Study finds groundbreaking technology in TechniScan's Warm Bath Ultrasound promising

TechniScan, Inc.'s (OTC Bulletin Board: TSNI) unique whole breast ultrasound technology, which provides a comfortable, radiation-free method for assessment of breast lesions was part of a scientific presentation at the National Consortium of Breast Centers (NCBC) conference in Las Vegas last week.

Yuri Parisky, radiologist, vice president and trustee of the NCBC organization and consultant to TechniScan, Inc. participated in the Orange County, CA research study that was presented at the conference.  The objective of the study was to determine the usability of the new Warm Bath Ultrasound (TM) technology in a standard breast diagnostic practice.  The study found that the groundbreaking technology used in TechniScan's Warm Bath Ultrasound (WBU) produced promising results and indicated that it may have a future role in the evaluation of breast lesions.

"Ultrasound technology is playing a larger role in breast diagnostics because it images cysts, fibroadenomas and cancers differently than mammography. Ultrasound is much better at seeing through dense breasts and finding cancers when they are smaller," said Parisky. "The emergence of whole breast ultrasound technology and specifically the WBU system is providing us with 3-D images of the entire breast, and will hopefully become a standard imaging modality in the next few years."

TechniScan's Warm Bath Ultrasound system is designed to capture three-dimensional images of the breast as a woman lies prone on a table and state-of-the art ultrasound technology is used in a warm water tank to capture images of the breast anatomy.

The company's science is revolutionary since it is the first high-resolution, 3-D system to deliver quantitative data. The WBU system uses traditional reflection imaging, but uniquely, it also measures the speed of sound and attenuation as sound waves travel through the breast.

At the breast center conference in Las Vegas on March 21, Parisky presented the clinical experience using TechniScan's whole breast ultrasound system.  He explained that of the 34 patients participating in the study at the Breast Care and Imaging Center of Orange County, there were 14 cases with cysts, one case of silicone granulomas from a breast implant, 14 benign masses and eight biopsy-confirmed malignancies. The Warm Bath Ultrasound images were able to provide 3-D visualization of lesion location within the breast.

The study also found that the WBU scanning system was easy to use and required minimal training. A sonographer is not necessary to administer the scan since the system is automated. Additionally the scans were quick (approximately 12 minutes per breast) and required no breast compression.

"The WBU system was clearly able to distinguish between fibroglandular and other complex structures within the breast. Combined, the speed of sound, reflection and attenuation images are expected to improve 3-D visualization and improve specificity of breast lesions," said Parisky.

The future for whole breast ultrasound is encouraging. The radiologist panel at the Emerging Technologies Lecture at NCBC acknowledged that ultrasound paired with mammography is finding more cancers than mammography alone and 3-D imaging provides greater insight into the breast anatomy.

"We expect whole breast ultrasound will become a widely adopted modality for 3-D breast imaging in the coming years as radiologists begin to recognize the ease of use and imaging capabilities of automated breast ultrasound systems. We believe that our whole breast ultrasound will be competitive with technologies like breast MRI, and study after study is validating that ultrasound is finding cancers that mammography alone can't image," said Dave Robinson, chief executive officer at TechniScan.

SOURCE TechniScan, Inc.