Alliance Imaging Offers Mobile Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) Imaging to its Florida Customers

SAN DIEGO, March 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Naviscan announced today that Alliance Imaging, a division of Alliance Healthcare Services, will be offering mobile Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) imaging services in the state of Florida.  Alliance Imaging will be providing turnkey service which includes transporting the PEM scanner from site to site, a technologist to perform the scan and the necessary radiopharmaceutical, 18F-FDG.  When fully implemented, it is anticipated that the service will cover a variety of hospitals, imaging centers, and dedicated breast centers throughout the state of Florida.

As PEM imaging has increased in demand, Alliance Imaging has added this service to continue its commitment to offer advanced diagnostic imaging services to its customers.  As recently as last week, additional results from an NIH-sponsored study (Grant 5R44CA103102) comparing PEM and breast MR were released further demonstrating PEM's clinical appropriateness.  The study showed that PEM not only demonstrated a six percent improvement in specificity at comparably high sensitivity, but that PEM also recommended 31 fewer unnecessary biopsies and had 26% higher PPV than breast MR.  These results are also particularly significant for those women who cannot tolerate an MR exam and require an alternate imaging tool.

PEM scanners are high-resolution breast PET systems that can show the location as well as the metabolic phase of a lesion.  This information is critical in determining whether a lesion is malignant and influences the course of treatment.  Other imaging systems, such as mammography and ultrasound, only show the location, not the metabolic phase. PEM scanners, which are about the size of an ultrasound system, are manufactured by Naviscan, Inc. and have been commercially available since 2007.

About Alliance HealthCare Services

Alliance HealthCare Services is a leading national provider of shared-service and fixed-site diagnostic imaging services, based upon annual revenue and number of diagnostic imaging systems deployed, and a provider of radiation therapy services. Alliance provides imaging and therapeutic services primarily to hospitals and other healthcare providers on a shared and full-time service basis, in addition to operating a growing number of fixed-site imaging and radiation therapy centers.  The Company had 507 diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy systems, including 295 MRI systems and 126 PET or PET/CT systems, and served over 1,000 clients in 45 states at December 31, 2009. The Company operated 116 fixed-site imaging centers (three in unconsolidated joint ventures), which includes systems installed in hospitals or other buildings on or near hospital campuses, medical groups' offices, or medical buildings and retail sites.  The Company also operated 25 radiation therapy centers and stereotactic radiosurgery facilities (two radiation therapy centers are in unconsolidated joint ventures) as of December 31, 2009.

About Naviscan, Inc.

Naviscan, founded in 1995, develops and markets compact, high-resolution PET scanners intended to provide organ-specific molecular imaging and guide radiological and surgical procedures. The Naviscan PET scanner is currently installed and available in breast and imaging centers throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world. The Company is headquartered in San Diego, California and is the first to obtain FDA-clearance for a high-resolution PET scanner designed to image small body parts and for breast biopsy image guidance.  For more information, call 1.858.587.3641 or visit www.naviscan.com

SOURCE Naviscan, Inc.