Fully Featured Hand-Carried Ultrasound System Provides
Complete Capabilities for Echo Studies;
New Capabilities Address $460 Million International Shared Services Market
NEW ORLEANS, March 8, 2004 - Sonosite, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO), the worldwide leader in high-performance, hand-carried ultrasound, today announced at the American College of Cardiology ACC 53rd Annual Scientific Session that it is adding cardiology capabilities to the TITAN system, the company's newest generation, high-resolution, hand-carried system that enables ultrasound to be available quickly wherever and whenever it is needed. Customer deliveries are scheduled for mid-June; current customers will be able to upgrade to the enhanced TITAN system capabilities. Sonosite will be introducing these new TITAN capabilities in Booth #344 during ACC in New Orleans from March 7-10.
"Sonosite continues to develop technology that provides rapid, cost-effective and high-quality patient care," said Kevin M. Goodwin, president and CEO of Sonosite. "This release will enable physicians to use TITAN's high performance capabilities to perform full echocardiography and vascular studies in the clinic or at the point-of-care, allowing for earlier diagnosis and treatment. It also addresses the need of many of our international customers who require a shared service system that can perform both radiology and cardiology examinations. The shared service market is estimated to account for at least 20 percent of the $ 2.3 billion international ultrasound market."
The TITAN system is based on Sonosite's proprietary ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) technology, which integrates millions of transistors onto one circuit. The cardiology upgrade will offer full cardiac and vascular calculation packages, pulsed and steerable continuous wave Doppler, Tissue Harmonic Imaging, velocity-based color Doppler, M-Mode and image storage to compact flash cards and the ability to export video to storage devices. These features enable the user to perform echocardiography studies that meet the standards required by payers for a complete echocardiography examination. Weighing only 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg.), the TITAN system boots up in less than 12 seconds and can be easily carried to wherever it is needed to immediately deliver patient care efficiently and effectively.
Introduced in May 2003 for multiple imaging applications, the TITAN system has gained acceptance in both the United States and international markets. This is Sonosite's second major feature upgrade to TITAN. In December 2003, Sonosite began customer deliveries of a new software package for vascular imaging and expanded connectivity capabilities.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death across Europe, responsible for more than 2 million deaths each year in people 75 and younger. Moreover, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that more than 1 million Americans will also die of cardiovascular disease in 2004. Prompt and accurate diagnosis of cardiovascular disease is critical to improving a patient's prognosis.
Complete Capabilities for Echo Studies;
New Capabilities Address $460 Million International Shared Services Market
NEW ORLEANS, March 8, 2004 - Sonosite, Inc. (Nasdaq: SONO), the worldwide leader in high-performance, hand-carried ultrasound, today announced at the American College of Cardiology ACC 53rd Annual Scientific Session that it is adding cardiology capabilities to the TITAN system, the company's newest generation, high-resolution, hand-carried system that enables ultrasound to be available quickly wherever and whenever it is needed. Customer deliveries are scheduled for mid-June; current customers will be able to upgrade to the enhanced TITAN system capabilities. Sonosite will be introducing these new TITAN capabilities in Booth #344 during ACC in New Orleans from March 7-10.
"Sonosite continues to develop technology that provides rapid, cost-effective and high-quality patient care," said Kevin M. Goodwin, president and CEO of Sonosite. "This release will enable physicians to use TITAN's high performance capabilities to perform full echocardiography and vascular studies in the clinic or at the point-of-care, allowing for earlier diagnosis and treatment. It also addresses the need of many of our international customers who require a shared service system that can perform both radiology and cardiology examinations. The shared service market is estimated to account for at least 20 percent of the $ 2.3 billion international ultrasound market."
The TITAN system is based on Sonosite's proprietary ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) technology, which integrates millions of transistors onto one circuit. The cardiology upgrade will offer full cardiac and vascular calculation packages, pulsed and steerable continuous wave Doppler, Tissue Harmonic Imaging, velocity-based color Doppler, M-Mode and image storage to compact flash cards and the ability to export video to storage devices. These features enable the user to perform echocardiography studies that meet the standards required by payers for a complete echocardiography examination. Weighing only 7.7 pounds (3.5 kg.), the TITAN system boots up in less than 12 seconds and can be easily carried to wherever it is needed to immediately deliver patient care efficiently and effectively.
Introduced in May 2003 for multiple imaging applications, the TITAN system has gained acceptance in both the United States and international markets. This is Sonosite's second major feature upgrade to TITAN. In December 2003, Sonosite began customer deliveries of a new software package for vascular imaging and expanded connectivity capabilities.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death across Europe, responsible for more than 2 million deaths each year in people 75 and younger. Moreover, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, it is estimated that more than 1 million Americans will also die of cardiovascular disease in 2004. Prompt and accurate diagnosis of cardiovascular disease is critical to improving a patient's prognosis.
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.