PARIS, March 22, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mauna Kea Technologies today announced highlights from the 2nd Annual International Conference of Cellvizio® Users (ICCU), which included 30 presentations on the role and impact of cellular-level in vivo imaging with the Cellvizio probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) system in diagnosing and treating numerous gastrointestinal (GI) diseases. Dr. David L. Carr-Locke, Chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases and Director of the Endoscopy Institute at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York and Prof. Guido Costamagna, Director, of the Digestive Endoscopy Unit at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic and Professor of Surgery at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome co-chaired the meeting, which was attended by 80 gastroenterologists and specialists from 10 countries around the world. ICCU 2010 was held in Paris from March 20-22.
"Over the past year, Cellvizio has evolved from a promising technology to a proven tool that physicians use to diagnose and treat early-stage cancer more efficiently and effectively," Dr. Carr-Locke said. "The community of pCLE users is working together to increase its understanding and advance the use of this important new visualization tool in clinical applications where we require and demand faster, more efficient and accurate diagnosis with fewer endoscopic procedures."
Mauna Kea Technologies has dedicated itself to providing physicians forums through which they can help each other understand and utilize the Cellvizio system, which is installed at nearly 100 institutions throughout the world. The company sponsored over a dozen training courses in the last 12 months and hosts the ICCU annually so the members of the Cellvizio community can come together to share clinical experiences, discuss image interpretation, participate in training and reach consensus on the use of Cellvizio in routine clinical practice.
"Adding cellular level imaging to standard endoscopy procedures offers us a tremendous amount of additional valuable information in real time that may ultimately improve patient care and save costs," Prof. Costamagna said. "While the community embraced the technology as a diagnostic tool, it is playing an increasingly important role in our evaluation of therapeutic procedures and patient options, most notably when resecting pre-malignant or malignant lesions in a timely and complete manner."
Physicians at the meeting discussed how they are using Cellvizio to diagnose and subsequently treat various GI diseases – including Barrett's esophagus, inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal polyps, stomach cancer and pancreatic and biliary diseases. Experts also shared their experience with Cellvizio in other indications related to pulmonology, urology and preclinical research.
Based on positive early findings from the "DONT BIOPCE study," the large, prospective multi-center, international, randomized, controlled trial designed to evaluate if Cellvizio could improve outcomes and surveillance efficiency in patients with Barrett's esophagus, the company recently started enrolling patients in a large, randomized, controlled, multi-center outcomes study to confirm if Cellvizio helps physicians identify pre-cancerous tissue that may have been missed during therapeutic interventional procedures for Barrett's esophagus. For more information on the study, known as CLEAN MARGIN, please visit ClinicalTrials.gov.
Results of the DONT BIOPCE study, as well as the Cellvizio ERCP registry trial for the evaluation of indeterminate strictures of the bile and pancreatic ducts, will be presented at the Digestive Disease Week 2010 conference, which will take place in New Orleans, May 1 to 5, 2010. Both studies were initiated at the end of 2008 with groups of dedicated, world renowned clinical investigators from the United States of America (USA), France and Germany.
About Cellvizio
Cellvizio, the world's smallest and most flexible microscope, is the first system designed to provide real time live images of internal human tissues at the cellular level during endoscopic procedures. This new method, known as probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE), allows physicians to visualize an area of interest and use this information in the overall assessment of the patient's condition, which may aid in real-time treatment decisions. This new, advanced imaging technique helps physicians to detect abnormalities more effectively so patients may be treated earlier and may undergo fewer endoscopic procedures. Physicians and thought leaders at almost 100 top medical institutions around the world have completed over 4,000 of these procedures and have published more than 35 peer-reviewed papers on the technology in major medical journals. Cellvizio, which delivers up to 12 microscopic images per second and can be used with almost any endoscope, has premarket notification 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European CE-Mark for use in the GI and pulmonary tracts.
About Mauna Kea Technologies
Mauna Kea Technologies is a medical device company based in Paris, France. With its flagship Cellvizio systems, the company leads the growing endomicroscopy imaging market, enabling physicians to visualize, diagnose and treat directly inside the body in real time, pathologies that may not be seen using other imaging techniques. Investors include Psilos Group, Seventure and Creadev. For more information about Mauna Kea Technologies visit www.maunakeatech.com