Applications of Imatron's Ultrafast CT Scanner Featured at Annual American Heart Association Scientific Session; Imatron Study Results Add To Significance of "West of Scotland" Study Conclusions.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 1995-- Imatron Inc. (NASDAQ: IMAT). News briefs distributed to the 10,000 physicians attending last week's 68th American Heart Association Scientific Session in Anaheim, CA spotlighted two studies describing important applications of Imatron Inc.'s Ultrafast CT scanner. These Imatron applications complemented the "West of Scotland" study, a major AHA conference highlight, which tested the effectiveness of cholesterol-lowering drugs in over 6,000 asymptomatic men with high cholesterol readings.

The West of Scotland investigators reported that their study group experienced a greater than 30 percent reduction in cardiac death rates. In some cases, according to S. Lewis Meyer, Imatron president and CEO, many people with high cholesterol levels may have no calcification in their coronary arteries, low risk of obstructive heart disease and, therefore, no need to take these powerful, but costly, cholesterol-lowering drugs.

"The data reported by clinical researchers using Imatron scanners, combined with the results of the West of Scotland study, suggest that Imatron's technology could be the key to identifying people who do have atherosclerosis and, therefore, should take the drugs," Meyer said.

Of the 3,874 scientific papers submitted at the conference, 35 were selected for inclusion in the official conference news briefs that reached all the delegates. "Of these," Meyer said, "Two related to applications of Imatron's Ultrafast CT scanner." Imatron's non-invasive, high-speed imaging device uses patented Electron-Beam Tomography (EBT) technology to detect the presence of plaque in coronary arteries, often long before heart disease symptoms occur.

The first Imatron-related AHA study, from Gail Puentes and colleagues at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, CA, described a 12-month investigation that followed a group of patients at high risk for developing heart disease. According to the AHA brief, "Calcium deposits in the coronary arteries detected with electron-beam CT were strongly linked to the risk of death."

The AHA news briefs also spotlighted a study conducted by Dr. Stuart Rich, of the University of Illinois, which analyzed coronary artery EBT scans of patients admitted to the emergency room with chest pain. The report concluded, "Electron beam CT can stratify high and low-risk patients, leading to a more cost-effective approach to clinical intervention."

Imatron is a technology-based company principally engaged in the business of designing, manufacturing and marketing a high-performance computed tomography (CT) scanner that uses a scanning electron beam. The scanner is used in large and mid-sized hospitals and free-standing imaging clinics and is distributed in the U.S., Canada and Europe by Siemens Medical Systems. Imatron's HeartScan Imaging Inc. subsidiary provides Coronary Artery Scanning (CAS) diagnostic services in company-owned clinics. Imatron is also engaged in the related businesses of performing research and development for itself and others in the field of CT devices and licensing of its patents and knowledge in the fields of imaging sciences.

CONTACT: Jeff Lloyd

Christine Thomas

Sitrick And Company Inc.

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Lew Meyer, President/CEO

Gary Brooks, VP Finance/CFO

Imatron Inc.

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