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www.fdanews.com/articles/87241-cardiarc-announces-receipt-of-additional-pto-allowances-for-its-heart-imaging-device

CARDIARC ANNOUNCES RECEIPT OF ADDITIONAL PTO ALLOWANCES FOR ITS HEART IMAGING DEVICE

June 1, 2006

CardiArc has received additional notices of allowance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, bringing the total number of patents issued or pending for the company's ultra-compact CardiArc heart imaging system to 30.

The FDA approved the device in January. The device provides images of heart blood flow with up to three times the clarity and up to 20 times the speed of other SPECT systems -- standard, noninvasive diagnostic imaging systems that create highly accurate, 3-D images of blood flow and function of major organs such as the heart or brain.

The CardiArc imaging system is "as small as an executive chair" and has no visible moving parts, the company says. Patients sit upright, without rotating or holding their arms over their heads, and scan times range from 20 minutes to two minutes or less.