Chicago: It was Frank Sinatra’s kind of town. It was hailed on stage and screen. Radio in the 1970s was filled with hit singles from a band that paid homage to their hometown. And each fall, it is home to the meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
When the industry gathers at McCormick Place November 25-30 for the 93rd annual meeting, hundreds of exhibitors will be on hand displaying the latest technology. With so much to see over the 6-day run, we’ve compiled a sampling of the many highlights.
BREAST IMAGING
Beekley Corp, Bristol, Conn. The “Perfect for Digital” line of N-SPOTS is designed for marking nipples in mammography. The line features 2.3-mm nonmetallic pellets that document the nipple’s location on the screen without causing artifact.
BRIT Systems, Dallas. BRIT will showcase enhancements to the BRIT Vision multimodality breast-imaging workstation.
Carestream Health Inc, Rochester, NY. Carestream Health presents a portfolio of digital mammography solutions, including the Kodak Directview CR Mammography Feature that adds mammography applications to its CR platforms along with a CAD solution.
FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA, Stamford, Conn. A full-field digital mammography (FFDM) system, Fuji Computed Radiography for Mammography (FCRm) offers mammography providers various equipment-configuration combinations.
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. GE Healthcare will highlight several mammography products. The Senographe Mobile Essential is the company’s newest digital mammography product to receive FDA approval.
Merge Healthcare, Milwaukee. A work in progress, Merge Mammo is a multimodality, vendor-neutral mammography workstation application.
Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, Pa. The syngo MammoCAD is a CAD solution for full-field digital mammography designed to detect early masses and microcalcifications.
CARDIOLOGY/ANGIOGRAPHY
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| GE Healthcare |
3mensio Medical Imaging BV, Bilthoven, the Netherlands. At RSNA, 3mensio will show its new clinical applications of the 3viseon workstation for radiologists: Cardiac Analysis and Lung Analysis (work in progress).
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. The Innova 4100IQ flat-panel digital detector offers a large field of view for vascular and interventional imaging, delivering 40% more area than conventional 15.5-inch round intensifiers.
CR, DR, FILM, R&F, AND X-RAY
biospace med, Paris. The EOS 2D X-ray imager, which recently received 510(k) FDA clearance, features ultralow radiation dose.
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| Canon Medical Systems |
Canon Medical Systems, Irvine, Calif. Canon will showcase the CXDI-50G Portable DR system and the CXDI-40EG General DR system.
Carestream Health Inc, Rochester, NY. The floor-standing, single-cassette Kodak DirectView Classic and Elite CR systems support adult and pediatric general radiography exams, as well as 35- x 84-cm long-length imaging for scoliosis and extremity exams.
Fluke Biomedical, Cleveland. Fluke Biomedical will introduce an x-ray maintenance, calibration, and quality assurance tool for service and radiation management professionals.
FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA Inc, Stamford, Conn. The Unity SpeedSuite, a U-arm DR system, is designed with motorized, multiposition, single-detector flexibility.
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. The Definium 8000 is available in a range of configurations from a single wall stand to a full, comprehensive radiographic room.
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| FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA Inc |
iCRco Inc, Torrance, Calif. The iDR system, a sealed scanning DR system, generates high-resolution images that are fully processed and delivered to a review station within 30 seconds.
Imaging Dynamics Company Ltd, IDC; Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The IDC X-Series CCD-based imaging detectors, X3G, X3C, and X4C, represent digital alternatives to film-based x-ray.
Konica Minolta Medical Imaging, Wayne, NJ. The REGIUS Nano CR, a single-bay CR system, is engineered to make digital radiography more affordable in low-procedure-volume facilities and ancillary departments.
Radlink Inc, Redondo Beach, Calif. Radlink introduces three CR Pro machines: The CR Pro 2000, CR Pro 2100, and CR Pro 2200. The company also offers ThinPACS, a stand-alone PACS designed for private practices.
Siemens Medical Systems, Malvern, Pa. The syngo CXR CAD is a second-reader tool for the detection of lung nodules in digital chest x-ray studies that is integrated with the syngo CAD Manager for viewing CAD results on PACS workstations.
Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc, Tustin, Calif. Toshiba will display its DR system offerings, including the T.Rad-PLUS Digital and Kalare systems.
Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, Calif. Varian introduces two PaxScan products. Both panels come with VIVA software, a system-design and -development application for image acquisition and viewing.
