Definiens allies with telerad firm

Agfa comes through on Spanish rollout

Agfa HealthCare delivered the first phase of its project for Basque Healthcare Service facilities in Spain, completing installations at several of the facility's 28 sites. When completed, the company will have installed six PACS, a centralized RIS, computed radiography products, and 52 printers across five hospitals and 23 primary care centers in northern Spain. The contract may also involve 19 full-leg, full-spine imaging solutions and a PACS with speech recognition.

GE reaches MR milestone

The 400th "eco-friendly" MR from GE Healthcare is operating. The 1.5T energy-efficient Signa HDe is en route to quickly eclipsing that milestone. The company took the 500th order for the product in February.

Definiens allies with telerad firm

Computer-aided detection developer Definiens has partnered with Imaging Service, a provider of teleradiology services, to utilize its LymphExpert in the analysis of patient CT images from a network of 25 German hospitals. The recently released CAD system identifies and analyzes lymph nodes volumetrically, allowing these nodes to be compared over time to determine patient response to therapy.

Mindray taps new CFO

Effective May 1, Ronald Ede will be the chief financial officer of the Chinese ultrasound maker Mindray Medical International. He replaces Joyce Hsu, who has stepped down to pursue personal interests, according to the company. Hsu will remain a Mindray board director. Ede, who has served on the board since the company's initial public offering in September 2006, chaired its audit committee from September 2006 through June 2008, when he assumed the role of group vice president of Mindray's international operations.

Alliance reports a profitable 2008

Imaging services provider Alliance HealthCare Services has resisted declining market conditions and posted positive financial results for 2008 including a strong fourth quarter. Full-year revenue was $495.8 million, an 11.4% increase from 2007. Adjusted EBITDA totaled $182.6 million, a 10.2% jump from the year before.

In the fourth quarter, sales rose 10.8% compared with Q4 2007 to $125.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased 12.1% on a quarter-to-quarter basis to $44.5 million.

Alliance opened 21 new fixed-site imaging centers in 2008 including 12 new facilities in the fourth quarter alone. Most were conversions from mobile imaging arrangements with existing customers. The firm also opened three radiation oncology centers and acquired six stereotactic radiosurgery facilities.

The company ended the year with $70 million in cash on hand and access to $50 million more from its credit line.

The Newport Beach, CA, firm changed its name from Alliance Imaging to Alliance HealthCare Services in February to reflect new ventures in radiation oncology. As of Dec. 31, 2008, Alliance operated 105 fixed-site imaging centers and 21 radiation therapy centers and stereotactic radiosurgery facilities.

During a March 6 investors' teleconference, CEO Paul Viviano expressed confidence in the company's future performance.

"We believe we are the solution to provide for hospitals in need of capital and management resources related to capital-intensive radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging projects," he said.