ALOKA to introduce new “ProSound” Diagnostic Ultrasound Systems

November 2, 2007

ALOKA to introduce new “ProSound” Diagnostic Ultrasound Systems at the Scientific Session 2007 of American Heart Association, 4th to 7th of November 2007 in Orlando, Florida.

Tokyo, Japan - Aloka Co., Ltd., The Innovator in Ultrasound for more than 50 years, announced today the introduction of two ultrasound systems with dedicated platforms for advanced cardiac and vascular imaging, the ProSound Alpha 10 and the ProSound Alpha 7 at Scientific Session 2007of American Heart Association, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, November 4-7, 2007.

The ProSound Alpha 7and the Alpha 10 incorporate all of the standard cardiovascular features such as stress echo, Tissue Doppler Imaging, Strain Imaging, Transesophageal echocardiography, full reporting capabilities and IHE & DICOM networking.

With important breakthrough flow display technology, the systems offer Directional eFLOW, D-FLOW, a new innovative blood flow capture & display mode offering increased accuracy in blood flow detection of low velocity flow as well as acute acceleration. A standard new feature in these systems is the “Edge Optimize” function, which improves dramatically the edge differentiation without compromise in temporal resolution. With high image definition and temporal resolution, the new ProSound systems offer a new level of diagnostic imaging in echocardiography.

The ProSound alpha 7 and alpha 10 offer a comprehensive cardio vascular analysis package.

More than ever, the cardiology community is recognizing the correlation between vascular diseases and the heart. The early detection of atherosclerosis could play a key role in preventing coronary artery disease, and peripheral arterial disease. Aloka has developed a technique that not only helps with early detection, but even helps to identify patients who are prone to atherosclerosis even before the usual clinical symptoms appear. eTRACKING™ - Echo Tracking is a proven technique that picks RF echo signals from blood vessels, tracks the motion of vessel walls, and measures changes in blood vessel diameter. Important parameters such as Pulse Wave Velocity, Augmentation Index, and Stiffness are measured in one step, non-invasively, with an extremely high degree of accuracy.

Both systems are capable for diagnosing the Ischemic Cascade, thanks to several innovative techniques that help you quantify a variety of important cardiac functions. One example is FAM™ - Free Angular M-Mode, which displays three M-Mode traces simultaneously—in real time. What is typically a post-process procedure can now be done live.

Another innovative technique is Aloka’s unique A-SMA™ technology, which allows you to assess both the diastolic and systolic phases of the heart. This gives you multiple channels of information related to cardiac wall motion on which to make a diagnosis. In addition, these systems have the capability to assess myocardial function with its TDI – Tissue Doppler Imaging and Strain imaging analysis package.

TDI analysis, FAM and ASMA are also useful for evaluating ventricular asynchrony, so you can determine the effectiveness of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy, or “CRT.” With these tools, and the ProSound’s temporal resolution of more than 150 FPS in TDI mode, physicians can evaluate whether a patient is likely to respond to CRT before the therapy even begins.

David Famiglietti, Chief Operating Officer at Aloka, said, “We are excited to have such a powerful combination of products for the cardiac and vascular markets. With the outstanding overall performance of the ProSound Alpha 7 and Alpha 10, Aloka has taken a major step forward in expanding the many ultrasound applications and markets we serve.”

“I am very impressed with the performance of Aloka’s Alpha 10,” said Robert Reach, RDCS, a cardiac ultrasound sonographer at Piedmont Cardiology in Hickory, NC, who has evaluated the system. “The grayscale imaging has excellent detail and the quality of the color/Doppler is outstanding. The ProSound Alpha 10 performs as well as or better than any other premium cardiac system I have used.”

About Aloka

Aloka Company, Ltd., The Innovator in Ultrasound—has served the worldwide medical community for more than 50 years. As one of the longest continuously operating ultrasound companies in the world, Aloka is one of the most experienced and innovative firms in the diagnostic ultrasound market.

Aloka was the first company to bring color Doppler imaging to the world with the introduction of the first electronic convex sector scanner displaying blood flow images. This indispensable technology has become standard in today’s ultrasound examinations. Aloka is also proud to have sold over 200,000 ultrasound systems as of December, 2006, another first for a dedicated ultrasound company.

Aloka’s U.S. headquarters is located in Wallingford, CT. www.aloka.com