Toshiba Introduces Two New Ultrasound Systems

CHICAGO - Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. launched two new ultrasound systems at RSNA 2011, which the company said will give clinicians an entirely unique perspective during the scan.

The Aplio 500 ultrasound, which includes advanced visualization capabilities, workflow tools and streamlined ergonomics, also has two new optional advanced features: Fly Thru and Smart Fusion.

Fly Thru allows the user to “fly through” the interior for better exploration and planning in interventional procedures, according to the company. Using 3-D volume rendering, the Fly Thru feature gives a unique perspective. “It’s like putting an endoscopic camera in the cavity,” said Tomo Hasegawa, director of the ultrasound business unit for Toshiba, during a tour Monday.

Smart Fusion combines CT and ultrasound images side-by-side on the screen and syncs the images to help clinicians locate lesions. The system uploads the CT images and aligns it with the ultrasound images. “It revolutionizes delivery of interventional procedures,” Hasegawa said.

Toshiba also highlighted their Aplio 300 ultrasound, which is similar to the 500 but without the Fly Thru and Smart Fusion. Hasegawa described it as the “clinical workhorse, the perfect essential system.”

The company also introduced the new Vantage Titan 1.5 MR Series. The 8-channel and 32-channel systems are works in progress. The new system, which will be available around the middle of next year, has a wide, 71-cm bore, lighted gantry, and Pianissimo noise reduction technology – all to improve the patient experience, said Suresh Narayan, PhD, senior manager of MR market development, during a tour Monday.

Toshiba officials also showcased their newest CT scanner, the Aquilion Prime CT, which is pending 510(k) clearance. It features an 80-row 0.5 mm detector, a 7.5-MHU large-capacity tube and 0.35 second scanning. It has a 78-cm aperture gantry and a 660-pound patient weight capacity couch option with a large gantry bore, making it ideal for emergency scanning or bariatric patient studies, according to the company. It can generate 160 unique slices per rotation. The system uses Toshiba’s Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction (AIDR) technology for dose reduction.