by
Barbara Kram, Editor | November 27, 2005
Red Deer, Alberta, November 23, 2005 - ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. ("ART") (TSX: ARA), in collaboration with the Central Alberta Medical Imaging Services (CAMIS), today announced that it is undertaking trials in Western Canada as part of its North American pivotal study for the SoftScan optical breast imaging system.
"This pivotal study at Red Deer's CAMIS diagnostic imaging centre is aimed at establishing SoftScan as a diagnostic tool for breast cancer," explained Ms. Micheline Bouchard, President and CEO of ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. "As we continue to make clinical progress, we are very encouraged that centres of such calibre as CAMIS have joined in this study."
Through participation in this study, Red Deer's CAMIS is joining the prestigious ranks of renowned medical centres such as the Cedars Breast Clinic of the McGill University Health Centre, the Centre Hospitalier de l'Universit de Montral and the Massachusetts General Hospital. This study represents the final stage prior to commercializing SoftScan, an optical breast imaging system designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. ART intends to present results of the study in its submission to Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support its pre-market approval application for SoftScan.

Ad Statistics
Times Displayed: 36789
Times Visited: 1000 Stay up to date with the latest training to fix, troubleshoot, and maintain your critical care devices. GE HealthCare offers multiple training formats to empower teams and expand knowledge, saving you time and money
"We are excited to participate in the SoftScan project. In the future, we hope to see breast cancer diagnosed at its earliest stage to offer women the best possible outcomes," said Dr. Bernice M. Capusten, Principal Investigator and Chief of Diagnostic Imaging at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. "There has been outstanding response from women in Central Alberta who view this research as a tangible way of giving of themselves for the good of all women and their families."
Developed in Canada, SoftScan has been designed first as a complementary diagnostic tool to mammography, to be ultimately used for the detection and treatment monitoring of breast cancer. Its non-invasive and pain-free approach uses time-domain optical imaging technology, capable of precision characterization of benign and malignant breast tumours, while maintaining the patient's well-being.
In current medical procedures, a suspicious mammogram is typically followed by a biopsy, even though 80% of cases prove to be negative[1]. SoftScan has the potential to significantly reduce the anxiety, pain and suffering experienced by patients undergoing breast cancer diagnosis.