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Paramed Medical System's achievement in identifying new markets and developing novel products to capture their potential key to winning top industry award.

Based on its recent analysis of the European MRI Market, Frost & Sullivan recognised Paramed Medical Systems with the 2007 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Entrepreneurial Company for its pioneering spirit in exploring new markets and developing products to capitalise on the opportunities they present.

Paramed's MR Open system is a true reflection of its outstanding entrepreneurial abilities, showcasing a novel and revolutionary design that has taken the traditional MRI system to the next level.

"Starting out as a software provider for dedicated MRI systems and very quickly moving on to manufacture extremity imaging systems, Paramed has shown an unrelenting thirst for venturing into new segments within the MRI market," observes Frost & Sullivan Research Analyst Divya B. "It has also ventured into the breast MRI segment through a distribution tie-up with Aurora and developed a direct digital X-ray system to fulfill the complete imaging needs of small private imaging clinics, which are the prevalent set up in its home market, Italy."

The company's most recent innovation, the MR Open whole body scanner, clearly demonstrates Paramed's steady climb up the value chain from extremity MR imaging software to extremity MR systems and finally to whole body MRI systems.

Unlike the earlier C-shaped magnets of open MR systems, Paramed's MR Open is U-shaped and open on the top, which prevents claustrophobia. The novel design of MR Open is the result of Paramed's strategic alliance with an Italian industrial group (gruppo Malacalza) by means of two companies: ASG Superconductors, which developed the magnet on which MR Open system is based, and Columbus Superconductors, responsible for exploiting the magnesium diboride technology, which is at the core of the magnet itself. This magnet being super conducting, it is cryogen-free and does not require helium or refrigeration gas or fluids, which makes it easier to install and less expensive to maintain.

Since the technology is brand new, Paramed has initially introduced a low field 0.5-tesla system but plans to introduce a higher tesla system to the market in the future. This is a promising strategy as current market trends reflect a distinct preference for higher tesla units, with the low field segment experiencing declining growth rates in most parts of Europe.

Having ventured into the whole body scanners market, Paramed is now gearing up to meet competitive challenges from the bigger and more established global participants. Despite having a strong distribution network for its extremity scanners, the company is focused on strengthening its network further and is entering into strategic alliances with several distributors across Europe and the United States for this purpose.

Paramed's prior knowledge of the European MRI market is bound to be an advantage as it can explore the possibility of up selling to its existing customers. The company has projected sales of around seven to eight systems in the initial year of launch and thereafter a minimum of fifteen to twenty. This shows a healthy growth trend.

"Paramed has always been one step ahead of the rest, introducing products in anticipation of customer needs, like a true entrepreneur, whenever there is a relatively unexplored segment," says Ms. Divya. "Paramed's innovative MR Open system is expected to impact the market significantly and is the result of its keen desire to constantly explore new markets; it is these factors that make Paramed Medical Systems the deserving recipient of the 2007 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Entrepreneurial Company in the European MRI systems market."

Each year Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the small company that has demonstrated superior entrepreneurial ability in its industry during the research period. This award signifies the company's identification of a unique and revolutionary product solution with significant market potential. Additionally, the award certifies that the company's marketing strategy is sound and poised for success.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognise companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

About Paramed Medical Systems

Paramed was born in 1998 with a specific concept in mind: designing, building and commercializing MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) systems which were patient friendly and capable of reducing any discomfort caused by the MRI exam. Half of the employees have an R&D background and work towards new concepts like "open architecture" scanners or dedicated systems customized to serve the orthopedists or the sport medicine, rather than the breast radiologists and the brain surgeons. Paramed MRI systems are sold in USA and Europe.

The strive towards innovation is also being carried out through a strategic partnership with ASG Superconductors and Columbus Superconductors, two companies belonging to the Malacalza Group and dealing with superconducting magnets technologies (the core of any modern MRI system). Thanks to this cooperation, Paramed is the world's only company to make use of a recently discovered material (the magnesium diboride) in its systems, therefore positioning its products at a technological leading edge.