For Immediate Release
For more information, contact:
Cheri Winchester 636.530.3613
FDA Approves New Device for Diagnosing and Treating Prostate Cancer
Machine Answers Urologists' Call for a Better Biopsy Strategy
St. Louis, Mo. (February 23, 2005)-The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new medical device for prostate biopsies and improving the accuracy of less-invasive cancer treatments. Created by St. Louis-based Envisioneering Medical Technologies, TargetScan® is the latest innovation in prostate mapping, biopsy and cancer treatment guidance. Combining 3-D image acquisition with a stationary probe, this new technology helps physicians plan and execute targeted prostate biopsies-potentially improving patients' cancer treatment outcomes with less-invasive procedures.
Current procedures require urologists to hold and pivot a probe with one hand, while performing a needle biopsy with the other hand. The inherent variables of this existing biopsy technique can force doctors to miss as much as 20 to 30 percent of potential cancers, according to Dr. Gerald Andriole, professor of surgery and chief of urology at Washington University School of Medicine and director of the Urological Research Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
"We've learned that current diagnostic tools are inadequate-missing cancer in some patients while over testing others," said Andriole, who after examining TargetScan joined Envisioneering's medical advisory board. "With TargetScan, we anticipate improved cancer detection-saving time, money and possibly lives."
TargetScan also impacts cancer treatment, according to Dr. Jeff Michalski, Department of Radiation Oncology at Washington University School of Medicine. "The clinical benefit from the TargetScan 3-D probe is obvious," says Michalski. "By eliminating the need to physically move the probe, the prostate position will be stabilized allowing for improved radioactive seed implantation and better brachyotherapy clinical outcomes."
TargetScan
Today, TargetScan is available in select urology clinics across the country for field testing. Envisioneering is planning a widespread TargetScan launch in conjunction with the American Urology Association conference held in San Antonio this May.
"We have met with urologists from across the country and heard their call for a better biopsy strategy to combat the disease that kills one man every 13 minutes," said Robert G. Mills, Envisioneering president. "With TargetScan, we have tried to answer this appeal by offering technology that we hope will reduce inconsistencies and produce conclusive test results from the first biopsy. This diagnostic and treatment delivery innovation is not only critical to a physician's medical practice, but it also is imperative for beating a cancer that is nearly 100 percent survivable if detected early."
About Envisioneering Medical Technology
Based in St. Louis, Mo., Envisioneering Medical Technologies is dedicated to developing, manufacturing and marketing proprietary diagnostic and treatment technology for the physician community. For more information, please visit www.envisioneeringmedical.com.
About Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer (excluding skin cancer) diagnosed in American men. Every 2.6 minutes, a new case of prostate cancer is diagnosed, afflicting one in six men during their lifetime. Last year, roughly 221,000 new cases of prostate cancer were detected in the United States.
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