GE Healthcare Demonstrates Sync Tool? on its Xeleris 2 Workstation -- Nuclear Cardiac Imaging Software Licensed from Syntermed

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) September 12, 2008 -- Syntermed Inc., an exhibitor at the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) announced today GE Healthcare would be demonstrating Syntermed's SyncTool?, a new diagnostic tool for heart failure, on GE Xeleris 2 workstations. GE Healthcare is licensing SyncTool software as part of an Emory Cardiac Toolbox (ECTb) upgrade on all Xeleris 2 workstations. This software helps to predict which heart failure patients will benefit from cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

"SyncTool is yet another important development for the diagnosis and care of heart failure patients," said Michael Lee, CEO, Syntermed, Inc. "The inclusion of SyncTool on the ECTb platform of all GE Healthcare Xeleris 2 workstations will greatly expand the diagnostic toolset for the nuclear cardiologist."

SyncTool uses multiharmonic phase analysis (MHPA), a technology developed by Emory University medical scientists Ernest Garcia, PhD, and Ji Chen, PhD and was licensed exclusively to Syntermed by Emory in June 2008. The software provides a novel automated analysis of LV function of conventional ECG-gated SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging.

"We designed this new nuclear imaging software to improve image clarity and to provide additional features and automation that should eliminate variations in interpretation and help physicians more accurately assess patients with left ventricular dyssynchrony," said Ernest V. Garcia, PhD, professor of radiology, Emory University School of Medicine.

Garcia and Chen's research with MHPA has been reported in more than 15 journal publications. The most recent article, in the May 2008 issue of the Journal of Nuclear Cardiology, reports the benefits of using MHPA to measure left-ventricular mechanical dyssynchrony in predicting the outcome of CRT.

ReconTools ? -- New cardiac nuclear imaging software unveiled at ASNC

Emory University announced it is exclusively licensing Emory Reconstruction Toolbox (ERTb) to Syntermed. The company will market ERTb software as ReconTools?.

This comprehensive software package performs image reconstruction, quality control, and correction for patient and physical phenomena, which degrade image quality in myocardial perfusion SPECT images. ReconTools is being introduced at the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) 2008 annual meeting in Boston, September 10-14. It runs on stand-alone PCs and easily improves processing functions on older workstations, making it ideal for labs seeking to upgrade and or refurbish their existing workstations at a cost savings. ReconTools provide reconstructed data sets that can be analyzed by many quantitative platforms. In particular, it works with the Emory Cardiac Toolbox? (ECTb) as an integrated, complete software solution for myocardial perfusion SPECT imaging.

ReconTools feature eight functions that can be bundled together or customized as plug-and-play modules to meet customer needs. One such feature is the deconvolution approach to compensate for degraded images caused by imaging agents such as I-123 and use of low-energy collimators. This software offers state-of-the-art automatic iterative motion correction, improving image quality, speed and processing power. The software bundle also includes an automatic reorientation program and correction function that improves the quality of the attenuation maps, produces more accurate images, and aids diagnosis by reducing the number of false positives.

ReconTools was developed in collaboration with E.V. Garcia, PhD, J. Chen, PhD, and their colleagues at Emory University's nuclear medicine department and supported by a Georgia Research Alliance (GRA) grant. GRA provides grants to university researchers conducting promising collaborative research with a Georgia company that is capable of commercializing the research.

About Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)

CRT is also referred to as "biventricular pacing." This surgical procedure benefits patients with severe heart failure (NYHA class III and IV) at a cost of about $30,000 per procedure; however, about 20-30% of the patients who have the procedure do not respond to CRT. LV dyssynchrony is an important predictor of a positive response to CRT. Dyssynchrony greatly reduces the efficiency of the ventricles in patients with heart failure, whose hearts are already damaged.

CRT devices are similar in size and shape to regular pacemakers but differ in function, send electrical signals to the ventricles to restore synchrony. Studies have shown that CRT devices can improve quality of life in heart failure patients, especially shortness of breath (dyspnea), fatigue, and exercise tolerance.

More than 5 million people in the U.S. currently have some form of heart failure, and more than 550,000 people are diagnosed annually; 300,000 deaths occur each year from heart failure. This condition develops slowly as the heart muscle weakens and results in the inability of the heart to keep an adequate supply of blood flowing through the body. Heart failure occurs when the heart has been damaged by a heart attack, long-term high blood pressure, an abnormality of the heart valves, coronary artery disease, and/or an infection such as endocarditis or myocarditis. Because the weakened heart must work harder to meet the demands of the body, in its advanced stages the disease causes people to feel tired and short-of-breath.

For more information about SyncTool and ReconTools, consult the company's website http:/./www.syntermed.com or call Ken VanTrain, President, Syntermed at 888-263-4446 x102.

About Syntermed, Inc.

Syntermed, Inc. is a privately owned, Atlanta-based nuclear medicine imaging and informatics software company established in 1999 as a spin-off of research and technology from Emory University and Georgia Tech. Syntermed transformed the nuclear imaging field by being the first to offer a PET and SPECT software program untethered from its imaging hardware. Syntermed's first product was Emory Cardiac Toolbox? (ECTb), and today the Company has many other products that support 3-D cardiac imaging. The Syntermed Live? system provides physicians easy access to secure high-resolution heart images, diagnostic information and archived files from any PC/MAC at any time, and even has web-based access for convenient remote reading access. Syntermed also has neurological imaging software NeuroQ? 3.0 and EQuAL? for advanced brain PET quantitative analysis of dementia and temporal lobe epilepsy. Syntermed's software solutions are licensed to medical imaging companies including GE Healthcare, Siemens Medical Solutions, Philips Medical Systems, McKesson Information Solutions, MedImage, Mediso, Medx, Segami, Thinking Systems, and Cardinal Health. In addition, the company's products are sold directly to diagnostic imaging centers and nuclear cardiologists. www.syntermed.com; email info(at)syntermed.com.

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