Press Releases

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – November 21, 2013 – Seno Medical Instruments, Inc., the company pioneering opto-acoustic imaging as a tool to improve the diagnosis of cancer, today announced that CEO Janet Campbell has been named the winner of a Gold Stevie® Award for Female Entrepreneur of the Year in the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business 2013. Ms. Campbell received the honor in the consumer products category representing companies with 11 to 2,500 employees.

The Stevie Awards for Women in Business are the world’s top honors for female entrepreneurs, executives, employees and the organizations they run. All individuals and organizations worldwide are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The 2013 awards received entries from 18 nations and territories. More than 1,200 nominations from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted this year.

“When my mother died of lung cancer, I dedicated myself to finding a way to make a significant impact on the fight against cancer by saving lives. It was with this goal in mind that I founded Seno Medical Instruments, to advance and develop a new imaging modality – called Imagio – based on opto-acoustic technology that could potentially improve how cancer is diagnosed,” said Janet. “I am honored to accept this award, and would like to sincerely thank the Stevie Awards judges for recognizing the work our company has accomplished so far.”

Imagio is an investigational opto-acoustic imaging system that may help women with benign breast masses avoid negative, invasive biopsies. It combines traditional ultrasound with an imaging technology based on light in and sound out called “opto-acoustics.” The opto-acoustic images provide a unique blood map in and around suspicious breast masses. Unlike other imaging modalities, Imagio doesn’t expose patients to potentially harmful ionizing radiation (x-rays) or injectable contrast agents.

Because cancerous tumors grow relatively quickly, they require significant amounts of blood and oxygen, so a network of blood vessels grows around cancerous masses. Radiologists believe that Imagio images depicting significant vascular structures and low oxygen levels are likely to indicate cancer.

Seno is currently enrolling patients into the Imagio Pivotal Study, which will include 16 leading hospitals and imaging centers throughout the United States.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – November 19, 2013 – Seno Medical Instruments, Inc., the company pioneering opto-acoustic imaging as a tool to improve the diagnosis of cancer, today announced that Thomas Stavros, MD, FACR, FSRU, FRANZCR, one of the world’s leading experts in breast radiology, has been named the company’s Medical Director.

“I am excited to join the Seno management team and help the company in its quest to develop and commercialize opto-acoustic imaging, which I believe could become a new standard in cancer diagnosis,” said Dr. Stavros. “I’ve spent my career working to develop safe and effective breast imaging solutions, and I believe opto-acoustic technology has the potential to significantly improve the breast cancer diagnostic and treatment path. The sad reality is that 80% of biopsies ultimately return negative results due to limitations of current imaging modalities. The Imagio system produces some of the most exciting images depicting angiogenesis and oxygen levels within and around suspicious masses that I’ve seen in my career and could enable us to more precisely diagnose or rule out breast cancer.”

The Imagio^TM breast imaging system uses a combination of traditional breast ultrasound co-registered with opto-acoustic technology, and provides physicians real time anatomical images of the breast with a functional “blood map” of a potentially suspicious mass.

Dr. Stavros is a practicing women’s imaging radiologist with more than 30 years of breast imaging experience, and is currently a women’s imaging radiologist at Sutter Medical Group, Sacramento, California. Dr. Stavros has been involved in mammography since 1976 and has been actively involved in the development of high-frequency hand-held breast ultrasound since 1981. He is a reviewer for several medical journals and has written or co-authored numerous articles. Dr. Stavros has also written the textbook Breast Ultrasound, the definitive work on this subject in the United States.

Dr. Stavros lectures about ultrasound, particularly about breast ultrasound, at numerous clinical conferences worldwide and has presented more than 1,800 invited lectures and abstracts.

He is a fellow of the American College of Radiology, a fellow of the Society of Radiologists in Ultrasound, and an honorary fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiology, where he was the Traveling Baker Professor in 1999. He received his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver and bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Minnesota.

He has served as a clinical advisor for several ultrasound, breast imaging, and minimally invasive biopsy device companies including General Electric, Phillips and Ethicon Endo-Surgery.

“Dr. Stavros’ unprecedented experience in breast imaging using ultrasound makes him an ideal Medical Director for our company. We are proud to have him join our team,” said Janet Campbell, CEO, Seno Medical Instruments. “Tom is one of the leading minds in the field driving our clinical development path us and helping us in our goal to improve the diagnosis of breast cancer for women around the globe. He brings invaluable clinical experience that will help facilitate development of Imagio and help us bring this important technology to commercialization.”

Given the positive outcomes from the Feasibility Study, Seno’s management believes that Imagio has the potential to be an important factor in the diagnostic standard of care. The objective is to provide a better tool for the user and a more accurate, efficient, safer and cost effective diagnostic care path.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – March 11, 2009 – Seno Medical Instruments, Inc. a San Antonio-based company engaged in the development of a next-generation, opto-acoustic cancer platform technology, today announced it has received the 2009 North American Medical Imaging Emerging Company of the Year Award from Frost & Sullivan.

