- In addition to high resolution and sensitivity, Naviscan's product provides incomparable workflow integration and economic benefits

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, June 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Based on its recent analysis of the organ-specific molecular imaging market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Naviscan Inc. (Naviscan) with the 2012 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Quality Leadership for its organ-specific PET scanner. With its main application in Positron Emission Mammography (PEM), the product offers multiple benefits to the customer over competing products.

Naviscan's PET scanner offers numerous advantages in a wide variety of clinical applications, such as detection, staging, monitoring response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and re-staging of breast cancer, detection of peripheral tumors, and screening for recurrent melanoma. Applications that are showing promise in ongoing clinical trials include osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  With its ability to position the detectors in close proximity to the organ imaged—achieving higher resolution than a whole-body (WB) PET scanner—the product is simply superior in quality.

Naviscan's intelligent design, including advanced photonics, biopsy guidance software and cutting-edge visualization software, MIMViewer™ PEM workstation, which was developed by MIMvista Software™, helps deliver high-quality 3D tomographic images with excellent spatial resolution. While the existing conventional screening methods for breast cancer produce results of 80 to 91 percent sensitivity, PEM offers 93 percent sensitivity and 93 percent specificity. The visualization software is characteristic of its user-friendly interface with options for creating customized images with attention to regions of interest that can be saved as DICOM files to any PACS system.

"The proven accuracy, high sensitivity and specificity of the scanner in the detection of lesions, particularly for breast cancer, helps the physicians make confident and informed diagnosis," said Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Kaavya Karunanithi. "This helps in eliminating the number of false positives that lead to unnecessary biopsies."

Further, the compact nature of the product offers additional economic benefits by reducing maintenance and installation charges when compared to WB PET or MRI scanners. Naviscan's design team has made the PET scanner very portable to enable remote diagnostics.

"The company's major focus on quality in the past five years has enabled its PET scanner to achieve high market penetration in the USA by capitalizing on numerous peer-reviewed publications from multicenter prospective clinical trials that showcase the high sensitivity, specificity and accuracy that the product delivers," notes Karunanithi. "It is with this reputation that the product aims to capture the European market."

The product is endorsed by the FDA and has a CE mark for its high-quality compliance, so it is certain to achieve the market leadership position in organ-specific molecular imaging in Europe in the near future. Naviscan introduced initial installations in Turkey and Germany in 2011. There are also orders for installations in Spain and Switzerland, and a strong pipeline of opportunities across Europe for 2012.

Overall, Naviscan's organ-specific PET scanner, due to its high sensitivity, high specificity and accuracy, complements conventional imaging methods, such as mammography or ultrasound, and is a research-proven alternative to MRI. In recognition, Frost & Sullivan is proud to present Naviscan with the 2012 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Quality Leadership in the organ-specific molecular imaging market.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has demonstrated outstanding product performance and value to customers. The award recognizes significant contribution in terms of design, usability and reliability.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Naviscan

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 world. and has global distribution in 34 countries. The Company is headquartered in San Diego, California and is the first to obtain FDA clearance and CE Mark for a high-resolution PET scanner designed to image small body parts and for breast biopsy image guidance.

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SOURCE Frost & Sullivan