Imatron's EBT Coronary Artery Scan Shown to Non-Invasively Detect Coronary Artery Blockage in Patients Receiving Heart Transplants.

Business Editors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2000

Imatron Inc. (Nasdaq:IMAT) today announced the publication in Circulation, the journal of the American Heart Association, of a Humboldt University study at the German Heart Institute in Berlin.

Friedrich Knollman, MD, reported remarkable results of "Electron Beam Computed Tomography in the Assessment of Coronary Artery Disease After Heart Transplantation" in 112 transplant recipients who received EBT scans to measure coronary artery calcification an average of 4 years after surgery. The authors reported that only the EBT "calcium score" predicted the occurrence of narrowings greater than 50% in the arteries of the new heart. The patients' gender, age and the time after transplantation were not significant predictors. Using an optimized threshold for detection, which matches that determined in other studies of asymptomatic subjects, the investigators determined a sensitivity of 94% for detecting these stenoses, or narrowings of the coronary arteries, and a 99% negative predictive value in ruling out their presence.

Dr. Knollman and colleagues concluded that their data "confirmed the role of EBCT calcium screening as a method for coronary artery disease assessment and extended its role in conventional atherosclerotic heart disease to heart transplant recipients." Their comparison with intracoronary ultrasound, which is the standard of reference for assessing allograft vasculopathy, but is invasive and expensive, suggested that EBT could be used as a "surrogate marker for coronary artery disease after heart transplantation." The authors point out that more than 3,000 people receive heart transplants every year and many undergo annual coronary angiograms. According to the authors, many of these procedures might be avoided by the use of this "highly sensitive method" which is an "inexpensive, non-invasive test" and could result in substantial cost savings.

S. Lewis Meyer, CEO of Imatron, stated, "This paper represents another in a long line of peer-reviewed publications validating the important role that Imatron's proprietary EBT technology can play in assisting physicians in assessing the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in a wide variety of patient populations. Clearly, the significance of this paper is not the potential market represented by heart transplant patients, but rather that the unprecedented sensitivity and negative predictive value of the EBT coronary artery scan has once again been clearly validated. No matter what the patient population of interest, the EBT coronary artery scan continues to uniquely provide physicians with a fast, accurate and non-invasive means of assessing the presence and extent of coronary heart disease. There can be little doubt that this type of high quality medical community acceptance is not only positioning EBT as the "gold standard" technology in coronary artery imaging, but is also building a strong foundation for future EBT scanner sales."

Imatron, Inc. is primarily engaged in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and supporting high performance EBT scanners based on the Company's proprietary electron beam tomography (EBT) technology. Imatron's EBT scanner is now in use at more than 120 major medical facilities and imaging centers around the world, including the Mayo Clinic, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Abbott-Northwestern Hospital, Mount Sinai Medical Center, University of Iowa, National Institutes of Health, UCLA Medical Center, Stanford University, University of Illinois, Arizona Heart Institute, Alfried Krupp Krankenhaus, Essen, Daniel den Hoed Klinik in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Cardiology Research Centre in Moscow, Russia, FAU Erlangen-Nurnberg in Erlangen, Germany, Zentralklinik Bad Berka in Bad Berka, Germany and Beijing Hospital in China, HeartScan Imaging, Cooper Clinic, HealthScan of La Jolla, LifeScore of San Diego and Vital Imaging Diagnostic Clinic.

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and estimates about the industry in which Imatron operates, the estimated impact of certain technological advances, the estimated impact of published research studies on scanner sales and procedures, as well as management's beliefs and assumptions. It is important to note that the Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others; failed clinical demonstration of certain asserted technological advantages and diagnostic capabilities; reliance on product distributors; competition in the diagnostic imaging market; failure to improve product reliability or introduce new product models and enhancements; delays in production and difficulty in obtaining components and sub-assemblies from limited sources of supply; inability to meet cash-on-delivery or prepayment terms from vendors; determinations by regulatory and administrative government authorities; patent expiration and denial of patent applications; the high cost of the scanner as compared to commercially available CT scanners; and the risk factors listed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including their reports of Form 10-K for their current fiscal year.