ZONARE Medical Systems, Inc. announced the introduction of its new z.one ultra sp ultrasound system for point-of-care markets such as emergency medicine, interventional radiology, venous ablation, anesthesiology and ob/gyn. The z.one ultra sp system builds upon the precedent set by the company’s z.one ultra system, offering superb image quality. Based on the company’s proprietary Zone Sonography technology, the new system offers a simple and intuitive user interface for a wider base of physicians. Clinicians can easily convert the z.one ultra sp system from a full-featured, cart-based system into a premium compact system without sacrificing image quality or performance. “Our new z.one ultra sp system is a premium ultrasound system designed specifically to meet clinicians’ needs for point-of-care markets,” said Don Southard, president and CEO, ZONARE Medical Systems. “We have simplified the user interface making it more intuitive and easy to use, which allows physicians to make quick, confident clinical decisions for all patient types. In addition, the superb image quality is equivalent to our z.one ultra system and the price point is unmatched in the industry, bringing even greater value to a wider variety of specialties.” With software-based architecture, ZONARE is able to engineer technology solutions at a lower cost, therefore offer new ultrasound platforms at a substantially lower cost than conventional ultrasound systems. The z.one ultra sp system is intended for the new, point-of-care markets in ultrasound. These include interventional radiology, venous ablation, emergency medicine, anesthesiology, critical care and ob/gyn imaging. The new system’s simplified design coupled with all the power of the z.one ultra system offers a premium convertible platform that enables physicians to perform quick exams and make fast, accurate diagnostic decisions. In addition, the new system has a boot-up time of 15 seconds. This, coupled with the battery pack and small footprint, allows clinicians to take the z.one ultra sp system in and out of patient rooms easily and efficiently. Just as the z.one system’s software-based architecture allows its performance to continue to improve as greater processing power becomes available, the new z.one ultra sp system also benefits from software upgrades that can be downloaded over the internet. The z.one ultra sp ultrasound system will begin shipping to customers in the second quarter of 2009.