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NEWS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
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Contact:
Jacques Cornet, VP of Strategic Marketing & Business Development
Cedara Software Corp.
905.672.2100 x 2564 jacques.cornet@cedara.com |
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Media Contact:
Beth Frost-Johnson, Sr. VP of Marketing
Merge Healthcare
414.977.4254
bethfj@merge.com
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CEDARA SOFTWARE TO SHOWCASE NEW TECHNOLOGIES FOR ONCOLOGY TREATMENT AND RESPONSE ASSESSMENT AT THE 2006 AMERICAN SOCIETY OF THERAPEUTIC RADIOLOGY AND ONCOLOGY CONFERENCE (ASTRO)
- Cedara to unveil new solutions for multi modality image fusion that include support for deformable registration* in PET/CT
- Cedara to demonstrate growing suite of oncology solutions for diagnosis, treatment, therapy and research
- Works-in-progress solutions* include unique tools for functional diffusion mapping (MRI), automatic segmentation, web based RT contouring, RT archiving and more
- Cedara OncologyWorks™ expected to impact personalized treatment planning, assessment and pharmaceutical drug development
Toronto, ON, November 2, 2006 – Cedara Software, a Merge Healthcare company (Nasdaq: MRGE; TSX: MRG) and a leading independent developer of medical software technologies for the global healthcare market, today announced its intention to showcase a variety of advanced clinical software solutions at the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology Conference held November 5-9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Cancer is unfortunately an escalating disease and cause of death in the world and is consequently an increasingly important area in healthcare for Cedara. At this year’s ASTRO conference, Cedara will introduce a variety of new solutions in its OncologyWorks product line
aimed to facilitate the handling and processing of image data in Oncology. Included amongst these solutions are applications for deformable registration of PET/CT images (WIP*), rigid registration for SPECT/CT lung registration (WIP*), rigid registration for SPECT/MR brain registration (WIP*), web based RT contouring (WIP*), RT archive, web-based image review and other leading-edge quantitative imaging tools.
In clinical practice, image fusion has increasingly become a standard of care for many diagnostic and therapy planning procedures; to provide comprehensive information, physicians often image patients with multiple modalities allowing complementary information not available from a single device to be viewed concurrently. To compare images simultaneously, registration algorithms are used to correct for discrepancies caused by patient position, breathing motion and other factors. Rigid registration provides one method of aligning images using linear transformations; in other instances non-rigid or deformable registration uses non-linear transformations to align images. The need for non-rigid registration can be seen in cases where breathing causes a patient’s lungs to be shaped differently between imaging sessions; in this instance, a select anatomical region changes its volume and shape in a different manner from surrounding organs, requiring a, complex warping transformation to align the images.
“From an engineering standpoint, image registration represents an advanced capability for many healthcare companies,” said Peter Bascom, Vice President of Engineering at Cedara. “Registration requires a significant technical and clinical investment. Unlike standard mutual information based registration for instance, the approach to deformable registration we are showcasing doesn’t present a one size fits all approach - a variety of different rules, algorithms and biomechanical knowledge, need to be used when aligning different anatomical areas. From a technical standpoint this makes it difficult to develop a comprehensive registration solution that covers all modalities and areas of the body.”
At ASTRO 2006, Cedara will also showcase progress in its web-based solution for radiation therapy contouring, Cedara I-Contour™(WIP*); an industry-leading solution for oncology therapy response assessment incorporating Functional Diffusion Mapping (ƒDM), Cedara I-Response™ (WIP*); archive support for DICOM RT data ; segmentation technologies; tools for clinical trials and more.
"As the oncology market continues to evolve and new imaging technologies are adopted into clinical practice, many OEM companies are confronted with customer demands that exceed their internal capabilities,” said Jacques Cornet, Vice-President of Business Development and Strategic Marketing at Cedara. “Cedara possesses a significant technical and clinical knowledge base that can help organizations deliver new technologies to the market in record time. Cedara’s engineering services are a reliable and dependable way to develop quality products when time is pressing, budgets are limited, and expectations are high. In the oncology market, our tools for segmentation, registration, web based RT planning and therapy assessment represent just a snapshot of these capabilities – any organization that is confronted with a need to control engineering costs and shorten development cycles should contact Cedara.”
Cedara Software will be located at booth #1704 at the 2006 ASTRO conference held November 5-9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
* WIP or Works in Progress represent future software that is not yet released. Cedara Software is not obligated to develop described "future" software with the features and functionality herein discussed and may not ever develop such functionality
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Cedara is a Merge Healthcare company focused on the development of custom engineered software applications and development tools for the medical imaging OEM and International markets. Cedara software is deployed in hospitals and clinics worldwide and is licensed by many of the world's leading medical device and healthcare information technology companies. Cedara technologies and expertise span all the major digital imaging modalities including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), digital X-ray, mammography, ultrasound, echo-cardiology, angiography, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) and fluoroscopy. Cedara medical imaging offerings are used in all aspects of clinical imaging workflow including the capture of a patient's digital image; the archiving, communication and manipulation of digital images; sophisticated clinical applications to analyze digital images; and the use of imaging in minimally-invasive surgery. For additional information, visit our website at www.cedara.com.
Merge Healthcare is a market leader in the development and delivery of medical imaging and information management software and services. With over twenty years of leadership in the medical imaging and healthcare information technology markets, Merge Healthcare provides innovative solutions for both OEM and the end-user healthcare markets. We custom engineer clinical and imaging applications and development tools that are on the forefront of medicine and its use of medical imaging for OEM and international customers. We develop innovative medical imaging software solutions that support end-to-end business and clinical workflow for radiology department and specialty practices, imaging centers and hospitals. Our innovative software solutions use leading-edge imaging software technologies that accelerate market delivery for our OEM customers, while our end-user solutions improve our customers' productivity and enhance the quality of patient care they provide. For additional information, visit our website at www.merge.com.
All trademarks appearing in this release are the property of Cedara Software Corp.
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Attn: Beth Frost-Johnson
Merge Healthcare
6737 West Washington St.
Suite 2250
Milwaukee, WI 53214
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| Except for the historical information herein, the matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words “will,” “believes,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “expects” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the uncertainty created by, the adverse impact on relationships with customers, potential customers, suppliers and investors potentially resulting from, and other risks associated with, the changes in the Company’s senior management; costs, risks and effects of the investigation by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors; the impact of the restatement of financial statements of the Company and other actions that may be taken or required as a result of such restatement; the Company's inability to timely file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission; risks associated with the Company's inability to meet the requirements of The NASDAQ Stock Market for continued listing, including possible delisting; costs, risks and effects of legal proceedings and investigations, including the informal, non-public inquiry being conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and class action, derivative, and other lawsuits; risks in product and technology development, market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, ability to integrate acquisitions, changing economic conditions, credit and payment risks associated with end-user sales, dependence on major customers, dependence on key personnel, and other risk factors detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events, developments, or changed circumstances, or for any other reason.
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