SonoSite’s VisualSonics unit launches Vevo LAZR imaging system

SonoSite has announced that its VisualSonics business unit is launching a new photoacoustics imaging system for use in the research and analysis of cancer.

The Vevo LAZR device has been in development for a number of years and combines the depth penetration and resolution of high-frequency ultrasound with the sensitivity offered by optical lighting.

Via this functionality, medical researchers will be able to chart tumour biology and changes in blood flow, measure oxygen levels and extract insights into cancer therapeutics that were not previously possible.

It was presented to attendees of the World Molecular Imaging Conference in Japan last year and was met with strongly positive responses from research bodies and institutions.

Anil Amlani, VisualSonics' president and chief executive officer, said: "The Vevo LAZR photoacoustics system offers the unique capability to non-invasively capture real-time, high-resolution data that is unavailable and unparalleled to any other in vivo anatomical or molecular imaging technology."

VisualSonics has been a part of the SonoSite group since the completion of a $67.9 million (42.49 million pounds) takeover in June 2010.