A Medical Device Daily

TomoTherapy (Madison, Wisconsin) reported that it has partnered with Vision RT (London) to expand imaging options for Hi•Art treatment system users.

The companies will introduce AlignRT 3D imaging technology for the Hi•Art platform at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (Fairfax, Virginia) in Boston later this month. TomoTherapy will distribute AlignRT for use with both its TomoHelical and new TomoDirect delivery modes.

Fred Robertson, CEO of TomoTherapy, said, "AlignRT does for Hi•Art system imaging what TomoDirect does for Hi•Art treatment delivery: both provide a new option for our users that can significantly improve patient throughput across a broad range of cancer cases."

AlignRT for the Hi•Art platform will consist of two ceiling-mounted 3D camera units, each focused toward the external isocenter of the radiotherapy device. Prior to treatment, the patient will lie on the treatment couch for initial set-up. The cameras will then acquire a surface scan of the body in treatment position, and software will be used to register real-time image data to the reference surface scan and provide new couch coordinates for patient positioning.

In other agreements/contracts news:

• Neurostar Solutions (Atlanta) reported the incorporation of M*Modal's (Pittsburgh) advanced Speech Understanding technology into its existing Virtual Radiology Network (VRN).

Neurostar said its VRN is a step beyond Picture Archiving and Communications Systems. It said its architecture and universal workflow enable imaging centers, hospitals, and physicians' offices to share image data with a virtual community of radiologists and referring physicians, helping them expand productivity and referrals.

• America Service Group (Brentwood, Tennessee) said that the Philadelphia Prison System (PPS) has published a notice of contract award to its operating subsidiary, Prison Health Services (PHS) for providing services to roughly 9,000 PPS detainees.

PPS' request for proposal anticipates that the final contract will cover services to PPS through Aug. 31, 2012. The contract between PPS and PHS for the provision of medical services remains subject to negotiation of final terms.

• ThermoGenesis (Rancho Cordova, California) said it has signed a distribution agreement with Celling Technologies for ThermoGenesis' MarrowXpress (MXP) product line used for isolating stem cells from bone marrow, specifically for use in orthopedic intraoperative or point-of-care applications.

Celling will use the MXP to perform bone marrow stem cell separation for its point-of-care orthopedic procedures and perform clinical research utilizing this technology.

The five-year agreement provides Celling with an initial two-year period of exclusive distribution rights in the U.S. and non-exclusive distribution rights for the rest of the world, excluding Central and South America, Russia and certain Eastern European countries.

• Orchestrate Healthcare (Greenwood Village, Colorado) reported signing a contract with Kettering Health Network (Kettering, Ohio) to provide application integration consulting services. Orchestrate will upgrade the existing integration engine, DataGate, for Kettering Health Network, which will continue using the SeeBeyond/Sun Microsystems solutions. Orchestrate will implement the JCAPS suite, train and mentor the Kettering staff, and provide on-going JCAPS expertise.