Virtual Imaging Inc, Deerfield Beach, Fla. The FluoroPro digital-acquisition system consists of a high-resolution CCD camera, an image processor, and an interface kit.
CT
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. Designed to maintain outstanding image quality while reducing a patient’s radiation exposure by up to 70% for diagnostic cardiac scans, the LightSpeed VCT XT captures images of the heart and coronary arteries in as few as five heartbeats.
Philips Medical Systems, Andover, Mass. Available in 6-, 16-, and 64-slice scanner configurations, the Brilliance CT 64-channel scanner features innovations in three key areas: tube, detector, and reconstruction.
Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, Pa. The syngo Lung CAD features CAD software for automated detection of solid lung nodules in thoracic CT studies.
Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc, Tustin, Calif. The Aquilion CT line features Toshiba’s Quantum Advantage, delivering a slice thickness of 0.5-mm isotropic slices for the Aquilion 4-slice, 8-slice, 16-slice, 32-slice, or 64-slice.
DATA ARCHIVING, STORAGE, AND DISTRIBUTION
BRIT Systems, Dallas. The company’s new workflow solution for outsourced radiology reading features an advanced set of tools and services that enable radiologists to read, report, and return results to various health care facilities via teleradiology.
Carestream Health Inc, Rochester, NY. The Carestream PACS platform supports workflow grid computing, which facilitates storage and retrieval of information throughout an enterprise.
CoActiv Medical Business Solutions, Ridgefield, Conn. Supporting all-inclusive medical image acquisition, viewing, distribution, and archiving, the EXAM-VAULT Quad-Redundant Archiving system has been validated for use with the Philips Xcelera echocardiogram system.
InSite One Inc, Wallingford, Conn. The InDex 5 release is a services road map that features enterprise workflow and management capabilities.
NAI Tech Products, Auburn, Calif. The MDR Publisher is now available as a disc publisher, including dual DVD/CDR burners and full-color printing of label graphics.
Nuance Communications Inc, Burlington, Mass. Designed to give radiologists more control of their reports and speed up the dictation process, the PowerScribe Workstation 5.0 speech-recognition reporting solution from the Dictaphone Healthcare Solutions division features speech-engine upgrades, system-architecture enhancements, and a redesigned user interface.
FURNITURE
AFC Industries, College Point, NY. The company introduces pop-up data ports and built-in USB ports that can be embedded in the desktops of the full range of AFC workstations, tables, and carts to allow radiologists to use almost any digital or electronic device while seated.
MONITORS AND DISPLAYS
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| aycan Medical Systems |
aycan Medical Systems, Rochester, NY. aycan workstation OsiriXPRO, derived from the open-source project Osirix, is an FDA-cleared, image-processing software dedicated to DICOM images for navigation and visualization of multislice and multidimensional (3D-reconstruction) studies.
Barco, Kortrijk, Belgium. The Nio Color 3MP LCD color display system is designed for digital radiology applications—such as 3D PACS, 3D echo, ultrasound, orthopedic imaging, CAD, image fusion, nuclear medicine, and PET—that require dependable color-imaging solutions.
Double Black Imaging, Westminster, Colo. The P-Series consists of a 2MP monochrome and color LCD, a 3MP monochrome and color LCD, and a 5MP monochrome LCD for mammography.
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| Double Black Imaging |
Planar Systems, Beaverton, Ore. Planar Systems introduces the Dome ZX, a 16MP, 30-inch, grayscale diagnostic imaging display.
Sony Electronics, New York City. Sony showcases its IPELA PCS-HG90 high-definition, IP-based visual communication system, which allows the medical community to see details of a patient’s anatomy with four times the resolution of standard-definition technology.
Stallion Technologies Inc, Syracuse, NY. New X-Sight Workstation products include the software-only Workviewer, software with PC Workviewer Plus, and the complete Workstation that comes with software, a PC, and a proprietary image-processing hardware accelerator.
MRI
Confirma Inc, Bellevue, Wash. The next generation of CADstream for breast MRI enhancements will include a customizable BI-RADS-centric user interface and improved volume summaries and morphology reporting tools.
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. Signa HDx 3.0T features a XVRE volume-reconstruction engine that ensures virtually real-time image generation.
