MINNEAPOLIS, Dec. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Vital Images, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTAL), a leading provider of enterprise-wide advanced visualization and analysis solutions, has named Ray A. Ghanbari, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Strategy and Products, a new position at ViTAL. Ghanbari reports to President and Chief Executive Officer Michael H. Carrel. In this role, he will be responsible for product strategy and marketing, corporate development and driving strategic business planning. "We are thrilled to have Ray join our executive team," said Carrel. "His proven ability to bring world-class products to market, as well as assess and integrate technologies gained through mergers and acquisitions, will be invaluable to our growth. Ray shares our passion to deliver life-impacting products to customers promptly, and to provide service excellence to facilitate broader physician access and easier adoption of clinical applications across the enterprise." Ghanbari brings a wide variety of commercial software and healthcare technology experience in high- growth environments, and has been successful in both emerging and established companies. He has a 15-year history of developing large-scale, secure enterprise-based solutions, many for the healthcare industry. Ghanbari has held executive and senior- level positions at Ingenix, Yahoo!, MedData Healthcare Systems, Agouron Pharmaceuticals and the Mayo Clinic. Previously, Ghanbari served as Chief Technology Officer at Ingenix, a $1.7 billion UnitedHealth Group subsidiary that provides commercial software and information services to the healthcare industry. There, Ghanbari was a key player in integrating and rationalizing the company's large portfolio of acquired products and services, along with ongoing product development. Prior to Ingenix, Ghanbari served as CTO for the Performance Marketing division of Yahoo! (part of Overture Services), where he was responsible for next-generation advertiser tools and services. Ghanbari came to Overture/Yahoo! as part of the acquisition of Keylime Software, where he was CTO and senior vice president. Ghanbari said, "I'm very excited about joining Vital Images. The company has incredibly rich clinical applications, and is broadening the clinical impact of these advanced visualization capabilities by distributing them throughout the enterprise. At ViTAL, I'm eager to leverage our exceptionally strong clinical and technology expertise, deep industry relationships, and extensive customer base, as we expand our presence in the marketplace." Ghanbari received his doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition, he earned a master's degree in physics from Cambridge University in England, and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. About Vital ImagesVital Images, Inc., headquartered in Minneapolis, is a leading provider of enterprise-wide advanced visualization and analysis software solutions. The company's technology gives radiologists, cardiologists, oncologists and other medical specialists, time-saving productivity and communications tools that can be accessed throughout the enterprise and via the Web for easy use in the day-to-day practice of medicine. Vital Images also has offices in Beijing, China and Den Haag, the Netherlands. For more information, visit http://www.vitalimages.com/ . Forward-Looking Statements Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are intended to enjoy the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by that Act. These statements involve risks and uncertainties which could cause results to differ materially from those projected, including but not limited to dependence on market growth, challenges associated with international expansion, the ability to predict product, customer and geographic sales mix, regulatory approvals, the timely introduction, availability and acceptance of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, dependence on major customers, the ability to successfully manage operating costs, fluctuations in quarterly results, approval of products for reimbursement and the level of reimbursement, and other factors detailed from time to time in Vital Images' SEC reports, including its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. Vital Images encourages you to consider all of these risks, uncertainties and other factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained in this release. As a result of these matters, changes in facts, assumptions not being realized or other circumstances, the company's actual results may differ materially from the expected results discussed in the forward-looking statements contained in this release. The forward-looking statements made in this release are made only as of the date of this release, and the company undertakes no obligation to update them to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. DATASOURCE: Vital Images, Inc. CONTACT: Michael H. Carrel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vital Images, +1-952-487-9500; or Nancy A. Johnson, +1-612-455-1745, , or Marian Briggs, +1-612-455-1742, , both for Vital Images Web Site: http://www.vitalimages.com/

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