Sentinelle Medical, Siemens Healthcare to jointly develop solutions for Interventional Prostate MRI

Sentinelle Medical Inc., a leading manufacturer of breast MRI coils and software, and Siemens Healthcare today announced at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago, that they are collaborating on the development of a suite of innovative solutions for Interventional Prostate MRI.

According to the American Cancer Society, Prostate cancer will affect close to 200,000 men and cause 27,000 deaths this year (2009) in the US. Current screening technologies are limited in their ability to reliably detect prostate cancer. Prostate MRI shows significant promise to address these challenges. However, initial offerings offer limited signal-to-noise ratios (SNR) coverage for the prostate, and current interventional solutions lack the ability to combine with internal imaging coils.

Sentinelle and Siemens are working together to develop solutions that will address the challenges clinicians currently face in the use of MRI for imaging, intervention and treatment of prostate cancer. These solutions will address image quality, ease and accuracy of intervention, patient experience and workflow efficiency - all critical elements in the widespread adoption of prostate MRI. Sentinelle will be demonstrating Works-In-Progress for Prostate interventional MRI coils at RSNA 2009 (Booth 5800, Hall A).

"Prostate imaging provides unique challenges for imaging and intervention. Siemens and Sentinelle are dedicated to delivering solutions that can be easily integrated into the clinicians workflow, and positively impact patient outcomes," said Cameron Piron, Sentinelle's President and CEO. "With our combined focus, we are confident that we can address these challenges and enable greater access to this important technology."

"MRI plays an important role in detecting prostate cancer. Our focus is to further develop innovative technologies that help improve patient care and healthcare efficiency," says Dr. Robert Krieg, Vice President Product Definition, Magnetic Resonance, Siemens Healthcare.