CT

Backup plan kicks in to ensure supplyThe nuclear medicine community in April received another reminderof the precarious nature of its supply of molybdenum-99, the rawmaterial for technetium-99m. The Canadian reactor that is themain source for

Vendor will show dual-head artifact correctionPicker International will expand the versatility of its single-headgamma camera lineup by introducing Prism 1500XP at next week'sSociety of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Minneapolis. Picker alsoplans

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

Siemens Medical Systems has become the second gamma camera vendor to win Food and DrugAdministration 510(k) clearance for a nonuniform attenuation correctionproduct. Siemens' Hoffman Estates, IL, nuclear medicine grouplast month got the FDA's imprimatur

Elscint has reinforced its reputation for ongoing structural change by again reorganizingits nuclear medicine and CT/MRI sales and marketing groups. Changes announced March 1 are intended to give the units clearlydefined lines of responsibility,

Toshiba's nuclear medicine division is adding enhancements to its line of gamma cameras.The Tustin, CA, vendor is planning to extend its transmission-emissionartifact-correction technique from its triple-head gamma camerasto its dual-head systems,

Vendor to develop solid-state gamma cameraGE Medical Systems last week announced that it and two other companieshave been awarded grants sponsored by the U.S. and Israeli governmentsto develop a new type of nuclear medicine detector. The

Nuclear medicine competitors Sopha Medical and Summit Nuclearserved notice last week that 1994's wild mergers and acquisitionsride didn't end with the Radiological Society of North Americameeting. The two firms closed the year with a bang by

Multiformat camera and PACS firmVisiplex Instruments last month acquired worldwide sales and marketingrights to Nuclear Data's IV 4600 film recorder, which recordsvideo images from modalities that use an ultra-high line videosignal. The acquisition is

Nuclear medicine vendor Sopha Medical showed its hand in expandingthe functionality of its line of gamma cameras at this month'smeeting of the Radiological Society of North America. Sopha, ofColumbia, MD, displayed works-in-progress developments in

Vendor also unveils MacroVision softwareThe trickle of nuclear medicine vendors with digital gamma cameradetectors became a flood at this month's Radiological Societyof North America meeting. Several vendors unveiled developmentsin digital

While other nuclear medicinevendors play catch up by adding digital to their gamma cameras,digital pioneer Summit Nuclear will display its second-generationall-digital gamma cameras, FX-80 and FX-40. The cameras will make their RSNA debut after being

The market depth of Siemens Medical Systems is evidencedby the number of new systems the vendor will unveil in modalities from nuclear medicine to CT to ultrasound. In nuclear medicine, Siemens will soon implement a new modular strategy that allows

Holding the spotlight in SophaMedical's booth will be Sophycamera DST-XL, a new version of theFrench nuclear medicine vendor's variable-angle dual-head technology.The gamma camera was unveiled at the Society of Nuclear Medicinemeeting in Orlando (SCAN

Don't tell nuclear medicine vendorTrionix that you can't fight the Radiological Society of NorthAmerica. The Twinsburg, OH, company is returning to the RSNA'stechnical exhibit after sitting out last year because of a disputewith the meeting's organizers

Vendor creates units for medical equipment and RIS businesses ADACLaboratories last week announced a corporate reorganization thatcreates separate business units for its nuclear medicine and health-careinformation systems products. The move is

Firm cracks Japanese market with Sumitomo dealNuclear medicine vendor ADAC Laboratories is predicting smoothsailing ahead after a choppy 1994. In a teleconference with industryanalysts this month, ADAC executives painted a picture of a

ADAC pays $2 million as part of settlement Nuclear medicine vendorsADAC Laboratories and Elscint went down to the wire in their legalfight over gamma camera patents, but in the end decided to settleout of court rather than proceed to trial. As

The Food and Drug Administrationinformed Canadian nuclear medicine vendor Park Medical Systemslast week that its Isocam 2 digital dual-head gamma camera hasbeen cleared for marketing. Park, of Lachine, Quebec, is now poisedto take a run at other

Nuclear medicine vendorADAC Laboratories recorded a one-time gain of $8 million lastmonth due to the elimination of a tax credit associated with difficultyears the company experienced in the 1980s. The credit was offsetin part by a $5.5 million charge

PET may also get a boost from FDA certification of FDGThe soundyou hear may be gridlock breaking. Positron emission tomographypassed two regulatory milestones last month that could help breathelife into moribund sales of this high-end nuclear

New products may get vendor back on track ADAC Laboratories saw its stock go into the tank this month afterthe company projected third-quarter earnings to be sharply lowerdue to fierce competition in the domestic nuclear medicine market.Despite

DOE chief affirms support for effort The U.S. Department of Energy is close to finalizing a decisionto shift the focus of its molybdenum-99 program from the OmegaWest nuclear reactor to one at Sandia National Laboratory. TheDOE hopes to begin

This month's Society of Nuclear Medicine meetingin Orlando was proof positive that the recent slump in gamma camerapurchasing has not had a pronounced effect on technological innovation.Despite a plunge in orders that began late last year,

Imaging services provider MedicalDiagnostics (MDI) completed its acquisition of Meritus HealthServices, a provider of mobile CT, MRI and nuclear medicine imagingservices. Meritus is based in Roanoke, VA, and serves 17 hospitalsin Virginia, West Virginia

The downturn in the U.S. nuclearmedicine market hit Sopha Medical Systems last week. The U.S.subsidiary of French gamma camera maker Sopha Medical said itwould lay off about 9% of its work force in reaction to a declinein gamma camera orders over the

Novel engineering of ECAT ART aims for cost-efficient operation The nuclear medicine group of Siemens Medical Systems hopes to take some ofthe pain out of purchasing a new PET camera by introducing a newsystem that will sell for under $1

XPert Lays Base for Computer-aided Diagnosis Elscint will introduce a Pentium-powered nuclear medicine workstationat this month's Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Orlando,FL. The workstation, called XPert, will be the platform for

Technique Clears up Cardiac SPECT Images Attenuation artifacts caused by human anatomy have long been aproblem for nuclear medicine specialists doing cardiac SPECT.Anatomical structures such as the diaphragm, breasts and anteriorwall of the

Software Programs Improve Quantification As a mature modality, nuclear medicine has been forced to fendoff challenges from other technologies encroaching on its turf.The use of nuclear medicine in brain imaging, for example, hasplummeted since