A Diagnostics & Imaging Week

SonoSite (Bothell, Washington), which focuses on hand-carried ultrasound, said it has signed a three-year, dual-source supply agreement with Novation (Irving, Texas) for portable and vascular access ultrasound equipment and accessories.

Novation is the supply company of VHA (also Irving) and the University Health System Consortium (UHC; Oak Brook, Illinois), two national healthcare alliances that serve about 2,500 healthcare providers nationwide.

“We awarded this agreement to SonoSite based on member surveys, the recommendation of our member-based Diagnostic Imaging Capital Equipment task force and a public competitive bid process,” said Cynthia Longueville, Novation senior product manager.

SonoSite’s newest product, the MicroMaxx system, its third generation of hand-carried ultrasound technology, began shipping in June and represents a crossover point between hand-carried and cart-based systems.

Siemens Medical Solutions (Malvern, Pennsylvania) reported agreements with Novation whereby Siemens will provide a “broad range” of imaging solutions to meet the needs of those facilities. The agreement began Sept. 1. Several of the agreements, for MRI and cardiac/vascular imaging, are also included in a national group buy program whereby Novation negotiates additional discounts based on the planned purchases of multiple hospitals within a specific calendar quarter.

Medical Carbon Research Institute (Austin, Texas), manufacturer of the On-X prosthetic heart valve, reported the formation of a strategic alliance with Quality Assured Services (Orlando, Florida), a provider of anticoagulation monitoring products and services, to promote the use of anticoagulation self-monitoring by recipients of the On-X valve.

QAS will provide the ProTime system from ITC for patient self monitoring and the feedback system that allows physicians to oversee treatment and data capture.

Termed “a breakthrough in heart valve technology” by the Medical Carbon Research Institute, the On-X valve may provide patients with new alternatives in type and level of anticoagulation. The pure carbon material and innovative design of the On-X valve are associated with reduced rates of valve-related complications – especially at low and fluctuating anticoagulation levels.

In other grants/contracts news:

Alpha Innotech (San Leandro, California) reported that it has entered into a license and supply agreement with GE Healthcare (Waukesha, Wisconsin) to develop, manufacture and supply a line of imaging systems to GE Healthcare.

Alpha said that these products would be sold exclusively worldwide under the GE brand in the life science research market.

Haseeb Chaudhry, CEO of Alpha Innotech, said that the alliance “will make our digital imaging systems available to the broader scientific community for life science research and drug discovery markets.”

Dentsply International (York, Pennsylvania) entered into a long-term collaborative agreement with IDMoS Dental Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of IDMoS plc (Dundee, Scotland) for the commercialization of IDMoS’ detection and monitoring technology. IDMoS was formed in 2001 to commercialize patented disease detection technology, based on the AC impedance spectroscopy technique developed by its founders and the University of Dundee and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Cancer patients on New Zealand’s South Island now have access to the latest in radiation therapy treatment after the installation of a new linear accelerator from Varian Medical Systems (Palo Alto, California). Christchurch Hospital (ChristChurch, New Zealand) has begun treating clinically using Varian’s On-Board Imager and is now able to offer image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) that optimizes accuracy and enables clinicians to potentially improve outcomes for patients.

All patients treated on the clinic’s new Varian Clinac 2100iX medical linear accelerator are now imaged with the On-Board Imager device to check and adjust positioning prior to treatment delivery.