ZONARE Medical Systems, a developer of next generation ultrasound technology, today announced a two-year contract with Kaiser Permanente, America's leading integrated healthcare organization, for ZONARE's z.one ultrasound system. Based on Zone Sonography technology, ZONARE has brought the first Convertible Ultrasound(TM) platform to the industry with superb image quality. Clinicians are able to instantly convert the z.one system from a full-featured, cart-based unit into a premium compact, portable ultrasound system with all the performance of substantially larger and more expensive units.

"Kaiser Permanente thoroughly evaluated Zone Sonography technology throughout its development cycle," said John Rego, MD, chief of radiology, San Francisco, and chair of Northern California chiefs for Kaiser Permanente. "Due to this evaluation, we have selected the z.one system as one of our ultrasound imaging options."

Deploying a fundamentally new advance in ultrasound, Zone Sonography technology coupled with the z.one platform's radically new physical design provides maximum flexibility, offering significant clinical and workflow solutions for a wide variety of customer challenges. The z.one system instantly converts from a light, very maneuverable, fully-featured, cart-based system to a five and one-half pound premium compact unit. This versatility provides the ability to image patients anytime and anywhere there is a clinical need, even in the most crowded environments, providing tremendous value to users by basically giving them two systems in one.

"Kaiser Permanente strives to provide the most effective clinical technology available in the market to meet our patients' healthcare needs," added Rego. "The ability to quickly implement the latest upgrades to the z.one system will help us in this commitment."

The z.one platform's Zone Sonography software-based architecture ensures that its performance will increase as improvements in processing power become available. Software upgrades can be installed via the Internet, an industry first. This allows for fast, convenient upgrades in clinical capabilities, keeping clinicians at the forefront of diagnostic capabilities as well as protecting their investment.

"Kaiser Permanente has an outstanding reputation for excellent patient care and highly experienced clinicians," said Donald Southard, president and CEO of ZONARE. "We are pleased to be playing a key role in providing state-of-the-art imaging capabilities in support of Kaiser's commitment to patient care."

About ZONARE Medical Systems

ZONARE Medical Systems, Inc. designs, develops, and manufactures premium compact performance ultrasound solutions, which combine revolutionary technology with an innovative physical design. Zone Sonography technology, ZONARE's unique patented approach to ultrasound imaging, is focused on bringing the highest performance to all clinical settings, leading to advanced diagnostic capabilities, more cost effective operation and increased value to providers. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.zonare.com.

Source: prnewswire