A Medical Device Daily

CompleWare (North Liberty, Iowa), VIDA Diagnostics (Coralville, Iowa) and the University of Iowa (Iowa City) reported that they plan to collaborate in providing software and services to manage radiological images for clinical drug trials. The software would give pharmaceutical companies the opportunity to use just one software application to collect clinical research data.

"This is an exciting opportunity that allows pharmaceutical companies to collect, analyze, manage and report all clinical research data using only one software application," said John Weiler, MD, CompleWare president. "Companies performing clinical research want all data to be integrated. We call this interoperability. We can now review and study patient diaries, clinical case report forms, spirometry, electrocardiograms, laboratory data and radiological images with one log on to the Internet."

CompleWare offers products and services to manage clinical research studies, with customers worldwide. The University of Iowa, Department of Radiology, specializes in development of imaging protocols and quantitative central review. VIDA, which produces software based on technology developed at the University of Iowa, provides the ability to automate review of lung X-ray images using advanced software.

Edwin van Beek, MD, professor of radiology, said, "We will work together to provide unique radiological services to the pharmaceutical industry. We can significantly enhance the information we obtain from imaging studies."

John Garber, VIDA CEO said, "VIDA software provides automated analyses of lung density and airways in patients with emphysema, asthma, and COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder]. This three-way collaboration will allow us to commercialize our specialized software and integrate it with CompleWare state-of-the-art applications, such as their CompleClinical Suite."