DUSSELDORF, Germany, November 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Panasonic announced today the European unveiling of its new innovative tool for personalized preventive medicine, the CardioHealth Station, at renowned medical trade fair MEDICA in Dusseldorf, Germany (Hall 9, booth E47). The device is designed to assist medical professionals in making a quick and valuable assessment of cardiovascular health. The CardioHealth Station will be available in Europe by spring 2011 after obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals.

Recently published studies (ARIC & MESA)*1 have shown that valuable information is revealed in the assessment of vascular health, and the risks of a cardiovascular event associated with those assessments. The ARIC*2 study, a recent multi-institution study, reveals that certain patients can be reclassified by looking at the carotid-intima media thickness and the presence of plaque in the said patient. As a result, Panasonic developed CardioHealth Station, a much needed device that will help the doctor, and in some cases the technician, quickly detect thickened carotid arteries. The carotid artery is the branch that goes from the heart up the neck, and provides blood to the front of the face and the brain. What once used to be difficult and impractical to do on a mass basis is now made possible by the innovative automation technology loaded as standard in the CardioHealth Station.

Professor Raimund Erbel, Department of Cardiology, West-German Heart Center Essen, welcomes this novel development: "The ultrasound of carotid arteries is critical because physicians, and in particular cardiologists, agree that this leads to a more accurate assessment of patient risk than looking at risk factors alone."

The CardioHealth Station has a built-in portable ultrasound system optimized to perform a non-invasive examination of the peripheral vessels. It provides an automated measurement of the intima-media thickness (IMT) of peripheral arteries such as the common carotids and allows the user to search for arterial plaques using real-time B-mode imaging. The touchscreen keyboard allows the user to input various parameters relating to traditional cardiovascular risk factors. A built in calculator provides risk scores commonly used in a variety of geographical locations (Framingham Risk Score, PROCAM Health Check Score, Reynolds Risk Score, Risk score based on the SCORE Project). This information is supplemented with an IMT measurement of the artery to generate a comprehensive report to aid the physician in assessing cardiovascular risk.

Chairman and CEO of Panasonic Europe Ltd. Laurent Abadie, stated, "We at Panasonic see the CardioHealth Station as a step forward in personalized preventive medicine. Not only will it enhance patient outcomes, but it has the potential to reduce healthcare costs in Europe through early detection and quicker diagnosis."

In May, the president of Panasonic Corporation, Fumio Ohtsubo stated Panasonic's worldwide intention to reinforce the healthcare business and he announced the plan to change its subsidiary's name from Panasonic Shikoku Electronics Co.,Ltd to Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd on October 1, 2010. On October 25, Panasonic Corporation of North America announced the formation of CardioNexus Corporation, which became the launching platform for CardioHealth(R) Station in North America on November 14th. Panasonic is currently applying for FDA and EMA approval of the CardioHealth(R) Station, and expects sales to begin as soon as approval is received from the appropriate regulatory authorities.

"Helping the world reduce global healthcare costs is in everybody's interest," said Osamu Takahashi, the Director of Global Strategy at Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd. "Panasonic believes the CardioHealth Station, a first in a series of products - will help achieve the corporate goal of improving society through the early detection of disease."

*1 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) and the ongoing Multiethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). Both studies are sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. More information about the ARIC study can be found at http://www.cscc.unc.edu/aric/ ; more information about the MESA study can be found at http://www.mesa-nhlbi.org

*2 ARIC study can be found at http://www.cscc.unc.edu/aric/

For more company information, please visit http://www.panasonic.eu.

SOURCE: Panasonic Healthcare Co., Ltd.

CONTACT: Ann Blumenstock, Red Door Communications,ablumenstock@rdcomms.com, +44(0)20-8392-8040; Wilson Solano, PanasonicEurope Ltd., Wilson.Solano@eu.panasonic.com, +49-(0)611-235-305