Dear Editor:

I wanted to share with you some important advances at Picker International that are changing the way medicine is practiced. Picker International is a $1.1 billion global leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of advanced medical imaging technologies headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

The company's new Venue™ suite represents breakthrough technology that will assist physicians in making major inroads in interventional radiology, in addition to significantly impacting hospital costs and patient care.

Venue, an integrated group of computed tomography (CT) products, allows the radiologist to diagnose and treat patients in one episode of care. Because the Venue suite will improve accuracy, reduce procedure times, and eliminate the need to move the patient from room to room, this innovative technology will radically affect patient outcomes and physician care, while reducing hospital costs.

With Venue, physicians have all the capabilities to perform minimally invasive radiology and oncology procedures. Three pioneering products comprise Venue: PinPoint™, FACTS™, and Continuous CT™. Each of these are integrated with the powerful Picker PQ-series scanners to give interventional radiologists a combined modality capability.

With Venue:

#physicians have access to two new technologies (both of which are pending 510 clearance from the US FDA): PinPoint, a sophisticated, frameless stereotactic arm that provides unprecedented planning accuracy for interventional radiology and oncology procedures, and FACTS, fluoro-assisted CT with a unique flat-panel detector for easy patient access and superb image quality.

#diagnostic and interventional procedures can be combined, drastically reducing the time required to perform specific procedures. For example, biopsies performed with Venue take 10 minutes versus the standard 50 minutes. As a result, Venue will also lower hospital costs.

#patients face less risk, are more comfortable, and enjoy better outcomes when undergoing procedures such as biopsy, selected organ studies, and CT angiography.

I would be happy to assist you on a potential story on interventional radiology and Picker International's new Venue suite, including scheduling an interview with one of our experts. I can be reached at (216) 291-2095. A complete press kit on Venue is available.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Mary Roberts Henderson