The Award recognizes Seno Medical Instruments pioneering and industry-changing pre-clinical opto-acoustic imaging technology, its first product that was commercialized. Seno’s management team will be receiving this award March 18th in San Francisco.

In making the selection of Seno Medical Instruments as the recipient of the Emerging Company of the Year Award, representatives from Frost & Sullivan wrote in its Award review, “ Seno Medical Instruments, Inc. has favorably positioned itself to be an emerging technology provider whose products will help shape the future role of functional imaging and cancer diagnostics. The company continues to strive towards developing a flexible clinical platform technology that has the potential to significantly improve the continuum of care within a broad set of clinical segments including cardiovascular and oncology. Based on these factors, Seno Medical is proudly presented with the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Emerging Company of the Year Award in the North American Medical Imaging Industry.”

A coveted prize in industry circles and considered a major achievement, the Frost & Sullivan Award is based on a number of factors, including product development, brand strategy, the creation of “buzz” from potential investors and customers, and strategic hiring and board appointments. The Frost & Sullivan Award-recognized company must demonstrate sound decision-making and outstanding creativity on all business fronts in order to be recognized.

“We are gratified to have this important recognition bestowed on our company,” said Janet Campbell, Chairman and CEO of Seno. “This public acknowledgement from such a recognized institution as Frost & Sullivan in the medical industry is further validation of the value of our platform technology, our management team, and the future of Seno and its products. “We are honored to receive this prestigious Award.”

Frost & Sullivan presents the Award for Emerging Company each year to organizations that display world class performance in their industry. In order to qualify, companies are asked to demonstrate outstanding management, superior market growth, exceptional customer service and the ability to combine technology and successful strategic initiatives. In the Award presentation Frost & Sullivan said Seno Medical Instruments distinguished itself in 2008 as the only company to commercially offer an opto-acoustic imaging device for preclinical imaging. This achievement, along with the establishment of research partnerships and licensing agreements with notable market participants and research centers (such as Yale, MIT, NIH, and NCI) — hallmarks the company’s impressive rapid advancement since its inception in 2005.

“Highlighting the outstanding progress Seno Medical exhibited in 2008 was the company’s assembling of a talented senior management team with the experience and vision needed to drive growth and financial success in the company’s future,” said Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Travis Chong. “The company is expected to leverage its collected expertise as it explores potential growth engines in 2009 including various clinical applications within cardiology and oncology.”

Since Q3 2008 Seno Medical Instruments has announced an exclusive licensing agreement with the world leader in high frequency ultrasound VisualSonics for the rights to Seno’s opto-acoustic small animal imaging (preclinical) technology; the hire of a new Chief Medical Officer, Dr. William Keane; the appointment of imaging pioneer, Dr. Walter Robb to their Scientific Advisory Committee; and the initiation of clinical studies for their breast application at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio and the CTRC. “Over the past six months we have accomplished a great deal and achieved important goals,” said CEO Campbell. “I am proud to add to our list of scientific and management accomplishments, this important award from Frost & Sullivan. This is a tremendous recognition of achievement for Seno Medical and for cancer researchers. We look forward to further development of our platform opto-acoustic technology products in 2009.”

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – January 22, 2009 – Seno Medical Instruments, Inc., today announced the appointment of Walter Robb (PhD) to its Scientific Advisory Committee.

San Antonio, TX – SENO Medical Instruments, Inc. a San Antonio company engaged in the development of a next-generation, opto-acoustic cancer platform technology, today announced the appointment of Walter Robb (PhD) to its Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Robb headed GE Medical Systems from 1973-1986, building it into the world’s’ leading producer of medical diagnostic imaging equipment. He retired from General Electric Company as senior vice president and head of the GE Research and Development Center in Niskayuna, New York in 1993.

Since his retirement from GE, Dr. Robb, a legend in New York’s Capital Region, has become known for his investment in and board work for a number of established and emerging companies, including his new appointment to the SENO Medical Scientific Advisory Committee. “His business experience coupled with his reputation on Jack Welch’s senior team makes him a perfect fit for SENO,” said Janet Campbell, Chairman and CEO of Seno Medical. “We are thrilled to have Walter Robb, the man who helped develop GE’s CT scanner, a technology that has drastically changed the medical business be a part of our team. SENO’s technology has the potential to have a similar disruptive impact on the medical community and we are very happy to have the guidance of this medical imaging technology giant. Dr. Robb’s appointment and that of our new Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bill Keane, provide Seno with tremendous insight.”

Walter Robb is a graduate of Penn State University. In 1993 Dr. Robb received the National Medal of Technology-the nation’s highest technology honor- from President Clinton for “his leadership in the development of medical diagnostic systems that have improved people’s health and maintained U. S. global competitiveness.” He holds 12 patents and has won numerous awards and recognition including being named the winner of the first ever NEMA Medical Technology Award and the Bernard H. Falk Award for his contributions to medical device imaging.

