A Medical Device Daily Staff Report

Medison (Seoul, Korea) has launched a new dedicated high performance OB/GYN ultrasound system, featuring a multi-rendering 3D/4D technology, 3D Multi-eXtended Imaging(3D MXI)) Accuvix V20 'Prestige.

The Prestige is the ultrasound imaging system, offering a 19-inch high-resolution flat screen monitor and 3D MXI, including Multi Volume Slice, Mirror View, Multi-OVIX, 3D Orientation Help, giving users a high quality image.

The Prestige also comes with extended diagnostic tools including DynamicMR+, Auto IMT and panoramic imaging technology.

In other international news:

• Imaging Diagnostic Systems (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) reported the sale of another CT Laser Mammography system in Asia. The system, which was sold to and installed at the Katherine Women's Health Center (Malaysia), is currently being used in patient examinations. The Women's Health Center will also serve as a training and demonstration site for future customers.

• Men and women in Australia now have access to genetic tests for predicting the risk of male or female hair loss thanks to a distribution agreement reported by pharmacogenomics research and development firm PharmaGenoma (Irvine, California) and its subsidiary HairDX (Melbourne, Australia). The genetic baldness tests will be introduced to Australia by Advanced Hair Studio (Melbourne). The company has been offering Hair Restoration in Australia and Worldwide for 35 years.

• At the 2009 World Molecular Imaging Congress (WMIC) in Montreal, Aspect Magnet Technologies (Ben Shemen, Israel) and Bruker BioSpin, a division of Bruker (Ettlingen, Germany), reported that they have signed a memorandum of understanding for the development of a high performance desktop preclinical MRI system. The new MRI scanner will benefit from the combination of Aspect's 1 Tesla permanent magnet system and Bruker BioSpin's MRI spectrometer technology and its routine preclinical software package. The new system is expected to enable scientists to explore new fields of preclinical MRI research, such as hyperpolarization, functional applications and contrast agent imaging, all supported by high-resolution MRI morphology imaging. Both companies will evaluate the potential new markets and their technological and applications requirements.

Bruker also signed an agreement with Royal Philips Electronics (Andover, Massachusetts) for the development of magnetic particle imaging (MPI) scanners, a new imaging technology, for the preclinical market. The partnership would unite Philips' strength in medical imaging and Bruker BioSpin's leadership in analytical magnetic resonance instruments and preclinical MRI. Under the terms of the MOU, Bruker BioSpin intends to develop and manufacture the preclinical MPI scanner at its facilities in Ettlingen, Germany. Both parties intend to co-market the resulting solution. Preclinical imaging has emerged as a powerful tool in disease studies, translational research and drug discovery. Philips and Bruker BioSpin believe that the addition of MPI as a complementary preclinical imaging technique has great potential to help researchers gain new insights in disease processes at the organ, cellular and molecular level.