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19 May 2009
For immediate release
Australian personal ultrasound company set to transform medicine
Australian medical device company Signostics announced today it has secured
regulatory clearance from the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) to begin selling its
palm-sized personal ultrasound device, the ‘Signos’, in Australia and Europe (CE). This
follows clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the
product in the United States.
Signostics has developed a cost-effective device that for the first time makes it
affordable for individual health professionals to use ultrasound in their clinical practice.
The global personal ultrasound market is currently estimated to be worth around US$3
billion, with the U.S. market worth about US$1 billion.
The product will be launched in Australia this week at the General Practitioner
Conference to be held in Sydney, May 22 – 24.
Signostics Chief Operating Officer Stewart Bartlett said handheld medical devices like
the Signos have the power to transform medicine, providing better patient outcomes
and keeping costs down.
“The Signos allows a variety of health professionals, including general practitioners and
emergency room physicians, to use an ultrasound diagnostic device whenever and
wherever to visualize what is happening on the spot. This really is revolutionary,
because previously it was too expensive and too cumbersome to include ultrasound as
part of a doctor’s toolkit.”
“With the Signos, doctors now have an affordable ultrasound they can place in their
pocket, or wear around their neck like a stethoscope. It makes diagnosis quicker, easier
and more convenient for both the patient and the physician.”
Retailing at a fraction of the cost of larger machines, the Signos is the world’s smallest
and lightest ultrasound device. With a weight of approximately 300 grams, its portability
and low price point appeals to a large range of medical markets, including emergency
medicine, primary care, remote healthcare, critical care, physiotherapy, palliative care
and sports medicine.
The device delivers high-resolution images anywhere, at any time for key medical
applications, including: bladder assessments; abdominal aortic aneurysm screening;
musculo- skeletal biofeedback; trauma assessments; and basic obstetrics, such as fetal
presentation.
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Signostics has received funding from angel investors, AusIndustry (BIF and Commercial
Ready Grants), Bioinnovation SA and Playford Capital. The company will shortly close a
round of funding at almost US$4 million, having raised a total of US$12 million to date.
The brainchild of physician-engineer Dr Neil Bartlett, Signostics was established in
Adelaide in January 2005. Signostics employs a cutting edge development team
including physicians, sonographers as well as biomedical, electronic and software
engineers. Signostics’ global sales and marketing headquarters is located in the United
States in Silicon Valley, California.
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For media inquiries contact:
Stewart Bartlett, Chief Operating Officer
Mobile: 0403 951 272 Phone: +61 (0)8 8152 9420
sbartlett@signostics.com.au
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