“This is a pivotal moment in time for SENO,” said Dr. Robb, and I am happy to lend my guidance in the field of imaging. I look forward to working with Janet and her team to further the development of this powerful new imaging platform technology”

SENO’s clinical opto-acoustic imaging technology has the capability to become the new standard for the industry in cancer detection and diagnoses. Opto-acoustics provides high-resolution and high-contrast in real-time, uniquely offering the only blood map in the world for the detection of cancer.

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – December 8, 2008 – Seno Medical Instruments, Inc., today announced the appointment of William F. Keane, M.D. as its Chief Medical Officer.
San Antonio, TX – SENO Medical Instruments, Inc. a San Antonio company engaged in the development of a next-generation, opto-acoustic cancer platform technology, today announced the appointment of William F. Keane, M.D. as its Chief Medical Officer. In this capacity Dr. Keane will focus on the clinical utilization of SENO’s opto-acoustic imaging technology, moving the technology through clinical studies for use in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Dr Keane joins SENO after a distinguished career in the pharmaceutical world. Prior to joining SENO he was Chief Medical Officer at Reliant Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline Inc., where he provided for the integration of the two organizations’ scientific and medical endeavors. He has served as Vice President of US Medical and Scientific Affairs (now called External Medical and Scientific Affairs EMSA) at Merck, Inc. and served as Chairman of the Department of Medicine, Hennepin Medical Center, at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

During her announcement, Janet Campbell, Chairman and CEO of Seno Medical, praised Dr. Keane saying, “His ability as a medical doctor to understand the pharmaceutical and therapeutic aspects of our products, coupled with his experience of working with Contract Research Organizations, and his knowledge of the FDA and the process involved in moving a product through development and testing and ultimately to the patient is invaluable to SENO. We are fortunate to have Dr. Keane join our team and his addition to our team increases the capabilities of our core management exponentially.”

Dr. Keane will begin his responsibilities with Seno in the oversight of Seno’s clinical studies that will begin at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio and the CTRC this month. In addition he will assume responsibility for the critical oversight of pivotal trials that will be initiated in 2009. “I am excited to take on the role of Chief Medical Officer at SENO and to join the senior management team of this growing and dynamic company” says Dr. Keane. “SENO has made significant inroads in creating a technology to more accurately and efficiently diagnosis breast cancer. I believe their technology could have broad applications and represents a substantive advance over current imaging options. As Chief Medical Officer, I intend to direct all research and development activities to make the case for FDA approval of the device. I will also explore broader applications for the product, and bring this exciting technology to the market safely and efficiently.”

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – November 20, 2008 – Seno Medical Instruments, Inc., today announced the official signing of a licensing agreement with VisualSonics (www.visualsonics.com), a world-leader in preclinical high-frequency ultrasound, for the exclusive rights to Seno’s Opto-Acoustic small animal imaging (preclinical) technology.

Seno Medical Instruments, a dynamic medical device company located in San Antonio, Texas, received a $2 million investment from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, and is also supported by investors from the angel and medical communities. “Seno is proud to expand our financial portfolio-base through this licensing agreement,” said Janet Campbell, Seno Medical Instrument’s Chairman and CEO. “This is the first in what we hope will be a series of licensing agreements related to our strong and diverse pipeline of patented cancer diagnostic, treatment and therapeutic monitoring technologies.”

Seno’s small animal (preclinical) opto-acoustic technology is designed to enable researchers to non-invasively detect and monitor biological structures, functions and processes at the cellular and molecular level. It is the first new functional technology developed in 30 years. (Other examples of functional technology are fMRI and PET.) This technology uniquely images angiogenic growth of a tumor and reveals the oxygen saturation within the tumor, thus providing functional information. This technology can also reveal disease progression and inflammation processes that were previously unattainable. As a result of this agreement, VisualSonics will be able to embed Seno’s opto-acoustic technology in their next generation of high-frequency ultrasound platforms and thus extend their molecular imaging capability to the sub cellular level. This combination will drive the new molecular imaging utility for the next generation of small animal (preclinical) imaging with the Vevo® platform.

“The application of opto- acoustic technology to our Vevo preclinical imaging platform is an exciting new area for VisualSonics” stated Tom Little, President and Chief Executive Officer of VisualSonics, “We will be enabling researchers to push the limits of discovery as we develop tools for intracellular and molecular imaging with VisualSonics technology and Seno Medical IP.” VisualSonics Vevo platform is used at some of the worlds most prestigious research institutes at Universities, Government labs and Pharma/Biotech companies including Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, Baylor, MD Anderson, NIH and NCI.

“This is an important strategic moment for our company,” said Ms. Campbell. “We look forward to working with a market leader like VisualSonics on this preclinical project and recognize this type of licensing agreement further validates the value of our overall platform technology. There has been and continues to be great interest in this potentially disruptive opto-acoustic technology which offers greater contrast and higher resolution in real-time for its applications in the human, veterinary, academic, drug discovery and research fields.”