New Study Utilizing Imatron's Ultrafast CT Identifies $5 Billion Potential Emergency Room Annual Cost Savings.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BW HealthWire)--Jan. 7, 1999--

Electron Beam CT in the Evaluation of Emergency Department Chest Pain

Patients a "Rapid and Efficient Screening Tool"

Imatron Inc. (Nasdaq:IMAT) announced today that the January 1, 1999 edition of the "Annals of Emergency Medicine" reported an important new study conducted at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota regarding the role of Imatron's Ultrafast CT(R) in the evaluation of Emergency Department chest pain patients.

According to the study, $10 billion to $13 billion annually is spent on admitting patients to the hospital for the workup of suspected, but unconfirmed, coronary syndromes. Of those patients admitted for chest pain evaluation, only a small percentage have experienced a myocardial infarction (heart attack) and, furthermore, 2 to 10 percent of those patients discharged from the Emergency Department have actually experienced a heart attack.

This important paper reports on a pilot study of 100 patients scanned by Imatron's Electron Beam CT (EBCT) coronary artery scan (CAS), together with the standard battery of diagnostic tests. In a subsequent analysis of the results, Dr. Laudon, Emergency Medicine Specialist at the Mayo Clinic, and his co-investigators found that "the negative predictive value of EBCT for predicting significant coronary artery disease was 100 percent." This 100 percent sensitivity of the Coronary Artery Scan for identification of acute myocardial infarction compares very favorably to that of only 35 to 50 percent sensitivity for standard electrocardiograms and single determination of cardiac enzymes, which are in common use today. Subsequent functional testing, such as treadmill testing or radionuclide scanning, is often performed, but requires the presence of a major obstruction to produce an accurate result. The authors conclude, "Our study strongly suggests that patients admitted to the Emergency

Department with angina-like chest pain who have normal initial cardiac enzymes and normal or indeterminate electrocardiographic findings may be able to be effectively triaged by EBCT images of their coronary arteries. Our data suggest that a negative EBCT scan may allow discharge of the patient from the Emergency Department without further testing..."

According to S. Lewis Meyer, President and CEO of Imatron, "This landmark publication of data could revolutionize the way in which patients are worked up in the emergency room. The authors of the Mayo Clinic study state that "the cost of EBCT is only a fraction of other diagnostic tests." The study reported that 54 percent of patients could have been discharged on the basis of Imatron's Coronary Artery Scan results without further testing and that "substantial cost savings could be achieved." This means that of the 1,500,000 patients admitted for chest pain evaluation and observation in the United States each year, 800,000 patients could be discharged after scanning by Imatron's Ultrafast CT, resulting in potential savings of more than $5 billion in healthcare costs annually. We believe that these findings underline the importance of EBCT to physicians at all major medical institutions who are searching for practical methods to control costs while delivering optimum healthcare to those who need it."

Imatron, Inc. is primarily engaged in designing, manufacturing, marketing, and supporting high performance computed tomography (CT) scanners based on the Company's proprietary scanning electron beam technology. Ultrafast CT is a registered trademark of Imatron. Imatron's Ultrafast CT scanner is now in use at major medical centers around the world, including The Mayo Clinic, University of Iowa, National Institutes of Health, UCLA, Stanford University, University of Illinois, The Arizona Heart Institute, The Royal Brompton Hospital in London, Tokyo University Hospital and Beijing Hospital.

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 on Form 10-K for their current fiscal year.