Mauna Kea Technologies Announces Highlights of 4TH Annual International Conference of Cellvizio(R) Users (ICCU)

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ICCU 2012 Rome

PARIS--(Marketwire - May 14, 2012) - Mauna Kea Technologies (NYSE Euronext: MKEA), the leader in the endomicroscopy market, today announced highlights of the Fourth Annual International Conference of Cellvizio® Users (ICCU), which took place last month in Rome.

Bertrand Napoléon, MD, a specialist in gastroenterology at Jean Mermoz Private Hospital in Lyon, France, and Kenneth J. Chang, MD, Professor and Chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Executive Director of the H.H. Chao Comprehensive Digestive Disease Center at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, co-chaired the meeting.

The co-chairs designed the program which included more than 29 abstracts, posters and case studies presented by leaders in endoscopy from 14 countries on the use of Cellvizio as an advanced imaging tool across specialties. Topics included outcomes and best practices associated with using Cellvizio as a tool to help improve the diagnosis, treatment and management of patients with digestive and respiratory diseases, as well as, new areas of clinical investigation, including urology, intensive care and robotic surgery. More than 120 international experts in endoscopy, representing numerous fields in medicine, attended the three-day conference.

“This year’s ICCU provided a robust educational and information-sharing forum on indications associated with endomicroscopy as well as areas currently under research. The exchange amongst users from different countries facilitated a broad understanding of how Cellvizio helps physicians more accurately characterize disease and take more informed and efficient treatment decisions for patients,” Dr. Napoléon said. “Seeing the enthusiasm of our American colleagues and the strong potential behind the technology, we feel that we are entering a new era in endoscopy. This is similar to what we experienced with echoendoscopy over 20 years ago.”

Cellvizio, a true multidisciplinary platform, provides live, cellular level-views of internal tissues to help physicians better characterize disease in their patients, so they can recommend appropriate treatments more efficiently.

The fourth edition of the International Conference of Cellvizio Users (ICCU) was held in Rome, Italy, from April 13-15, 2012. The core scientific program was extended to new indications, featuring recent and future advances of Cellvizio in gastroenterology, urology, pulmonology and surgery. During off-site working groups, participants explored key applications for the technology. And for the first time, a one-day CME-accredited workshop allowed new users to acquire training on image interpretation and to become more familiar with Cellvizio handling through live procedures.

“The strong interest and excitement for this year’s ICCU program underscores the medical community’s growing understanding of the impact that endomicroscopy can have on patient outcomes,” said Sacha Loiseau, CEO and Founder of Mauna Kea Technologies. “This conference enlisted the contributions of over one hundred practitioners who were able to exchange their experiences so as to better direct their current practices and research towards new applications. We believe this will have an incredibly positive impact on the field going forward and opens the doors for numerous new areas of clinical investigation within GI and pulmonology and entirely new indications, as well.”

About Mauna Kea Technologies
Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company and leader in the endomicroscopy market. The company researches, develops and markets innovative tools to visualize and detect abnormalities in the gastro-intestinal and pulmonary tracts. Its flagship product, Cellvizio®, a probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE) system, provides physicians and researchers high-resolution cellular views of tissue inside the body. Large, international, multi-center clinical trials have demonstrated Cellvizio’s ability to help physicians more accurately detect early forms of disease and make treatment decisions immediately. Designed to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs within a hospital, Cellvizio can be used with almost any endoscope. Cellvizio has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European CE-Mark for use in the GI and pulmonary tracts.

For more information about Mauna Kea Technologies, go to www.maunakeatech.com