Marketplace
Imaging3 competes
in the medical diagnostic imaging market and this market
has never been healthier than it is today. This vitality is due
primarily to continual technological improvements that lead to faster
and better-resolution imaging, greater patient safety, and the provision
of these capabilities to a growing population. The result has been
a vigorous competition to create the most cost-effective diagnostic
imaging systems.
 According
to a Business Communications Inc. study, Medical Imaging:
An Evolving Technology, the total medical diagnostic imaging market
is growing at an average annual growth rate of 5.9% from 1999 through
2004. Valued at just over $4 billion in 1999, diagnostic imaging
will generate nearly $5.4 billion by 2004.
Diagnostic imaging is an evolving
part of modern medicine and is now entering a new era of digital
imaging. The field has evolved from the early X-rays by Roentgen
over 100 years ago to imaging of organs by computerized tomography
(CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that are 20 years old.
Medical imaging is used for diagnosis in the leading
causes of death, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer. What was once
called the radiology department is now called the diagnostic imaging
department because of the wealth of new technologies available beyond
x-rays. A trauma victim's internal injuries are imaged with a CT
scanner. Breast cancer, a leading cause of death in women, is detected
with mammography and ultrasound.
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At
this time, the Company's management is not aware of any existing
devices in the marketplace that provide 3D, real-time diagnostic
medical imaging, with the exception of ultrasound. Ultrasound is
a real-time tomgraphic imaging modality. Not only does it produce
real-time tomograms of the position of reflecting surfaces (internal
organs and structures), but also it can be used to produce real-time
images of tissue and blood motion. However, ultrasound is a low-resolution
imaging modality that does not produce an image as precise and clear
as fluoroscopy. The Company's invention relies instead on the use
of fluoroscopy, a high-resolution imaging modality, to produce a
"live" X-ray image of a living patient in 3D. 