A Medical Device Daily
Like the other big players in the imaging sector, Siemens Healthcare (Malvern, Pennsylvania) has rolled out a dizzying array of new products and features during this week's annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA; Oak Brook, Illinois) in Chicago.
"There is huge potential to increase the quality and efficiency of healthcare through technological innovation and workflow improvements," said Hermann Requardt, CEO, Siemens Healthcare Sector.
Siemens has been demonstrating its latest diagnostic imaging innovations in computed tomography, mammography, magnetic resonance, molecular imaging, ultrasound, and more at its sprawling booth in the McCormick Place convention center alongside the Lake Michigan shoreline just south of downtown.
In addition to the Somatom Definition Flash, described in a story beginning on page 1 of this issue, the technologies showcased by Siemens this week included:
• Computed Tomography. The Somatom Definition AS platform introduces a further expansion with its new 20-slice configuration, a large 31" (78 cm) gantry bore, optional 660-pound (300 kg) patient weight capacity and high-scan speed, designed for high patient throughput.
• Magnetic Resonance. Siemens' latest innovation in MRI, the Magnetom Espree-Pink, is a dedicated MR breast scanner which combines the Open Bore design of the Magnetom Espree with the Sentinelle Vanguard for Siemens, a breast coil solution that offers "exceptional breast imaging and biopsy access," the company said. "Enabling feet-first and head-first positioning and excellent access to perform biopsies, the system has unparalleled openness with a 70 cm Open Bore and the shortest system on the market (125 cm) for increased comfort."
This MR system provides a comprehensive portfolio of routine and advanced applications for breast care, Siemens said, including syngo VIEWS for routine imaging, syngo GRACE for spectroscopy, and syngo BLADE for motion-free imaging results.
• Mammography. One of Siemens' latest technologies now under development and is its full-field mammography, breast tomosynthesis, an investgational 3-D imaging technology that acquires 2-D projection images of a compressed breast at multiple angles during a sweep of the X-ray tube. "Poised to enhance mammography," Siemens said, "the new technology will take the 2-D images and reconstruct them to reveal depth – the third dimension of anatomy." It said tomosynthesis slices have the potential to show tumors that remain invisible in individual images.
• Molecular Imaging. Siemens is showcasing Biograph mCT, which it said is "the only integrated imaging device to offer routine, whole-body PET scanning in just five minutes." It said Biograph mCT "enables both molecular imaging and radiology to take advantage of its large bore capacity, ultra high-definition technology, combining HD-PET and time-of-flight, and advanced CT capabilities with up to 128 slices, a first in integrated imaging"
The company said Biograph mCT with ultra HD-PET technology "is the world's only PET system that offers 2 mm uniform resolution throughout the field of view, coupled with enhanced contrast with reduced noise, compared to standard PET acquisitions because of the addition of TOF technology." Biograph mCT adapts to virtually all patient types and clinical needs.
• Ultrasound. Siemens also is demonstrating the capabilities of the Acuson S2000 Automated Breast Volume Scanner (ABVS), which it terms "the world's first multi-use, automated volume breast ultrasound system."
The Acuson S2000 ABVS system, which is under 510(k) review by the FDA, "automatically acquires full-field sonographic volumes for comprehensive review and diagnosis of the breast streamlining workflow and reducing operator dependence and variability," said Siemens.
It said the system "also features the intuitive, anatomical coronal plane not available using conventional ultrasound. This view provides a more understandable representation of the global anatomy and architecture of the breast."
The company said semi-automated reporting and comprehensive BI-RADS reporting capabilities "further enhance the clinical workflow."
• Angiography, Fluoroscopy & X-ray. New to the Artis zee family is syngo iFlow, which Siemens said for the first time shows "dynamic information using color in a single image for assessment, enhancing neurological post-therapeutic interventions for rapid evaluation of remaining abnormalities by comparing pre- and post- imaging sequences."
The company also highlighted the recently FDA-cleared Ysio, a digital radiography system that combines integrated and wireless mobile detector technology into one flexible solution.
Siemens introduced three new components to the Axiom Luminos dRF, a fully-digital 2-in-1 solution with dynamic flat detector for remote controlled fluoroscopy and digital radiography that the company said helps "future-proof" customers' investment. The new functionality, represented in product simulations, includes a first-to-market wireless detector, ceiling-mounted X-ray tube and new wall stand.
