New Aixplorer Ultimate From SuperSonic Imagine

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SuperSonic Imagine (Euronext: SSI, FR0010526814), a company specialising in ultrasound medical imaging, is excited to introduce the newest version of its premium ultrasound system, Aixplorer^® Ultimate, the result of French research and innovation using SuperSonic Imagine’s exclusive UltraFast™ technology. UltraFast, which offers acquisition rates 200 times faster than conventional ultrasound systems, has opened up the possibility of new imaging modalities that are now used daily by physicians.

“Since 2009, SuperSonic Imagine has been at the forefront of medical imaging with the Aixplorer ultrasound system and its revolutionary, software-only architecture. Our company has always been at the cutting edge of innovation, continuously developing improved imaging modalities and offering better care and treatment for patients,” said SuperSonic Imagine CEO Michèle Lesieur.

The Aixplorer Ultimate incorporates new architecture boasting 4.5 times more computing power than previous Aixplorer models. It also has a new streamlined look and intuitive user interface. Ease of use has been improved dramatically, especially for extended periods of work. Ultimate also incorporates the very latest UltraFast innovation – Needle PL.U.S – enabling simultaneous visualisation of anatomical structures, biopsy needles and their trajectory with a high level of precision. This new feature sits alongside other modalities introduced over the past 8 years by SSI: ShearWave™ Elastography (SWE™), used to view and measure the stiffness of tissue in real time using color mapping; UltraFast Doppler, which combines Pulsed Doppler and Color Doppler in a single sweep; Angio PL.U.S, offering unrivalled resolution for imaging microvascularisation in lesions; and TriVu (B mode + SWE + Color+), a new triplex modality combining three types of diagnostic information into a single examination. These innovations provide fast and reliable access to diagnostic information, an essential resource for the diagnosis and assessment of major diseases such as chronic liver disease and breast and prostate cancers.

Jacques Souquet, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at SuperSonic Imagine, said, “Aixplorer Ultimate is the result of 8 years of research and development. This is a much more reliable, faster and innovative ultrasound system, designed to meet new imaging needs when screening, diagnosing and monitoring major diseases. Discussed in more than 400 publications, the SWE technology employed in this system has demonstrated its clinical advantages associated with the detection and characterisation of many different diseases across a broad spectrum of applications.”

In the breast, Aixplorer Ultimate helps to improve the identification of malignant or benign lesions and to reduce the number of negative biopsies.

The advantages of SWE in the diagnosis of mammary lesions have been demonstrated in more than 100 publications, including an international study involving more than 1,600 patients^1-2. When this technology is combined with conventional ultrasound, diagnoses can be more accurate, significantly reducing the number of false positives, and thus the number of unnecessary biopsies.

In the liver, Aixplorer Ultimate can assess levels of fibrosis and NASH without a biopsy.

SWE makes it possible to quantify liver stiffness in a non-invasive manner. Liver stiffness is a key parameter when diagnosing, assessing and monitoring liver fibrosis. That is why more than 100 international articles agree in demonstrating the reliability and effectiveness of this technology in this particular field.

In the prostate, Aixplorer Ultimate provides effective guidance for biopsies.

Clinical studies show that SWE considerably increases biopsy efficiency. Its colour mapping helps doctors target sampling and keep the number of samples to a minimum.

SWE is also frequently used in musculoskeletal imaging to view muscles, tendons, ligaments and joints, for the purposes of tendinopathy diagnosis and monitoring. Aixplorer, with its UltraFast technology, is also every effective in vascular and pediatric examinations.

With Aixplorer Ultimate, the most advanced version of its ultrasound platform, SuperSonic Imagine has found a way to address the clinical challenges of a wide range of clinical needs among radiologists and patients.

¹ ShearWave Elastography for breast masses is highly reproducible. Cosgrove DO et al. European Radiology 2011 Dec 31
² Shear-wave Elastography Improves the Specificity of Breast US: The BE1 Multinational Study of 939 Masses Radiology (2012 Feb;262(2):435-449) by Wendie A. Berg, MD, PhD, et al. Radiology. 2012 Feb;262(2):435-49. doi: 10.1148/radiol.11110640. Eur Radiol. 2012 May; 22(5): 1023–1032.

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 (SWETM), UltraFast™ Doppler, Angio PL.U.S – Planewave UltraSensitiveTM 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.