MARKETPLACE
High-definition, Time-of-flight PET/CT
Siemens Healthcare, Malvern, Pa, has introduced Biograph mCT, offering routine, whole-body PET scanning in five minutes and advanced CT capabilities with up to 128 slices. Combining an advanced reconstruction algorithm called ultra HD-PET with time-of-flight (TOF) technology, the Biograph mCT can produce 2-mm uniform resolution throughout the field of view, and enhanced contrast and reduced noise due to the TOF technology. The scanner fea-tures a small footprint, a large 78-cm bore, a short tunnel, and a 500-pound–capacity bed to accommodate most patients. (888) 826-9702; www.siemens.com/healthcare
Breast-imaging Workstation Debuts
FUJIFILM Medical Systems, Stamford, Conn, has introduced the Breast Imaging Diagnostic Workstation (BIDW), available to any facility that has implemented full-field digital mammography. The workstation complements the company’s Computed Radiography for Mammography (FCRm) solution and provides broad workstation interpretation capabilities for facilities that may use another vendor’s PACS. The stand-alone workstation delivers full support for computer-aided diagnosis and MQSA overlays, as well as Synapse PACS functionality. (800) 431-1850; www.fujimed.com
Enhanced Thin-client 2D, 3D, and 4D Tools
Visage Imaging, Carlsbad, Calif, will show a new version of its CS/ThinClient/Server platform at the upcoming RSNA meeting. Enhancements to 2D, 3D, and 4D visualization are featured, including CT and MR angiography, cardiac analysis, perfusion analysis, and oncology applications. All tools are fully integrated within the platform, which is scalable from the imaging center setting to meet the needs of the enterprise. (888) 3D-VISAGE; www.visageimaging.com
High-field, Patient-friendly MRI Solution
Hitachi Medical Systems, Twinsburg, Ohio, will showcase OASISTM at the upcoming meeting of the RSNA. The open architecture of Hitachi’s proprietary 1.2T vertical-field magnet meets the demands of advanced studies and image quality with an unobstructed viewing angle to alleviate patient anxiety, thereby decreasing scan time and increasing throughput. Combining the high-performance MRI electronics of the best high-field equipment—fast gradients and multichannel radiofrequency (RF) technology with Hitachi-designed Zenith RF coils—with Hitachi’s proprietary 1.2T, open-architecture vertical-field magnet, OASIS represents a new generation of MRI systems, providing diagnostic confidence, patient comfort, and investment value.(800) 800-3106; www.hitachimed.com
Single Worklist Unifies Multiple PACS
Intelerad Medical Systems, Montreal, has announced the availability of InteleOneTM, a software and networking solution designed to unify multiple PACS workflows across facilities, based on the IntelePACS architecture. The solution employs standards-based interfaces with existing RIS and PACS to provide a unified solution for reporting radiology studies. Radiologists are provided with a single universal worklist, a single viewer, a single dictation (or voice-recognition) solution, and a single signing worklist for all studies, regardless of the different PACS and RIS solutions running at each facility. Radiological studies can be routed from many different acquisition sites and integrated into the InteleOne master database for reading and case management alongside relevant prior studies. (514) 931-6222; www.intelerad.com
Online Teleradiology Auction
Telerays, Houston, has launched the nation’s first teleradiology auction site, where buyers and sellers can offer and buy reading services. Houston-based radiologist Daniel Roubein, MD, CEO of Radiology Reading Centers of America, launched the service. Radiologists must become credentialed, which takes 7 to 30 days, and can bid only on contracts from hospitals and imaging centers that have preapproved them. Clients post their requests, preapproved radiologists begin bidding, and the contract is won by the lowest bidder, who downloads the cases and uploads the reports. Telerays takes a 15% share and also provides billing services. (832) 778-9729; www.telerays.com
Final Reads Plus Billing Services
NightHawk Radiology Services, Couer d’Alene, Idaho, has developed two new services to meet the needs of teleradiology clients. FinalsPLUS combines NightHawk’s Final Interpretations with the company’s state-of-the-art revenue-cycle man-agement, designed to provide painless coverage, day or night, by providing billing services. Digital Locums is designed to resolve the unpredictable productivity that practices receive from traditional locum tenens. Flexible pricing allows for a cost-effective short-term fix or a long-term solution to staffing needs. (866) 400-4295; www.nighthawkrad.net
Software Provides Assist in Dementia Diagnosis
Royal Philips Electronics, Andover, Mass, has devel-oped decision-support soft-ware designed to assist in the diagnosis of dementia using FDG–PET. Areas of the brain causing dementia typically exhibit reduced glucose uptake (hypometabolism); these areas show up as sub-tly different shades of gray. The software, developed with researchers at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany, is designed to enable less experienced readers to recognize the sub-tle variations of the three most common neurodegenerative diseases—Alzheimer disease, Lewy-body dementia, and frontotemporal dementia—in three steps. The software is not yet commercially available. 011 (31) 40-27-43703; www.philips.com/newscenter
Widely Deployable Advanced Visualization Solution
TeraRecon, Inc, a leader in advanced visualization technology, delivers Aquarius iNtuition™, a client-server solution that offers comprehensive, robust, real-time clinical tools and applications that are easy to use and deployable throughout a health care enterprise. Clinicians throughout the patient-care cycle can customize their clinical workflow to achieve an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan quickly and efficiently. Automated segmentation, centerlines, and quantification are just a few of the broad range of tools designed to enhance efficiency. Aquarius iNtuition is designed to bridge the clinical workflow and dataflow gaps in image acquisition, postprocessing, interpretation, and diagnosis. (877) 354-1100; www.terarecon.com