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6 January, 2005

New Non-Invasive Treatment for Uterine Fibroids Reduces Need For the Over 200,000 Hysterectomies Performed Each Year in the US

Uterine Fibroids Typically Strike Women of Childbearing Age;

Up to 77% of Women May Have Uterine Fibroids and Many Suffer from Debilitating Symptoms

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 6, 2005--Beverly Tower Imaging Center today announced the offering of a revolutionary and completely non-invasive procedure to treat symptomatic uterine fibroids. SonoWave(TM) combines Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with focused ultrasound to destroy the benign but often debilitating and painful tumors. MRI and Ultrasound, two safe and proven technologies that have been used for years in medical imaging, have never before been combined in such a way to destroy tumors. SonoWave treatments are performed on an outpatient basis, and most women return to normal activities within two to three days.

"I was on my feet the very next day and, within 24 hours, I felt like a new woman," said Elizabeth Brooks, a recent SonoWave patient. "I never believed the procedure would be this good, this simple or this fast after suffering for so long."

According to the US National Institutes of Health, doctors diagnose up to 30 percent of women of childbearing age with uterine fibroids, but because some women show no symptoms of fibroids, as many as 77 percent of women may actually have the condition. Symptoms include excessive discomfort, pain, bleeding, constipation and trouble getting pregnant. Until the FDA's recent approval for commercial use of SonoWave's enabling technology, the ExAblate 2000 machine by Insightec, the treatment options available for uterine fibroids were hysterectomy, myomectomy, or uterine artery embolization. These procedures require incisions, hospital stays and lengthy recovery times, and can result in many of the same complications and side effects associated with other invasive surgeries.

"Many women have chosen to suffer with the often painful side effects of fibroid tumors in order to avoid undergoing a hysterectomy or other potentially painful alternative surgeries," says Dr. Dennis Sarti, Medical Director of Beverly Radiology Medical Group. "SonoWave is a revolutionary marriage of two high-tech modalities which will change the future of medicine."

To date, approximately 225 patients have undergone this procedure at various institutions around the world. John's Hopkins University, Peter Bent Brigham and the Mayo Clinic are the three other centers in the US performing the procedure. Beverly Tower Imaging of Beverly Hills is the only facility on the West Coast to offer SonoWave treatments.

About Beverly Tower Imaging
Beverly Tower Imaging, a Radnet center operated by Primedex Health Systems, is located at 8750 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. The center has served the Beverly Hills community for over 35 years and is one of the premiere radiological outpatient facilities in California. In its continuing effort to offer the latest technological advances to referring physicians and their patients, Tower has recently participated in research leading to FDA approval of the ExAblate 2000 machine, the instrument featured in SonoWave treatments. Patients wishing to schedule an exam or receive more information about SonoWave procedures should contact Cindy Hulbert at 310-689-3101.

Beverly Tower Imaging
Cindy Hulbert
310-689-3101

Fizz Communications
Caroline Schweich or Maggie Marshall
323-957-2326
caroline@fizzcommunications.com
maggie@fizzcommunications.com

6 January, 2005