AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, Dec. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SuperSonic Imagine (Euronext:SSI FR0010526814), a company specialising in medical imaging using ultrasound, announced today that it installed six Aixplorer Ultimate ultrasound systems at 'Occitanie-Garonne' Group's five radiology sites in the Toulouse region and Saint-Gaudens (France).

The radiology sites specialize, among other things, in detecting and characterising musculotendinous and mammary lesions, and diagnosing abdominal diseases with 14 radiologists who conduct all of the diagnostic and therapeutic exams. The centers involved are the Radiology Services at Clinique Médipôle Garonne, specialists in sports medicine, and Clinique d'Occitanie (in Muret), the Radiology Centres in Rieux-Volvestre and Muret and the Comminges Pyrénées Hospital Centre (in Saint-Gaudens).

Just three months after announcing the release of its new Aixplorer® Ultimate product, SuperSonic Imagine has confirmed strong market interest in its latest creation.

Aixplorer® Ultimate, a versatile, comprehensive and ultra-fast ultrasound system

The Aixplorer® ultrasound system and its exclusive ShearWave™ Elastography (SWE™) imaging mode have shown their worth during radiology treatment for multiple indications (musculoskeletal, liver, breast, prostate, etc.). The clinical benefits include screening support, better characterisation of lesions, biopsy support, therapeutic follow-ups and assessment of chronic liver disease. With Aixplorer® Ultimate, which also boasts over four times more computing power than previous models, SuperSonic Imagine has found a way to satisfy a wide range of clinical needs among radiologists and physicians to benefit their patients, positioning itself as a major player in multi-parameter ultrasound imaging.

“It’s important for our group of medical imaging experts to ensure our equipment is constantly at the forefront of innovation, therefore a best in class solution was a natural choice for us. SuperSonic Imagine incorporates ShearWave Elastography (SWE) as well as innovations such as Angio PL.U.S. and Needle PL.U.S.,” explained François Blain, radiologist for 'Occitanie-Garonne' Medical Imaging Group.

“These new tools from SuperSonic Imagine are a great help to us in identifying, locating and characterising lesions before and after treatment. They also prove themselves to be very effective ultrasound guidance tools. This is important, among other things, for tracking injections of Platelet-Rich Plasma or corticosteroids in the case of tendinopathy,” continued Philippe Adam, radiologist for 'Occitanie-Garonne' Medical Imaging Group.

“As well as using innovative methods, we also use more conventional Aixplorer methods such as contrast imaging using micro-bubbles. This enables us to enhance the ultrasound signal in the blood vessels  after injecting the contrast product. This technique enables us to study the different arterial vascular, portal and postoperative phases in real time during organ perfusion in order to characterise tumours,” added Julien Auriol, radiologist for 'Occitanie-Garonne' Group.

“We are very proud to supply Occitanie-Garonne Group with these six Aixplorer Ultimate systems. This purchase shows the performance of Aixplorer and its ShearWave technology in a variety of indications. The fusion and navigation module, which helps to combine ultrasound images in real time with the MRI, scanner, and PET, was also a decisive factor. For the breast, the ShearWave Elastography enhances the diagnostic performance of the ultrasound by improving the characterisation of mammary lesions. It also helps to reduce the number of negative biopsies. For the liver, it helps to assess the level of hepatic fibrosis by measuring the stiffness of the liver and, with the hepatorenal index, it helps to quantify alcoholic (ASH) or non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH),” stated Yves Tenaglia, Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa at SuperSonic Imagine.

About SuperSonic Imagine
Founded in 2005 and based in Aix-en-Provence (France), Supersonic Imagine is a company that specialises in medical imaging. The company designs, develops and markets a revolutionary ultrasound platform, Aixplorer®, which uses UltraFast™ technology that can acquire images around 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™), Angio PL.U.S – Planewave UltraSensitive™ Imaging and, more recently, TriVu and Needle PL.US. ShearWave Elastography allows physicians to visualise and analyse the stiffness of tissue in real-time using a reliable, reproducible and non-invasive procedure. This is an important parameter in diagnosing potentially malignant lesions or other diseased tissue. As of today, over 300 publications have demonstrated the value of SWE in the care of patients with a wide range of diseases. The UltraFast Doppler combines colour flow imaging and pulsed wave Doppler into one simple test, providing physicians with the results of both simultaneously, therefore enhancing the efficiency. The latest innovation, Angio PL.U.S, provides a higher level of microvascular imaging through significantly improved colour sensitivity and spatial resolution, while maintaining exceptional 2D image quality. SuperSonic Imagine has been granted regulatory clearances for the commercialisation of Aixplorer® on the main markets. Since April 2014, the SuperSonic Imagine company has been listed on Euronext, symbol: SSI).

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