• Graeme Forrest , MD, infectious diseases physician and director of antimicrobial utilization at the University of Maryland Medical Center, presented data at the 46th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (San Francisco) on the impact that rapid testing with PNA FISH has on patient care. Since 2003, UMMC has incorporated PNA FISH results into treatment algorithms for managing patients with bloodstream infections. PNA FISH is a genetics-based diagnostic that provides species identification for bacteria and yeast directly from positive blood cultures. PNA FISH results are reported a few hours after a blood culture turns positive and can have an early therapeutic impact. According to Forrest’s presentation, the program has had the greatest impact on non-ICU patients with contaminated blood cultures for which the medical center has seen a reduction in unnecessary vancomycin use, reduction in the hospital stay length, increased bed utilization and cost savings per patient. AdvanDx (Boston) develops in vitro diagnostic kits, based on its PNA FISH and EVIGENE technologies intended to help diagnose and prevent infectious diseases.

• GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, UK) has introduced an ultrasound system designed to deliver the breakthrough technology in a smaller and streamlined package. The LOGIQ P5 provides the same image quality, productivity capabilities and reliability of GE’s LOGIQ systems. The LOQIG P5 is the next-generation portable addition to the LOGIQ family, and includes advanced applications and mid-size maneuverability for smaller space constraints. The system also includes GE’s patented High Definition Speckle Reduction Imaging (HD-SRI) feature, which heightens visibility of organs and lesions with improved, high-definition contrast resolution that suppresses speckle artifact while maintaining true tissue architecture; CrossXBeam spatial compounding, which enhances tissue and border differentiation with an exclusive spatial compounding acquisition and processing technique; and 4D Imaging, which acquires three-dimensional images in real time to reveal the anatomical details with image clarity. GE Healthcare is a $15 billion unit of General Electric Company.