US and Canada's Space Agencies Testing Medical Technology in Undersea Mission Harsh Conditions Simulate Space
BOTHELL, WA and TORONTO - October 14, 2004 - Sonosite, (Nasdaq:SONO) the world's leader in hand-carried ultrasound, said today that TITAN, the company's compact, high performance system, will take part in a 10-day underwater experiment with NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 7 Mission. Aquanauts will use the laptop-sized ultrasound system to scan each other in simulated emergency situations and transmit live images to St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario for review by radiologists.
The NEEMO 7 mission to be conducted October 11-21, 2004 is a joint project involving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS) at McMaster University of Hamilton, Ontario. The mission aims to demonstrate and evaluate a variety of medical diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to enhance the delivery of state-of-the-art medical care in remote and harsh environments. The experiments will take place off the coast of Key Largo, Fla, 19 meters below the surface of the sea in an underwater habitat called Aquarius. The extreme hostile environment is analogous to human space flight and has been used by NASA in the training of space station astronauts since 2001.
"We selected TITAN for this experiment because of its small size combined with its excellent imaging capabilities, ease of use, and ruggedness," said Julian Dobranowski, M.D., chief of Diagnostic Imaging at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. "The aquanauts will use TITAN to perform exams that would look for potentially life-threatening conditions so that emergency measures could be quickly undertaken."
Weighing only 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg), the TITAN system utilizes Sonosite's proprietary ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) microchip technology to integrate millions of transistors onto one circuit, thereby reducing size while offering excellent image quality and performance in a highly durable design. Built to withstand the rigors of mobile use, the TITAN system boots up in 12 seconds and can be hand-carried, enabling clinicians to immediately deliver patient care whenever and wherever needed.
BOTHELL, WA and TORONTO - October 14, 2004 - Sonosite, (Nasdaq:SONO) the world's leader in hand-carried ultrasound, said today that TITAN, the company's compact, high performance system, will take part in a 10-day underwater experiment with NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) 7 Mission. Aquanauts will use the laptop-sized ultrasound system to scan each other in simulated emergency situations and transmit live images to St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario for review by radiologists.
The NEEMO 7 mission to be conducted October 11-21, 2004 is a joint project involving the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and the Centre for Minimal Access Surgery (CMAS) at McMaster University of Hamilton, Ontario. The mission aims to demonstrate and evaluate a variety of medical diagnostic and therapeutic technologies to enhance the delivery of state-of-the-art medical care in remote and harsh environments. The experiments will take place off the coast of Key Largo, Fla, 19 meters below the surface of the sea in an underwater habitat called Aquarius. The extreme hostile environment is analogous to human space flight and has been used by NASA in the training of space station astronauts since 2001.
"We selected TITAN for this experiment because of its small size combined with its excellent imaging capabilities, ease of use, and ruggedness," said Julian Dobranowski, M.D., chief of Diagnostic Imaging at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. "The aquanauts will use TITAN to perform exams that would look for potentially life-threatening conditions so that emergency measures could be quickly undertaken."
Weighing only 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg), the TITAN system utilizes Sonosite's proprietary ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) microchip technology to integrate millions of transistors onto one circuit, thereby reducing size while offering excellent image quality and performance in a highly durable design. Built to withstand the rigors of mobile use, the TITAN system boots up in 12 seconds and can be hand-carried, enabling clinicians to immediately deliver patient care whenever and wherever needed.
About Sonosite
Sonosite, Inc. (www.sonosite.com) is the innovator and world leader in hand-carried ultrasound, with an installed base of more than 20,000 systems. The Company, headquartered near Seattle, Washington is represented by eight subsidiaries and a global distribution netwok in over 75 countries. Sonosite's small, lightweight systems are expanding the use of ultrasound across the clinical spectrum by cost-effectively bringing high performance ultrasound to the point of patient care. The Company employs approximately 450 people worldwide.