Siemens and Philips could be liable for treble damagesThe other shoe dropped last month in Fonar's ongoing campaignto assert its MRI patent claims. The Melville, NY, company filedsuit June 16 against Siemens Medical Systems of Iselin, NJ,

Nuclear medicine struggles to dispel gloomy predictions of modality's futureVendors must work together to improve specialty's fortunesLast month's Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Minneapolisfound the nuclear medicine community at yet

Olicon awaits outcome of Du Pont divestitureDu Pont has expanded its strategy of gaining PACS expertise throughpartnering by signing a distribution deal with Olicon ImagingSystems. The deal gives a lift to Olicon, but the San Clemente,CA, firm

Siemens Medical Systems has ceded responsibility for global cyclotronsales and marketing to its PET partner, Computer Technology Imaging(CTI) of Knoxville, TN. The move enables Siemens to focus on marketingits PET products, according to Thomas Cafarella,

Ex-Diasonics Ultrasound executive Omar Ishrak has landed on hisfeet after leaving the Milpitas, CA, firm earlier this year (SCAN6/7/95). Ishrak has been appointed general manager of the globalultrasound business at GE Medical Systems, replacing John

Japanese vendor Toshiba is banking on a change of scenery to helpit meet the software requirements of U.S. nuclear medicine customers.The company announced last month that it is moving its nuclearmedicine software development program from Japan to

GE Medical Systems of Milwaukee gained regulatory clearance inJune to begin selling PROBE (proton brain exam), the first MRspectroscopy product available for non-experimental use. In making the announcement, GE made good on its 11-year-old commitmentto

Company has been approached by imaging vendorsMRI firm Resonexhas merged its equipment service and R&D subsidiaries in acorporate consolidation that paves the way for the company tobe acquired. The Fremont, CA, company has been approached by

Investment could fulfill promise of PACS powerhouseLook for Cemax-Icon to rapidly expand its presence in the PACSmarket in coming months, thanks to a capital infusion from 3MMedical Imaging Systems of St. Paul, MN. 3M has taken an equityposition

Firm to use sale as springboard for growthElscint is ramping up its effort to penetrate the market for medicalimaging equipment in China. The Israeli vendor plans to use itssale of $23 million worth of equipment to China as a springboardto

Multivendor's future is hazy, executive saysA Florida-based independent service organization is in discussionswith Siemens Medical Systems about that vendor's nascent multivendorservice program. The ISO, Southeast Imaging of Apopka, FL,

Vendor to show dual-head artifact correctionThe nuclear medicine group of Toshiba America Medical Systemsplans to highlight an upgrade in workstation processing speedat the upcoming Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting. Visitorsto Toshiba's SNM

Sale could impact Du Pont's web of alliancesMedical imaging industry consolidation took another turn lastmonth when film and PACS vendor Du Pont announced its decisionto sell its medical products businesses, the largest of whichis Du Pont

GE officials optimistic about reversing verdict on appealA federal jury has awarded Fonar $110 million after finding GEMedical Systems guilty of infringing on the rights of two patentsfor MRI inventions developed by industry pioneer and Fonar

Industry hopes to piggy-back abbreviated NDAsAnger has turned to action as the PET community struggles to cometo grips with federal initiatives that threaten to hamstring themodality. PET practitioners have launched a major effort to comeinto

Fonar has notified other vendors of its claimsFonar's assertion of MR patent claims is threatening to expandinto a legal imbroglio involving the entire MR industry. SiemensMedical Systems became the latest vendor to be dragged into

German multimodality vendor Siemens has appointed Hermann Requardt as general manager of itsMR division, effective in January. Requardt replaces Tom Miller,who returned to the U.S. last year when he was appointed vicepresident of imaging systems at the

Seattle site is first in national networkFast CT developer Imatron this month opened its first HeartScanImaging clinic in Seattle to provide coronary artery disease riskassessment studies. The clinic is the first in what Imatron hopeswill be a

Researchers to use high-field NT scannerPhilips Medical Systems is taking a different approach to interventionalMR. Rather than introduce an open-style scanner like its competition,the Dutch vendor is planning to investigate interventional

Vendor has not committed to debut dateSiemens Ultrasound is readying its long-awaited successor to thehigh-performance Quantum 2000 ultrasound scanner. Contrary topublished reports, however, the company has not settled on a productintroduction