Hand-carried ultrasound maker SonoSite Inc. today announced that it has acquired privately held SonoMetric Health Inc., a developer of proprietary software to assess and manage cardiovascular disease in conjunction with an ultrasound examination.

Terms of SonoSite's purchase of the Salt Lake City-based company were not disclosed.

SonoSite President and CEO Kevin M. Goodwin described the transaction as "the initial step in implementing our preventive cardiology strategy and expanding our focus on providing ultrasound tools for detecting and managing cardiovascular disease."

SonoMetric's SonoCalc is designed to automatically measure wall thickness of the carotid arteries, the chief vessels that supply blood to the brain. Research on patients with cardiovascular disease has revealed that the arterial wall becomes thickened years before plaque develops within the vessel. The increased wall thickness -- or intima-media thickness (IMT) -- is associated with an increased risk of this systemic disease, the leading cause of mortality and disability in the United States today.

SonoCalc is FDA-cleared. SonoSite plans to release details of the IMT software launch later this year.