Sentinelle Medical, Ultrasonix Medical announce distribution partnership for new SonixTOUCH ultrasound imaging system

Sentinelle Medical Inc., a leading manufacturer of MRI coils and advanced visualization software, and Ultrasonix Medical Corporation, a leading provider of innovative ultrasound imaging systems have announced a distribution agreement for the new SonixTOUCH Ultrasound with Aegis(TM) Navigation. The system will be shown as a work-in-progress on both Sentinelle and Ultrasonix's booths at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago, Nov. 30 - Dec. 5, 2009.

The SonixTOUCH with Aegis Navigation is an integrated solution for co-registration of MRI and real-time ultrasound imaging that permits investigation of the same anatomical features under both imaging modalities, at the same time, maximizing sensitivity and specificity. The SonixTOUCH features a programmable, 10.4" color touch screen with a wide viewing angle. Specialized hardware and software automates registration between modalities, and instruments are spatially tracked using an advanced 3D magnetic tracking system. Clinicians select anatomical targets based on information from an MRI or CT and an interactive targeting interface quickly guides clinicians towards the region of interest with the Ultrasound transducer.

"Sentinelle is happy to be working with an innovator like Ultrasonix to bring a fully integrated solution to market," said Cameron Piron, Sentinelle's President and CEO. "These offering have clinical relevance for the diagnosis, intervention and treatment of many diseases. By merging MRI images with real-time ultrasound, clinicians have significantly more information at their disposal. We are confident that this will lead to clear opportunities for new and innovative approaches to diagnose and treat these diseases."

Laurent Pelissier, CEO at Ultrasonix states, "Delivering a new targeted SonixTOUCH device that integrates a unique, clinically appraised technology such as the Aegis Navigation is in line with our strategy to provide unique superior Ultrasound Solutions for specific target markets. Sentinelle's unique approach to multimodality imaging empowers Clinicians with new tools that are intuitive and bring clinical value"