Australian firm buys stake in Teltron

Intaq International of Sydney, Australia, has entered into anagreement with Teltron to acquire a nonmajority stake in the U.S.medical imaging company. The new consortium will jointly developinfrared and multispectral imaging systems, according to ClydeMock, Teltron's vice president of marketing.

Teltron, based in Birdsboro, PA, will supply Intaq with a multispectralsensor, which the Australian firm will integrate into its thermographicimaging system. Prototypes of the sensor are now in production,Mock said.

Although thermography has received a mixed reception from theU.S. clinical community in the past (SCAN 1/31/90), Teltron anticipatesa large market for the thermographic imager, he said.

Potential applications for the technology may be found ingeneral practitioners' offices, emergency rooms, sports medicineclinics, and the military, he said.

"If someone has a hurt elbow and is examined by the thermographicimager, the trauma shows up like a flashlight," Mock said.

The system works by changing heat energy into electrical impulses,which are viewed on a monitor. The data can then be massaged,turned into pseudo-color and documented using a hard-copy device.

Privately held Teltron has 30 employees and is listed by Dunand Bradstreet as a company in the $1 million to $5 million range.Customers for its camera tubes include OEC/Diasonics, AFP Imagingand third-party service organizations. Agfa and Siemens are cathode-raytube customers, Mock said.

Teltron products are also used in military, space and industrialapplications. The company was founded in 1964, then split itselfinto two companies. A CRT manufacturer was purchased and all threecompanies were merged under the Teltron banner four years ago(SCAN 2/17/88).