World premiere of Somatex’ new magnetic resonance imaging product range at the 89th German Roentgen Congress in Berlin

Teltow, 28.04.2008. Somatex Medical Technologies is to premiere at the 89th
German Roentgen Congress in Berlin a new product range of instruments for
minimally invasive surgical procedures using a magnetic resonance image scanner.
Through the use of a new alloy, these instruments can achieve excellent visibility with minimal artefact formation and high levels of material strength.

The advantages of MRI, such as good present ability without the use of ionising
radiation, high soft tissue contrast, and a high level of detail reproduction, are leading to the increasing use of minimally invasive surgical procedures with the aid of MRI. The particular requirements of MRI, however, make high demands on the material used in the making of the instruments for such procedures. Somatex has for many years been developing instruments made of paramagnetic materials which are especially suitable for use in MRI scanner.

The alloy which is now being used in the product range not only achieves the aims of very good artefact formation, but also boasts significantly higher stability than
materials previously used for the manufacture of instruments suitable for MRI
procedures. The new material renders possible higher sharpness with the resulting
higher precision in treatment, coupled with an absolute minimum of puncture trauma. “The new material has proved itself in the implantation field and will significantly improve the quality of our MRI products”, states Dirk Hornscheidt, head of Research and Development at Somatex, emphatically.

The new product range includes the following minimally invasive instruments:

• The SOMATEX^® MRI Chiba needle with a particularly sharp ultrasonic tip for
  the injection of drugs or for fine needle aspiration biopsies.
• The coaxial MR puncture cannulae with a sharp trocar tip for the absolute
  minimum of puncture trauma. The needles can, for example, be used for the
  initial puncture or as sheaths for guidewires, but also as puncture sheaths for the SOMATEX^® MR Biopsy Handy.
• The MR Tumark^® Professional for precise tissue marking under the
  guidance of MR. The new 3D marker design guarantees firm anchorage in the
  tissue with optimal visibility in all positions.
• The semi-automatic SOMATEX^® MRI Biopsy Handy for obtaining
  histologically usable tissue material from a variety of soft tissues and organs
• The MR Tuloc^® localization system for the pre-operative marking of
  suspicious tissue. Its high pressure stability and extreme sharpness of
  cannulae and wire tips render possible the simple penetration even of solid
  tumour tissue.
• The SOMATEX^® MRI DUO SYSTEM is a correctable localization set for the
  preoperative marking of non-palpable, suspected mammary lesions.

The new MR products from Somatex stand out by virtue of their consistently practiceoriented and ergonomic design, whilst at the same time boasting particularly simple, reliable, and safe handling characteristics.

The new instruments can be viewed from April 30th to May 3rd 2008 at the Somatex Stand (Industrial Forum, Hall 4.1., Booth E26) at the German Roentgen Congress in Berlin.

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Press Contact
unlimited communications berlin
Mr. Torsten Krüger
Rosenthalerstr. 40/41
D-10178 Berlin
Tel. 030 / 280078-63
E-Mail: tkrueger@ucm.de

Contact SOMATEX
SOMATEX Medical Technologies GmbH
Ms. Anja Schlicht
Rheinstr. 7d
D-14513 Teltow
Tel +49 (0) 3328 / 30 76-12
E-Mail: a.schlicht@SOMATEX.com