Gamma Medica-Ideas Announces Installation of Digital CZT Detectors for Pre-Clinical Imaging at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

Los Angeles, CA, September 21, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Gamma Medica-Ideas Inc. (GM-I), the world leader in developing and delivering digital medical imaging devices for the pre-clinical and clinical markets, announced today that it has forged ahead with yet another installation of its new digital CZT detectors for SPECT. The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) in Oklahoma City, Okla., installation is a dual-modality SPECT/CT configuration for pre-clinical imaging.

Dr. Rheal Towner, Director of the MRI Facility for the Free Radical Biology & Aging Research Program at OMRF, said GM-I’s digital CZT detectors offer strong advantages over photomultiplier tube (PMT) based detectors. "Gamma Medica-Ideas’ state-of-the-art digital CZT detectors allow OMRF to benefit from increased sensitivity, which traditional PMT-based detectors cannot provide," said Towner. He also noted that GM-I’s upgrade path, a GM-I standard feature, definitely influenced his choice, thereby giving OMRF the high resolution CT co-registration option. Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s principal research efforts are grouped into three major areas: cancer research, neurological disease research and cardiovascular disease research. Gamma Medica-Ideas’ Flex(TM) system currently installed in OMRF’s Small Animal Imaging Facility is used principally to look at metastases in animal cancer models, study metastases in lungs and design molecular targeted agents.

"Digital detection systems for nuclear medicine will soon make analog photomultiplier tube-based systems obsolete in the same way that digital mobile phones replaced analog cellular and digital technology has taken over analog in every audio/video market. It’s more efficient, more reliable, vastly better technology. With digital technology everything is better – performance, maintenance, and upgrading," said Gamma Medica-Ideas President and CEO, Dr. Bradley Patt. "Who wants to be the last buyer of analog PET or SPECT system for pre-clinical imaging? OMRF plans to publish their research and wanted the most advanced systems and the assurance that GM-I gave them to stay current with technology," Dr. Patt added.

Gamma Medica-Ideas’ pioneer Flex(TM) pre-clinical system, recently upgraded to the Flex Triumph(TM) multi-modality pre-clinical platform, offers multiple configurations to meet user needs. It can combine up to three different imaging modalities (PET, SPECT, and CT) in a single platform. Key application areas include cardiology, neurology, oncology, and bone analysis. The platform is designed and manufactured to be easily upgradeable to fit growing needs.

About Gamma Medica-Ideas, Inc.
Gamma Medica-Ideas (GM-I) designs, builds and services imaging systems based on novel technologies to improve patient health through early diagnosis of disease, improved patient treatment and by enabling new drug discovery. GM-I is dedicated to leading medical imaging into a new digital era with its unique sensor readout systems. The company’s core digital imaging technologies also hold great promise for a new class of solutions for the safety and security markets. In the pre-clinical space, GM-I’s Flex Triumph(TM) imaging platform is marketed for medical research and drug development. The Flex Triumph system combines PET (X-PET(TM) or its new fully digital LabPET(TM)), SPECT (X-SPECT®) and CT (X-O(TM)) modalities in the world’s first tri-modality system. In the clinical space, GM-I offers LumaGEM®, its dual-headed Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) based system for early diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. The digital gamma ray imaging technology in LumaGEM offers significant advances in resolution and contrast which has allowed for identification of millimeter sized breast cancers missed by mammography, especially in women with dense breast tissue.

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