Imatron fights back with EBCT study

In a continuing effort to defend its coronary CT turf from mechanical scanner developers, ultrafast CT manufacturer Imatron announced that a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Cardiology demonstrates the effectiveness of its electron beam tomography scanner in evaluating patients with acute chest pain. The study was performed with 134 patients at the Rush Medical College, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago. Only one patient with a negative EBCT scan calcium score experienced a cardiac event, and this patient had a history of cocaine abuse and a positive toxicology screen at the time of the scan. Excluding this patient, EBCT had a negative predictive value of 100%, the company said.

South San Francisco, CA-based Imatron points to the study as further testimony to the credibility of EBCT technology, which it has been defending ever since conventional CT manufacturers began to develop calcium scoring packages (SCAN 5/12/99). Conventional mechanical CT scanners, even those that use calcium scoring protocols, cannot achieve this level of accuracy, according to Lewis Meyer, Imatron’s CEO.

In other Imatron news, the company and its distributor, PET developer Positron, have completed a private offering to a group of investors of 42.2 million shares of Positron common stock for a total investment of $12.7 million. Revenue from the offering will be used in part to pay Positron’s debt to Imatron, which bought what was then a majority share in the company last year; with this private placement, Imatron’s stake in Positron decreases to approximately 15% (SCAN 5/13/98). The offering will also provide Houston-based Positron with working capital to bolster its business, particularly the manufacturing and marketing of its PET camera, Posicam.