SEATTLE, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- ZONARE Medical Systems of Mountain View, California today announced the introduction of the z.one ultra system, the next generation in Zone Sonography(TM) technology for the world’s first and only Convertible Ultrasound(TM) platform at the Society of Interventional Radiology conference being held in Seattle March 1 - 5, 2007. The new z.one ultra system takes full advantage of revolutionary Zone Sonography(TM) technology, building upon the precedence set by the first z.one system which began shipping in the first quarter of 2005.
“As the power of Zone Sonography technology expands, we are taking advantage of this breakthrough to bring significant advances to ultrasound imaging,” said Donald Southard, president and CEO of ZONARE. “With the new z.one ultra system, we have further advanced the economic and clinical benefits inherent in this revolutionary technology bringing even greater value to the user.”
Representing one of the most significant ultrasound breakthroughs in decades, 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.
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. Software upgrades can be downloaded via the internet.
With the introduction of the new z.one ultra system, customers now have the option of purchasing the z.one, z.one mini or z.one ultra system. With the new z.one ultra system, ZONARE incorporated extensive recommendations and input from its customers. Providing the same convertibility as ZONARE’s other Convertible Ultrasound platforms, the z.one ultra system features numerous clinical and ergonomic advances.
“The z.one ultra system reflects months of input from customers, resulting in greater ergonomics, clinical applications, time savings and ease-of-use benefits for the clinician,” said Southard. “Most importantly, it is designed for easy upgradeability when new applications and additional advances are introduced. Whether as the full-featured, cart-based system or the premium compact unit, we believe the z.one ultra, along with our other two system options, offers the best value in ultrasound today.”
With hundreds of systems installed, ZONARE has been considered one of the fastest growing ultrasound companies in the world. The z.one ultra system will provide many significant advances in software, hardware and transducer technology.
Advanced Software
Advanced software capabilities abound in the z.one ultra system and all can be downloaded over the internet. For example, not all bodies image the same with ultrasound. Wall thickness, fat layer and tissue attenuation affect the way ultrasound sound waves travel through an individual’s body. Conventional ultrasound systems, however, assume the same pre-set sound speed to image all body types. Now, as another industry first, ZONARE is offering Auto-Opt with ZST which instantly equalizes image gain and brightness, while automatically adjusting the sound speed based on differences in a patient’s body habitus and completely optimizing the clinical image.
Another advanced software application, Auto-Dop Trace, automatically traces the spectral Doppler waveform at the touch of a button. The Auto-Dop Trace information is unique in the industry because it is derived from the original Doppler data and is independent of any spectral Doppler post-processing parameters, such as gain and dynamic range. This means the user can actually have an accurate Doppler tracing on a waveform that is not optimized. In addition, the user can configure this feature to display various calculations that are updated by either heartbeats or time. The derived calculation data can then be easily entered into the z.one system’s calc packages, saving the user time.
Finally, the ultra features Compound Harmonics which combines both the fundamental and harmonic frequency components allowing improved penetration versus harmonics alone. This results in dramatically improved contrast resolution without compromising frame rate. In yet another clinical advancement, Virtual Apex Array increases the image up to 25 percent compared to a conventional sector format by visualizing anatomy at the transducer face for a wider field of view. This means greater anatomic information and increased color sensitivity.
The z.one ultra takes full advantage of Moore’s Law, harnessing the power of exponentially increased processing power. This translates to continuous advances in image quality and greater retrospective processing tools on the completely stored data set provided by Zone Sonography technology. The data set, Channel Domain Memory, includes all of the raw data from the ultrasound signal allowing the clinician full access to all the image data. No other ultrasound technology provides this capability.
Advanced Hardware
The new z.one ultra system comes with the industry’s largest monitor -- a 19 inch screen mounted on an articulating arm allowing convenient 90 degree, wide-angle viewing with 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution. Overall, the z.one ultra offers the user even greater image quality than before.
Ergonomics are also a key focus on the new system. The full-size, keyboard retains its familiarity to z.one system users, yet features a smaller, more sensitive trackball and larger buttons for the most used functions. The programmable function keys are also more conveniently centered for quick and easy access. Located at the top of the keyboard, a new organic LED display saves time by changing instantly with the imaging mode selected and it substantially reduces energy consumption, conserving battery life. Significantly, the entire keyboard has been designed to allow for new clinical applications as the power of Zone Sonography technology evolves.
The z.one ultra system employs a nitrogen gas shock for effortless adjustment allowing it to easily compress to 41 inches (monitor down) or be raised to an overall height of 63 inches (monitor up) facilitating customization to individually preferred styles of scanning. With one of the smallest cart-based footprints (28.2"d x 20.1"w), the system’s dual treaded, high impact durable wheels can each swivel for maximum versatility in tight or crowded spaces over any terrain. Overall, the user-centric z.one ultra is slimmer and lighter, weighing just 125 pounds in its full-featured, cart-based configuration.
With a growing array of transducer choices, carefully crafted holders secure transducers more tightly. An optional battery pack can be added that powers the full-cart system for up to two hours before needing to be recharged which is ideal for complete portability in a busy clinical environment.
Image management is also enhanced with the z.one ultra system. The powerful 80GB internal hard drive provides the clinician image storage capabilities for even the most demanding clinical workloads. Additionally, there are multiple USB connections for external storage and connectivity to an Ethernet. Also, the industry’s only HDMI/DVI port provides the most up-to-date, high quality digital video output. The onboard DVD image capture is ideal for image archive and collecting teaching files.
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. With hundreds of systems installed around the world, 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 http://www.zonare.com.
ZONARE Medical Systems, Inc.
CONTACT: Laurie Hallwyler of ZONARE Medical Systems, +1-650-248-9081,lhallwyler@zonare.com
Web site: http://www.zonare.com//
