IPL Announces First Ever Sealed-Source Multimodal Marker For Fusion Imaging in Nuclear Medicine. New Product Delivers Greater Precision, Longer Half Life and Improved Productivity with CT-PET and CT-SPECT Scans.

Valencia, California, November 26, 2002žIsotope Products Laboratories (IPL), a leader in nuclear medicine products, today announced the availability of the first ever multimodal marker in a sealed source, enabling physicians, researchers and radiology technicians to do quantitative scanning with multiple and different detectors, then merge and view the images with unprecedented accuracy.

The IPL sealed-source multimodal marker solves a major issue in the growing nuclear medicine specialty of fusion imaging. The company's breakthrough patent-pending product enables users to accurately align their images when comparing images from x-ray, CT (computer tomography), PET (positron emission tomography) and SPECT (single positron emission computed tomography) scanners. As a result, physicians are better able to diagnose, manage, treat and prevent serious disease.

In nuclear medicine, the need to merge different scanned images has become imperative. PET and SPECT scans offer valuable information on function, such as tumor location, metabolic activity or blood flow but information on structure is inadequate. Conversely, CT and MRI scans offer useful information on internal body structure, but it can be difficult to distinguish tumors from scar tissue or similar problems when viewing these scans.

The University of Virginia has been a beta site for the IPL marker since September.
According to Dr. Mark Williams, associate professor of radiology, physics and biomedical engineering at the university, "IPL's multimodal spot marker is just another example of their commitment to creating flexible and creative solutions for the multimodal community."

Generally, markers are fillable sources that use radionuclides with short half-lives, which is the amount of time for radioactivity to decay by one-half. But IPL's new marker is reusable and presented as a sealed source, thus eliminating the need for filling, mixing or assembly and has a useful life of up to two years. Radiology and nuclear medicine units in hospitals, clinics or research laboratories can now reduce the time and expense required to fill and refill sources, and, at the same time, upgrade overall productivity.

Equally important, many hospitals, clinics and laboratories cannot afford multimodal detectors or scanners, which can cost as much as 1.5 million USD. Thus, patients must be taken from one detector to the next to complete all prescribed scans. Then these scans are merged through software and hardware methods, the accuracy of which can rely on the skillfulness of radiological technicians. Now, end-users can rely on the new IPL sealed-source, multimodal marker, which can be used in major scanners. It is pre-calibrated in the laboratory setting, thereby minimizing the potential for human error.

About Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine is a medical specialty that uses safe, painless and cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. As defined by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, nuclear medicine imaging identifies organ function and structure, in contrast to diagnostic radiology, which is based on anatomy. The procedure enables physicians to better diagnose, manage, treat and prevent serious disease, thus facilitating early detection of abnormalities very early in the progression of a disease.

Nuclear medicine uses very small amounts of radioactive materials or radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose and treat disease, an amount comparable to that received during a common diagnostic x-ray. An estimated 10 to 12 million nuclear medicine procedures are performed each year in the United States.

About Isotope Products Laboratories
IPL has been a leader in nuclear medicine products for more than three decades, including medical reference sources, PET calibration sources and SPECT calibration sources. IPL also supplies Germanium/Gallium generators, in addition to various radionuclides and radiochemicals for research purposes. IPL supplies more than 80 different nuclides in many physical and chemical forms, including radioactive solutions and sealed sources used in health physics, counting room and environmental applications. The company has been a continuous participant in the NEI/NIST measurement assurance and intercomparison program since its inception. Headquartered in Valencia, California with facilities in Burbank, IPL is a wholly owned division of parent Eckert & Ziegler AG, Berlin, Germany.

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