Methodist Willowbrook Hospital Provides Physicians With the Panasonic CardioHealth® Station

SECAUCUS, N.J. and HOUSTON, Feb. 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic Healthcare Group and CardioNexus Corp. announced today that they will outfit Methodist Willowbrook Hospital with Panasonic CardioHealth® Stations to support early heart disease detection.   Panasonic's CardioHealth Station continues to expand its presence among medical professionals who recognize that one of the best ways to reduce long-term healthcare costs is by applying technology to detect disease at an early stage.  The CardioHealth Station is designed to assist medical professionals in making a quick and valuable assessment of cardiovascular health and has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in the automated acquisition of carotid intima-media thickness data and risk assessment.

"With the addition of the Panasonic CardioHealth Station, our campus has become the first hospital in Houston, Texas to implement this revolutionary medical technology," said Beryl Ramsey, CEO of Methodist Willowbrook Hospital. "The CardioHealth Station and its automated features will empower our physicians to better assess our patient's cardiovascular risk at an early stage."

The CardioHealth Station has a built-in portable ultrasound system optimized to perform non-invasive examinations of the peripheral vessels. It provides an automated measurement of the intima-media thickness (IMT) of peripheral arteries such as the common carotid and allows the user to search for arterial plaques in B-mode imaging. The touchscreen keyboard allows the user to input various parameters related to traditional cardiovascular risk factors and a built-in calculator provides risk scores (Framingham Risk Score, PROCAM Health Check Score, Reynolds Risk Score, risk score based on the SCORE project) commonly used in a variety of medical environments.  This information is supplemented with an IMT measurement of the artery to generate a comprehensive report to aid a physician in assessing cardiovascular risk.

"We are pleased to provide Methodist Willowbrook Hospital with the revolutionary technology of the Panasonic CardioHealth Station as they strive to better detect and treat cardiovascular disease," said Steven Lynum, Director of Clinical Products, Panasonic Healthcare Group.  "The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recently updated the guidelines for the screening of asymptomatic patients with intermediate risk, creating awareness for the necessity to reduce healthcare costs through prevention.  Panasonic is proud to continue to play a part in the national effort for the prevention of cardiovascular disease by providing Doctors with important diagnostic tools such as the CardioHealth Station." 

About Panasonics Healthcare Group

Based in Secaucus, NJ Panasonic Healthcare Group is a business group of Panasonic Corporation of North America.  Bringing together Panasonic's expertise in a wide range of health and medical device technologies the business unit develops products for the healthcare industry relating to hearing care and diagnostic machines.  For more information visit www.panasonic.com/cardiohealthstation or http://www.panasonic.com/business/medicalvideo/hearing-aids/index.asp

About Panasonic Corporation of North America

Based in Secaucus, NJ, Panasonic Corporation of North America provides a broad line of digital and other electronics products for consumer, business and industrial use. The company is the principal North American subsidiary of Osaka, Japan-based Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC), and the hub of Panasonic's U.S. branding, marketing, sales, service and R&D operations. Panasonic recently announced that it will relocate its North American headquarters to Newark, NJ in 2013 as part of is plans to reduce the size of its carbon emissions footprint. Information about Panasonic and its products is available at www.panasonic.com and its Full HD 3D site at www.panasonic.com/3D.  Additional company information for journalists is also available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.

About the CardioNexus Corporation

Founded on January 2009 in Houston Texas, CardioNexus Corporation is an authorized distributor of Panasonic Healthcare Group. CardioNexus focuses on early detection of cardiovascular disease using an innovative multi-modality approach. Panasonic Corporation of North America became a shareholder of CardioNexus Corporation in October 2010. For more information, visit the company's website at www.cardionexus.com

About Methodist Willowbrook Hospital

Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, a 251-bed, nonprofit, tertiary care hospital, is part of The Methodist Hospital System. The hospital opened its doors to Northwest Houston in December 2000. In May 2010, a major expansion on the 52-acre campus doubled the size of the hospital, bringing more expertise, more state-of-the art technology, and more specialized care to the community. From emergency services and primary care to open heart surgery and advanced stroke care, Methodist Willowbrook Hospital redefines the term community hospital, exporting the world-renowned quality and expertise of The Methodist Hospital System.

SOURCE Panasonic