• Image & Knowledge Management. Siemens also has highlighted workflow enhancements and demonstrated role-based portals, innovative applications and intelligent information systems. syngo Portal Executive, shown as a work in process, is designed to support proactive management of issues relevant to executives and managers. With syngo Portal Transcriptionist, not yet available in the U.S., Siemens helps transcriptionists achieve greater efficiency and accuracy when transcribing and correcting reports.
Many new enhancements were made to syngo Portal Radiologist, as well as syngo Portal Referring Physician. With syngo Suite Essential, which is available only in the U.S., Siemens offers a comprehensive and cost-effective IT package for diagnostic imaging centers consisting of preconfigured software, hardware and services.
OncoView introduced by Varian
Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, California) introduced a new product – the OncoView image management and storage solution – that it said makes it easier for clinicians to store, manage and view images generated during cancer treatments.
"OncoView provides oncology professionals with a reliable, scalable way of archiving and accessing the images and data that impact decisions about a patient's course of treatment," said Karla Knott, senior director of marketing for Varian's Oncology Systems business. "It is designed to archive information covering the entire cancer treatment process from diagnosis to survivorship and follow-up."
The company noted that clinicians are using more images to make decisions and monitor progress over the course of cancer treatments. For image-guided radiotherapy, new images are generated at every step in the treatment process.
"There is a vast – and growing – amount of images and related information that must be stored, and clinicians need a reliable system for easily archiving and instantly accessing this information in a meaningful way that is connected to the clinical "story line" for each patient," said Erwin Nell, manager, systems marketing for Varian. "OncoView addresses this need. It supports archiving of the most commonly used imaging modalities in oncology care, including CT, MR, PET, kV X-rays, cone-beam CT, and electronic portal images. It also stores non-imaging data, including radiotherapy treatment plans, dose levels, and other important treatment details."
The OncoView product is an oncology-specific image management and storage solution designed to supplement a hospital's existing picture archiving and communication system by making it oncology-capable or to operate as a stand-alone solution for centers that don't have such a system.
Varian said OncoView "enables clinicians to retrieve or store important information within its own archive or within hospital PACS through industry standard communication protocols such as HL7 and DICOM . It supports a trend in medicine toward paperless and filmless clinical operations that speed workflow and improve cost efficiencies."
OncoView interfaces seamlessly with any standards-based clinical information management system, including Varian's ARIA oncology information system.
Merge unveils two new apps
Medical imaging solutions provider Merge Healthcare (Milwaukee) launched two new web applications, Cedara WebAccess and Cedara WebScheduler, available through its OEM division.
It said these solutions give health IT software providers plug-in portals that help expedite and automate tasks such as patient and resource scheduling, and image and information distribution. Merge OEM customers have begun to incorporate this technology to bring improved PACS solutions to their own hospital and imaging center customers.
Cedara WebAccess is a "thin client" DICOM viewer, providing a new technology for web distribution of radiology images and reports to the referring physician community and beyond. Users access images and information without waiting for any application or file to download.
Cedara WebScheduler provides what Merge calls "a cost-effective solution for health IT application developers that want to add centralized capabilities for managing and scheduling imaging resources." Standard features include patient scheduling, dashboard monitoring of room utilization and modality worklist management to minimize data entry redundancy and errors.
Also on the exhibit floor
• CompuMed (Los Angles), a medical informatics company, has teamed with key OEM partners to showcase its OsteoGram bone density imaging system at RSNA. The OsteoGram system is on display with OEMs that have integrated the system with their own applications, including CareStream Health, FujiFilm Medical Systems and Swissray International.
The software-based, DICOM-compatible OsteoGram system measures bone density from a standard hand X-ray.
• Nuance Communications (Burlington, Massachusetts), a supplier of speech solutions, reported a reseller agreement with Amirsys (Chantilly, Virginia), a provider of imaging informatics.
Amirsys and Nuance are offering radiology practice customers a seamless integration from Nuance's radiology reporting solution, PowerScribe for Radiology, to Amirsys' STATdx Premier, an on-demand radiology reference system.
• ProStor Systems (Boulder, Colorado), a developer of removable disk storage systems, unveiled its ProStor InfiniVault-DICOM storage system, described as "an intelligent long-term storage solution that addresses the need for expanded storage capacity in organizations that are creating an increasing number of images and retaining them for longer periods of time."
In addition to DICOM images, ProStor InfiniVault-DICOM stores and properly retains electronic medical records and business files. The scalable and affordable system manages DICOM objects over the network for modalities, RIS, HIS and PACS systems.