Vendors showcase new products

PET/CT unit

The Gemini LXL PET/CT scanner offers advanced applications and helps to optimize workflow and streamline operations, according to Philips. It features crystal and detector technology and offers 4D capabilities.

See: philips.com/newscenter

Digital radiography

The FDR D-EVO from Fujifilm can be loaded into an existing upright/table exposure system. The indirect conversion device for general x-ray exposure weighs 2.8 kg.

See: fujifilm.com

Lower dose

Curato has fully implemented Sectra’s digital mammography system, MicroDose Mammography, at three of its clinics in the Nordic Region.

“As a private care provider, being competitive and efficient is particularly important,” said Hans Olav Almaas, president of Curato. “We now conduct examinations with a significantly lower radiation dose.”

See: sectra.com/medical

Patient anxiety

Siemens Healthcare has expanded its range of MoodLight products to include the Magnetom Aera and Skyra MRI systems. The illuminated panel on each system can be programmed by the operator to emit a rotating range of pastel colors or a single color to match the environment and this can help reduce patient anxiety.

See: medical.siemens.com

Technology award

Frost & Sullivan has chosen Carestream Health as its 2010 North American company of the year for serving both digital/computed radiography (DR/CR) and imaging informatics markets and for expanding its global presence. The vendor captured 14% of the DR/CR market in 2009, largely due to the introduction of the DRX-1 detector panel.

See: carestreamhealth.com

Emerging markets

The Optima MR360 from GE is engineered around an established high-definition platform. It is easy to use and offers greater diagnostic confidence and value for money, according to the manufacturer. GE hopes the 1.5T superconducting MRI system will prove popular in emerging nations.

See: gehealthcare.com

Italian job

A hospital in Brescia, in northern Italy, has acquired more than 80 Barco display systems as part of a regional PACS program. The project at Azienda Ospedaliera Spedali Civili di Brescia, which dates back to the 15th century, involves five hospital sites handling over 400,000 examinations per year.

See: barco.com/medical

Ultrasound design

Aloka's color ultrasound system, the ProSound Alpha 6, has won a 2010 iF design award in the medicines and healthcare category. The judges praised the product for its large, programmable touchscreen panel for quick access to frequently used controls and for its mobility and reduced power consumption.

See: aloka-europe.com

Open MR imaging

The InHealth MRI Centre at Mayday University Hospital in Croydon, U.K., has installed an Oasis 1.2T Open MRI unit, which is particularly suitable for claustrophobic and bariatric patients.

See: hitachi-medical-systems.com

Help for Haiti

Staff at Bayer have donated €250,000 to help those affected by January’s earthquake in Haiti. Bayer AG is topping up this amount with a further €100,000. The funds will be used to upgrade an existing Caritas medical station in Léogâne into a full health center.

See: bayerhealthcare.com

Expanded coverage

The 16-cm organ coverage of the Aquilion One device from Toshiba Medical Systems provides potential benefits in volumetric imaging by allowing visualization of an organ without the need to move the patient. The product has undergone a clinical evaluation program at leading European university hospitals in Berlin; Copenhagen, Denmark; Edinburgh, U.K., and Graz, Austria.

See: toshiba-medical.eu

CAD tool

DynaCAD can help find suspicious lesions on MRI based on morphology. It can also increase confidence with a “second check” and automatically displays results and improves workflow, according to the vendor.

See: invivocorp.com

Going wireless

IMIX has introduced a wireless digital radiography cassette and software. The equipment reportedly enables increased onsite productivity by capturing digital x-ray images in seconds in virtually any clinical setting.

See: imixadr.com