PHILADELPHIA, March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellvizio Inc., a leader in in vivo cellular imaging, announced today that the first live U.S. demonstration of its Cellvizio(R) GI technology will be conducted March 10, 2008, during the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine's Eighth Annual Gastroenterology and Hepatology Viva La Vida Conference.
Cellvizio Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of Paris-based Mauna Kea Technologies and develops and markets Cellvizio, a fundamentally new endoscopic imaging approach which could improve patient care by eliminating the need for unnecessary biopsies and could enhance the diagnosis of a broad range of diseases via in vivo cellular imaging.
The Cellvizio GI procedure will be performed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore during an endoscopy to assist with the diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus. It will be seen live via satellite by attendees of the conference, which is being held March 10-15 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Gastroenterologists, surgeons and other healthcare professionals with an interest in gastroenterology and hepatology are participating in the program.
"Cellvizio allows physicians to view live tissue inside the body at the cellular level in real-time with a miniaturized microscope threaded through an endoscope and has the potential to benefit patients by reducing invasiveness while speeding up diagnosis," explained Sacha Loiseau, president, CEO and founder of Mauna Kea Technologies. "For example, a current diagnosis of Barrett's esophagus may require 10 to 50 biopsies to be taken and analyzed by a pathologist off line. The use of Cellvizio during this procedure could help reduce this number significantly by allowing physicians to avoid unnecessary biopsies."
Cellvizio GI is commercially available in Europe and in the United States.
About Mauna Kea Technologies:
Mauna Kea Technologies leads the growing in vivo cellular imaging market enabling physicians to visualize, diagnose and treat pathologies that can not be seen using other imaging techniques. Mauna Kea Technologies' flagship Cellvizio system provides microscopic visualization of mucosal tissue and promises to improve clinical outcomes by increasing the diagnostic yield of existing endoscopic procedures. With over 1000 Cellvizio procedures completed to date, Mauna Kea Technologies is currently focused on the gastroenterology and pulmonology markets. The company plans to expand into other markets in the future. The company also has a distribution agreement with Leica Microsystems to sell products for the Small Animal Imaging market in Europe, the U.S. and Japan. For more information about Mauna Kea Technologies: www.maunakeatech.com
About The Conference:
The Eighth Annual Gastroenterology and Hepatology: Viva la Vida conference will provide, through formal lectures, followed by questions and answers, a discussion of various disorders, with an emphasis on recent developments. Participants will be updated on the latest management of GI cancers and approaches for the difficult GI bleeder. Endoscopic imaging and therapies will be demonstrated live from the Johns Hopkins Hospital and University of Puerto Rico by renowned international experts.
http://www.hopkinscme.net/CourseDetail.aspx?course_code=80016767esandoval@lazarpartners.com
CONTACT: Erich Sandoval of Lazar Partners, +1-212-867-1773,
esandoval@lazarpartners.com, for Cellvizio Inc.
Web site: http://www.maunakeatech.com/
http://www.hopkinscme.net/CourseDetail.aspx?course_code=80016767/
