SuperSonic Imagine: The "Tor des Géants” Ultra-Marathon

Regulatory News:

SuperSonic Imagine (Paris:SSI) (Euronext: SSI, FR0010526814), a company specializing in ultrasound medical imaging, will be taking part in the MUST medical project, which aims to provide a better understanding of the effects that ultra endurance has on muscles and the body, by providing the team of doctors and researchers with two of its latest Aixplorer^® ultrasound systems.

The study will be conducted during the Tor des Géants (Tour of Giants) mountain ultra-marathon. The race will be held from 7 to 14 September 2014 and cover a total of 330 km to be completed within 150 hours, with an elevation gain of 24,000 m on the Italian slope of Mont Blanc. Such a unique race will allow researchers to study major inflammatory reaction as well as the muscular and cardiac modifications that occur when the body is placed under extreme conditions of stress.

The MUST project will benefit from the most advanced medical imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging and latest generation ultrasound imaging, including innovations like ShearWave™ Elastography using the Aixplorer ultrasound system. At four key points during the race (before the departure, at the half-way mark, upon arrival, and following three days of recuperation) the medical team – made up of researchers and physiologists dedicated to research into human tissue – will examine the 46 volunteer athletes.

Aixplorer, an ultrasound system perfectly adapted for muscular and skeletal imaging

The Aixplorer ultrasound system by SuperSonic Imagine will create B-mode images of the muscles with exceptional definition, particularly in the quadriceps, some of the hardest working muscles during ultra-endurance races. Images of tendons, ligaments and joints will also be created in real time.

Aixplorer is the only ultrasound system equipped with ShearWave^TM Elastography, which provides accurate, real-time imaging and measurements of tissue stiffness, such as muscles and tendons, which is essential in the characterization of muscular lesions. The new shear wave method will provide images of the tissue transformation of muscles affecting athletes, in particular oedemas that appear during the race.

"We are proud to be taking part in this study led by Professor Croisille from the University of Lyon (the Creatis laboratory) and Saint Étienne. The results will provide essential information on inflammatory reactions and muscular modifications when the body is placed under extreme conditions. Ultimately, this will allow us to better understand certain pathologies and traumas and improve treatment of patients,” explains Jacques Souquet, President of SuperSonic Imagine.

The initial results of the study are due to be published in the first half of 2015.

About the MUST Project

The MUST international project brings together MR imaging researchers (CREATIS Research Lab.), as well as exercise physiology, anesthesia and resuscitation researchers of the Rhône-Alpes area (France), Switzerland, Canada, Italy, and Belgium. The study will help to improve our understanding on very intense inflammatory response occurring during ultra-endurance exercise and its recovery mechanisms, and will ultimately help the medical community to apply the expected additional knowledge to severe medical conditions in patients that are known to be similar in several aspects.

The project is supported by the Club des Cardiologues du Sport (CCS), the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), and the IHU OPERA dedicated to organ protection and replacement. The purpose of the MUST project, which is in perfect synergy with these institutes, is hence legitimized by major public health issues and is expected to have a high societal impact.

For more information on the Must project:

http://www.creatis.insa-lyon.fr/MUST/

http://www.creatis.insa-lyon.fr/MUST/FR/Partenaires/

For more information on the Tor des Géants

Link to the race: http://www.tordesgeants.it/fr#sthash.Z54v19kU.dpbs

About SuperSonic Imagine

Founded in 2005 and based in Aix-en-Provence (France), SuperSonic Imagine is a company specializing in medical imaging. The company designs, develops and markets a revolutionary ultrasound system, Aixplorer®, with an UltraFast™ platform that can acquire images 200 times faster than conventional ultrasound systems. Aixplorer® is the only system that can image two types of waves: ultrasound waves ensure excellent image quality and shear waves, which allow physicians to visualize and analyze the stiffness of tissue in a real-time, reliable, reproducible and non-invasive manner. This innovation, ShearWave™Elastography, significantly improves the detection and characterization of numerous pathologies in several applications including breast, thyroid, liver and prostate. SuperSonic Imagine has been granted regulatory clearances for the commercialization of Aixplorer® in the main global markets. Over the past years, SuperSonic Imagine enjoyed the backing of several prestigious investors, among which Auriga Partners, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Bpifrance, Omnes Capital and NBGI.

For more information about SuperSonic Imagine, please go to www.supersonicimagine.com