Dilon Diagnostics, which makes molecular breast imaging equipment, said Tuesday it reached a deal with PenRad to sell its mammography workflow and Matakina International's breast density quantification software.

Newport News, Va.-based Dilon said it will sell PenRad's Mammography Information System family of products to hospitals and imaging centers across the country. PenRad's MIS was the number one rated product in its KLAS category in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to the companies.

Through the deal, Dilon will also sell Volpara, a program that quantifies breast density based on a digital X-ray.

Dilon CEO Robert G. Moussa said in a statement that the deals fit with the company's strategy of providing doctors with technologies to aid in the early diagnosis of breast cancer.

Also, the company said the information gained by using Volpara, cleared by the Food and Drug Administration in November, was important, as there has been greater recognition by doctors and lawmakers of the role breast density plays in mammography.

"This is very important, because many states have enacted new legislation that imaging centers and hospitals have to report to their patients what their breast density is, because it has an impact on the sensitivity of a mammogram," Nancy F. Morter, executive director of business development and sales support, told DOTmed News.

Texas governor and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry, for instance, signed a breast density bill into law in June.

Dilon Diagnostics is a subsidiary of Dilon Technologies Inc., which was founded in 1997. Dilon makes the 6800 Gamma Camera, used in breast-specific gamma imaging or molecular breast imaging.

PenRad, founded in 1995, is based in Minnetonka, Minn.

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