Auburndale, Mass., April 6, 2016 – UltraSPECT Inc., a leading provider of image reconstruction solutions supporting safer and faster nuclear cardiology and oncology exams, today announced the 10th anniversary of the FDA approval of its Wide Beam Reconstruction (WBR™) Technology, an iterative reconstruction imaging algorithm to enable lower dose and shorter time imaging for nuclear medicine exams. An early entrant to the market, UltraSPECT has had double-digit growth in both annual revenue and annual units sold for the last few years. Factors like the recently introduced American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) low-dose guidelines, heightened patient awareness to the risks of exposure to radiation, and new CMS reimbursement penalties have accelerated the quest by hospitals to implement emerging low dose and ultra-low dose nuclear medicine technologies and fueled UltraSPECT sales.
“Ten years ago, UltraSPECT had the vision of ‘WBR inside’ to replace other reconstructed technologies like FBP/ OSEM algorithms with WBR iterative reconstruction imaging algorithm at all nuclear medicine facilities in the U.S.,” said Yossi Srour, President and CEO, UltraSPECT. “Today, we are thrilled to have the market ready, and to see more and more hospitals proactively embracing the benefits of low-dose nuclear medicine imaging to support safer and faster imaging for their patients and their staff.”
In 2006, UltraSPECT introduced to the U.S. market the first application for shorter time patient imaging both for oncology and cardiology exams, and followed that with the enhanced technology for both shorter time and lower dose imaging in 2008. The resulting benefit is enhanced value to physicians, technologists, patients, administrators and radiopharmaceutical suppliers of reduced dose, shorter scans and increased patient comfort with images as good, if not better in diagnostic quality, than those provided with traditional SPECT acquisition. With these benefits, and solutions that are also the most cost-effective for dose reduction, UltraSPECT has achieved the following key milestones:
- Double-digit revenue growth for the past three years
- More than 200 units sold between 2013-2015
- Installations in 46 states
- 16 distribution partners, including 8 different radiopharmaceutical pharmacies
- Compatibility with 41 different gamma cameras and 12 workstations representing all the major manufacturers
- 100% field validation
“What started as a handful of installations have evolved into tremendous market demand as everyone – from patients and technologists to physicians, pharmacies and pharmacy staff — is benefiting,” said Wayne Wong, owner and vice president, Nuclear Diagnostic Products. “We believed in the product from the beginning and trusted that the nuclear medicine would catch on to the low dose movement, and being an early partner of UltraSPECT has been a great decision for us.”
While early adopters were instrumental in setting the foundation for UltraSPECT, recent expansion has been in part due to a number of other market conditions including changes from regulatory groups. They include the ASNC guidelines for low-dose imaging that took effect in January 2015, along with the PQRS requirement to obtain additional 2% in CMS reimbursement. Other industry pressures influencing the market are:
- Growing shortage of Tc-99m isotope
- Greater awareness by patients of the need for low-dose imaging supported, in part, by action groups like Image Wisely, launched at RSNA 2010
- Growing cost pressures. At a fraction of the cost of a brand new camera, UltraSPECT also provides one of the most cost-effective solutions to the nuclear medicine market
For more information about the UltraSPECT technologies and reducing dose in nuclear medicine, visit www.ultraspect.com or call 1-888-WBR-SCAN (1-888-927-7226).
About UltraSPECT
UltraSPECT Inc. is the only provider of image reconstruction solutions that support safer and faster nuclear medicine imaging with the ability for better diagnostic capabilities and higher diagnostic confidence. Based on proprietary, innovative Wide-Beam Reconstruction (WBR™) algorithms, UltraSPECT products continue to be the most cost-effective dose-reduction solutions available to simultaneously lower radiation dose, shorten acquisition times and increase diagnostic quality. Healthcare facilities of all sizes maximize value from the ability to leverage the investment in existing nuclear medicine cameras – regardless of the manufacturer, model and age. Moreover, UltraSPECT solutions enable healthcare facilities to meet the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) low-dose guidelines. UltraSPECT image reconstruction products are approved by the FDA, as well as numerous regulatory authorities in Europe and Asia, and are in routine clinical use in hundreds of leading nuclear medicine imaging centers around the world. For more information, visit https://ultraspect.com.
