™ platform that can acquire images 200 times faster than conventional ultrasound systems. In addition to providing exceptional image quality, this unique technology is the foundation of several innovations which have changed the paradigm of ultrasound imaging: ShearWave™ Elastography (SWE™), UltraFast™ Doppler, Angio PL.U.S - Planewave UltraSensitive™ Imaging and more recently TriVu.

ShearWave Elastography allows physicians to visualize and analyze the stiffness of tissue in a real-time, reliable, reproducible and non-invasive manner. This criteria has become an important parameter in diagnosing potentially malignant tissue or other diseased tissue. As of today, over 300 peer-reviewed publications have demonstrated the value of SWE for the clinical management of patients with a wide range of diseases. UltraFast Doppler combines Color Flow Imaging and Pulsed Wave Doppler into one simple exam, providing physicians with exam results simultaneously and helping to increase patient throughput. The latest innovation, Angio PL.U.S, provides a new level of microvascular imaging through significantly improved color sensitivity and spatial resolution while maintaining exceptional 2D imaging.

SuperSonic Imagine has been granted regulatory clearances for the commercialization of Aixplorer in key global markets. SuperSonic Imagine is a listed company since April 2014 on the Euronext, symbol SSI.

For more information about SuperSonic Imagine, please go to www.supersonicimagine.com.