MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- ZONARE Medical Systems, a developer of next-generation ultrasound technology, announced the company doubled U.S. installations of the z.one ultrasound system within the first six months of 2006. Based on revolutionary Zone Sonography technology, ZONARE began shipments of the z.one system last year and announced the installation of the one-hundredth system in December. Installations now exceed 300 systems worldwide with more than 40 systems installed in the Chicago area alone, site of the first U.S. commercial installation in spring of 2005.
“We recognized the value proposition of the z.one system’s Convertible Ultrasound(TM) capability from the early stages,” said Peter Jabeck, administrative director, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center. “Not only is the image quality superb, but we can easily upgrade the system primarily using downloads through the internet. The flexibility of the system, along with excellent sales and service support, made it an easy decision to acquire additional systems to meet our growing needs.”
Located in Chicago, Mercy Hospital and Medical Center installed the first U.S. z.one system. Since that time, Mercy has subsequently purchased and installed an additional four z.one systems. Most recently, Rush University Medical Center in downtown Chicago installed a z.one Convertible Ultrasound system in the high risk obstetrical department. Previously, Rush North Shore Medical Center in Skokie bought the organization’s first z.one system in 2005 for its radiology department.
“We are extremely impressed with the z.one system due to its convertibility from a full-cart to a compact, portable system without image compromise,” said Michael Racenstein, MD, attending radiologist for Rush North Shore and past president of the Chicago Radiology Society. “In fact, we traded in a one-year-old system from another manufacturer because the z.one fulfilled our needs far better. This revolutionary technology provides an incredible price to value ratio. It’s very understandable why ZONARE is the fastest growing ultrasound company in the market today.”
According to The Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound Market in the USA report for 2005, which covers annual industry trends, ZONARE’s z.one system is the beginning of a new wave of convertible systems. The report is published annually by the ultrasound industry’s leading analyst, Harvey Klein of Klein Biomedical Consultants.
This new architecture, based on Zone Sonography technology, has allowed ZONARE Medical Systems to bring the first Convertible Ultrasound platform to the industry with superb image quality at a substantial price to value ratio. Clinicians are able to instantly convert the z.one platform from a full-featured, cart-based system into a premium compact, ultrasound system with all the performance of substantially larger and more expensive ultrasound units, yet, with greater portability and clinical flexibility than conventional compact systems.
Combining a fundamentally new advance in ultrasound, Zone Sonography technology, coupled with the z.one platform’s radically new physical design, provides the maximum flexibility offering significant clinical and workflow solutions for a wide variety of customer challenges. The z.one platform’s Zone Sonography software-based architecture ensures that its performance will increase as improvements in processing power become available. This allows for fast, convenient upgrades in clinical capabilities, keeping clinicians at the forefront of diagnostic capabilities as well as protecting their investment. Most upgrades can be downloaded via the internet, another industry first.
“We have seen tremendous growth as Zone Sonography technology gains rapidly increasing recognition by the medical imaging community,” said Donald Southard, president and CEO for ZONARE. “We have customers from small practices to large hospital-based facilities and universities using the z.one system. A growing number of these are now repeat customers which we believe is the highest form of endorsement available.”
ZONARE has received $122 million in funding from several high profile investment firms including Kaiser Permanente Venture Capital, Montagu Newhall Associates, Earlybird Venture Capital, Frazier Healthcare Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Merrill Lynch Ventures, CB Health Ventures, Mosaix Ventures, Texas Instruments and 3i Ventures. In addition to the U.S., the company has been expanding sales and operations throughout Canada, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
About ZONARE Medical Systems
ZONARE Medical Systems, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures premium compact performance ultrasound solutions, which combine revolutionary technology with an innovative physical design. Zone Sonography technology, ZONARE’s unique patented approach to ultrasound imaging, is focused on bringing the highest performance to all clinical settings, leading to advanced diagnostic capabilities, more cost effective operation and increased value to providers. For more information, please visit our web site at www.zonare.com.
ZONARE Medical Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: media, Lars Shaw, +1-650-230-2787, or lshaw@zonare.com, or LaurieHallwyler, +1-650-248-9081, or lhallwyler@zonare.com, both of ZONAREMedical Systems
Web site: http://www.zonare.com//
