A Diagnostics & Imaging Week
Patterson Companies (St. Paul, Minnesota) and Sirona Dental Systems (Long Island City, New York) reported the extension of Patterson's distribution agreement for Schick CDR digital dental X-ray products in the U.S. and Canada through Dec. 31, 2009. Schick is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sirona.
Patterson Dental, Patterson's dental unit, has been the exclusive distributor of Schick digital products throughout North America since 2000.
Patterson is a value-added distributor serving the dental, companion-pet veterinarian and rehabilitation supply markets. Its dental unit provides a range of consumable dental products, equipment and software, turnkey digital solutions and value-added services to dentists and dental laboratories throughout North America.
Sirona makes dental products, including CAD/CAM restoration equipment (CEREC), digital and film-based intra-oral, panoramic and cephalometric X-ray imaging systems, dental treatment centers and handpieces.
In other agreements:
• Precision System Science (PSS; Matsudo City, Japan) and NanoString Technologies (Seattle) will partner in the co-development and manufacture of an automated fluidics-handling instrument to be distributed by NanoString as a component of their nCounter system for gene expression. The instrument incorporates Magtration technology from PSS and NanoString's nCounter technology.
Magtration technology involves the use of magnetic particles to extract and purify targeted substances. Instruments based on Magtration have become standard in research and clinical diagnostic laboratories worldwide, Precision System said. Magtration technology will be used in NanoString's automated fluidics instrument, designed to replace manual sample handling and providing robust sample processing, the company said.
According to NanoString, nCounter system provides researchers the only method for highly multiplexed direct quantification of individual mRNAs in a biological sample. The technology is based on employing large numbers of unique single-molecule reporters, which bind directly to target molecules of interest in a one-to-one ratio. The target molecules can then be individually counted without any enzymatic conversion or amplification.
PSS provides sample preparation systems for molecular researchers and diagnosticians.
NanoString is a life science tool company developing a next generation technology for ultra-sensitive, multiplexed quantification of individual target molecules in biological samples.
• SourceMedical (Birmingham, Alabama), a provider of outpatient information solutions collectively serving 6,000 diagnostic imaging centers, ambulatory surgery centers, surgical hospitals, physician practices and rehabilitation clinics, reported a partnership with Inventory Optimization Solutions (IOS; Aliso Viejo, California), a builder of web-based healthcare supply chain solutions, to provide the SourcePlus PurchaseConnection, an advanced eProcurement portal, and to become a distributor of IOS's supply chain management solutions.
SourceMedical said that the alliance provides its customers and any surgery center that participates in the portal with a web-based supply chain solution designed to improve product availability, improve inventory levels, reduce labor, and reduce costs.
SourceMedical is integrating the IOS application into its Vision, AdvantX and SurgiSource product portfolio and will offer the IOS solution to its customers as a monthly subscription service.
"Our ambulatory surgery center and surgical hospital customers are looking for continued improvement with supply chain management. We found our customer base required more advanced supply chain management capabilities and we are confident that IOS's healthcare focused solution is a perfect fit. IOS's barcode technology, their connectivity with distributor's and manufacturers, and the accounts payable three-way match capabilities are tools our customers can use to more efficiently manage their supply resources and processes," said Scott Palmer, president/COO of SourceMedical's Surgery Division.