VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan. 10, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Zecotek Photonics Inc. (TSX-V:ZMS) (Frankfurt:W1I) today announced that the Swiss-based Paul Scherrer Institute has selected Zecotek's proprietary Micro-pixel Avalanche Photo Diodes (MAPD) for trials in its next-generation Positron Emission Tomography (PET) medical imaging program. The Paul Scherrer Institute PET program is focused on advancing improvements in sensitivity, spatial resolution and image quality in PET scanners, based on the understanding that advances in PET are driven largely by progress in instrumentation, in particular the performance of scintillation materials, photo-detectors and read-out electronics. Higher resolution PET scanners will provide more detailed diagnoses, result in improved patient outcomes and broaden PET applications in brain function analysis and diagnosis.
"The Paul Scherrer Institute is highly respected for its work in advancing medical imaging and we are delighted they have chosen both our MAPD photo detectors and, as previously announced, LFS scintillation crystal for their PET program," said Dr. A.F. Zerrouk, Chairman, President, and CEO of Zecotek. "The MAPD photo detector and the LFS scintillation material form the core elements of a new class of detector array used in medical imaging. Our detector array offers improved performance at a lower cost and, because our MAPDs are not affected by magnetic fields, offers the potential break-through of an integrated PET-MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scanning device."
Zecotek's MAPD solid-state photo detectors have been designed in several configurations to offer significant performance and cost advantages over the current photo-multiplier vacuum tubes (PMT) and existing solid state photo-detectors. The MAPD-2 addresses specific, high-demand requirements in high-energy physics such as particle accelerators where PMT's are vulnerable to the magnetic environment created by the superconducting magnets used in the collimation of particle tracks. The MAPD-3 meets required specifications for advanced, high resolution PET scanners and gamma camera applications, particularly when matched with Zecotek's patented LFS scintillation materials. Photo detectors, together with the scintillation material, typically constitute 50 to 65% of the manufacturing cost of a PET scanner.
The selection of Zecotek's MAPD photo detectors follows an extensive and competitive program of testing and evaluation. The MAPDs will be supplied through Zecotek Imaging Systems Pte. Ltd., Singapore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zecotek Photonics Inc., and manufactured under contract by the Malaysian Institute of Microelectronic Systems.
About Paul Scherrer Institute
The Paul Scherrer Institute is a multi-disciplinary research centre for natural sciences and technology based in Switzerland. In national and international collaboration with universities, other research institutes and industry, it is active in solid state physics, materials sciences, elementary particle physics, life sciences, nuclear and non-nuclear energy research, and energy-related ecology.
The Paul Scherrer Institute develops and operates complex research installations which call for especially high standards of know-how, experience and professionalism, and is one of the world's leading user laboratories for the national and international scientific community. Through its research, the Institute acquires new basic knowledge and actively pursues its application in industry.
About Zecotek
Zecotek Photonics Inc. (TSX-V:ZMS) (Frankfurt:W1I), is a photonics technology company developing high-performance crystals, photo detectors, lasers, optical imaging and 3D display technologies for commercial applications in the medical diagnostics and high-tech industries. Founded in 2003, the company operates three distinct divisions: imaging, lasers and 3D display, with labs located in Canada, USA, Singapore and Russia. Zecotek commercializes its novel, patented and patent-pending photonic technologies directly and through strategic alliances and joint ventures with multinational OEMs, distributors and other industry leaders. For more information, please visit www.zecotek.com.
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