Mauna Kea Technologies Announces Acceleration of Installations and Use of Cellvizio Endomicroscopy Platform in Japan

PARIS, March 11, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

Technology highlighted in first-ever Japanese live demonstration during the 14^th  Yokohama International Endoscopy Conference. 

Mauna Kea Technologies (Euronext: MKEA, FR0010609263), inventor of Cellvizio®, the multidisciplinary confocal laser endomicroscopy platform, today announced several developments showing adoption and expanded use of the Cellvizio technology platform in multiple diagnostic applications in Japan.

Cellvizio received MHLW regulatory approval in Japan in April 2014 and is now installed in ten leading hospitals throughout the country including the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo. In response to growing interest among clinicians and researchers, the Japanese Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society (JGES) also established a special interest group on confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) to advance a range of key initiatives and learning opportunities.

On March 7^th, Dr. Ken Ohata, Director of Endoscopy at NTT Medical Center Tokyo, performed the first-ever live procedure involving the use of Cellvizio in Japan at the 14^th Yokohama International Endoscopy Conference. Prof. Shinei Kudo, Chairman of Digestive Disease Center, Showa University Northern Yokohama Hospital, cofounder of the Magnifying Endoscopy Society in Japan and Course Director of the conference, commented, "We had a very powerful demonstration of endoscopic microscopy technologies at the 14^th Yokohama Live. These technologies are an  increasingly important part of the future of endoscopy and I fully support their continued development in Japan." 

In addition, more than 25 leading physicians from Japan will take part in the upcoming International Conference of Cellvizio Users (ICCU) to be held in Lisbon on April 10^th. Dr. Yutaka Saito, Chief of Endoscopy at National Cancer Center Hospital, is the incoming chairman of the ICCU meeting.

"Diagnosis and treatment of digestive cancers remain a critical health issue in Japan, and the ability to characterize these cancers faster and with improved specificity could have a significant impact on patient care and outcomes," said Dr. Saito. "We are very proud to be leading the clinical development of confocal laser endomicroscopy in Japan where the attention to analysis at the microscopic level has for many years been a primary focus and goal."

In addition to the Yokohama meeting, data and case studies related to use of Cellvizio will be presented at 13 different medical congresses in Japan in 2015.

"Japanese physicians have been leading the development of endoscopy for decades. We are very proud to see that Cellvizio is already available at many of the top research and treatment centers in Japan and that it is receiving strong support from many of the leaders in the endoscopy community," said Sacha Loiseau, CEO and Founder of Mauna Kea Technologies. "We look forward to working with even more leading physicians throughout Japan to bring the clinical value of Cellvizio to more hospitals and patients,  and we are confident that more important applications of our technology will be developed in this significant market."

Optical biopsy with Cellvizio enables the visualization of tissues at the cellular level during an endoscopic examination to determine the presence of diseases and conditions such as cancer. The procedure combines CLE with standard endoscopy and produces images with microscopic precision that can provide physicians with real-time information to support faster and more accurate diagnosis.

About Mauna Kea Technologies 

Mauna Kea Technologies is a global medical device company focused on leading innovation in endomicroscopy and optical biopsy. The company designs, develops and markets innovative tools to visualize and detect cell abnormalities in real time during standard gastrointestinal and pulmonary endoscopy procedures. The company's flagship product, Cellvizio®, a probe-based Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy (pCLE) system, provides physicians and researchers with high-resolution cellular imaging of internal tissues. Large- scale, international, multi-center clinical trials have demonstrated Cellvizio's ability to help physicians to more accurately detect early forms of diseases and make immediate treatment decisions. Designed to help physicians in their diagnoses, provide patients with better treatment and reduce hospital costs, the Cellvizio system can be used with practically all endoscopes. Cellvizio has 510(k) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration and CE Marking in the European Union for use in the gastrointestinal tract and the urinary and respiratory systems, for endoscopic exploration of the biliary and pancreatic ducts, and for fine-needle aspiration procedures. Cellvizio also obtained SFDA regulatory approval in China and MHLW approval in Japan.

For more information on Mauna Kea Technologies, visit http://www.maunakeatech.com

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SOURCE Mauna Kea Technologies

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