Philips Medical Systems, Andover, Mass. The Achieva 1.5T, the Achieva 3.0T X-series, the Achieva XR cylindrical scanners, and the Panorama high-field open scanners are designed to simplify workflow and accelerate imaging.
Resonance Technology Co Inc, Northridge, Calif. Resonance Technology introduces a range of features to its CinemaVision audio-video entertainment systems and FuncLAB automated functional MRI (fMRI) image data processing.
Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc, Tustin, Calif. Toshiba will preview its 3T MR system as a work in progress. A new magnet design combines a short bore with high homogeneity.
NUCLEAR MEDICINE, PET, AND SPECT
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. Designed to help achieve motion-free PET/CT, the newest version of Discovery Dimension allows clinicians to address imaging mismatches related to respiratory and cardiac motion.
Siemens Medical Solutions, Malvern, Pa. Enabling physicians to compare patient scans from different times, the syngo TrueD is a multimodality application for oncology supporting PET/CT, SPECT/CT, as well as CT or MR fused with PET or SPECT.
ONCOLOGY
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. PET VCAR (Volume Computer-Assisted Reading) is designed to optimize tumor management with software to identify, delineate, and quantify areas of increased metabolic activity in PET/CT scans.
OTHER PRODUCTS
Beekley Corp, Bristol, Conn. PinPoint, a fiducial marker for image registration under CT and MRI, features a center opening that tapers to a 1.27-mm-diameter hole, which limits the area the probe can touch for greater registration accuracy.
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| Merge Healthcare |
Merge Healthcare, Milwaukee. The Fusion RIS/PACS MX features exam-driven imaging workflow, customized worklist management, and single-source access to all patient information with integration into standards-based electronic medical records.
NovaRad Corp, American Fork, Utah. NovaPACS 7.0 and NovaRIS 7.0 feature tighter integration between the systems and offer enhanced image access and scheduling, billing, and process management.
RamSoft, Toronto. The PowerServer PACS version 4.5 is the third release under the company’s Customer Action Initiative, an internal program aimed at customer-centric software improvement and development.
RIS Concepts, Miami. RIS Concepts offers an advanced exam-scheduling wizard for multisite facilities that is designed to search across locations to select the first appointment available for a specific modality.
ScImage, Los Altos, Calif. The latest version of the PicomEnterprise, a Web-based PACS, now features a Web-based workflow-management foundation that fuses DICOM, HL7, and Web services into a single code base.
Thinking Systems, St Petersburg, Fla. Thinking Systems offers an enhanced product portfolio to support the full spectrum of imaging modalities.
Visage Imaging, Carlsbad, Calif. Visage presents the Visage PACS/CS, a scalable PACS solution based on Web and thin-client technology with fully integrated clinical applications.
PRINTING
Carestream Health Inc, Rochester, NY. The Kodak DryView 6800 dry laser imager offers high-speed, high-resolution image output for general radiography and digital mammography applications.
NAI Tech Products, Auburn, Calif. Using Radial Print disk printing technology, MDR Video RP allows for the recording of high-resolution video to CD or DVD media in a DICOM format with automatic printing of full-color label graphics, including patient information.
SERVICES
Cedara Software, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Cedara offers custom engineering services to help develop software applications.
Franklin & Seidelmann (F&S) Subspecialty Radiology, Beachwood, Ohio. F&S has expanded its subspecialty teleradiology business model to offer final and preliminary nighttime interpretations, via its acquisition of Apex Radiology, Coral Gables, Fla.
SOFTWARE
AMICAS Inc, Boston. RadStream, a workflow solution developed at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, enables the automation and documentation of critical results communication and the prioritization of imaging exams.
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| Cedara Software |
Carestream Health Inc, Rochester, NY. Kodak Carestream PACS software offers a virtual desktop environment that allows delivery of any application, including 3D processing, to be delivered to any desktop.
Cedara Software, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Cedara Clinical Control Center (C4) framework delivers desktop integration of clinical applications to an established RIS/PACS solution.
Cerner Corp, Kansas City, Mo. The Cerner Provision Workstation uses the latest technology for speed and on-call capabilities. Using an ergonomically designed and intuitive interface, the workstation streamlines the radiologist workflow and increases throughput.
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| Cerner Corp |
DatCard Systems, Irvine, Calif. PacsCube software 4.0 features a highly scaleable DICOM server, a multilanguage user interface, and a new structured reporting engine.
DR Systems, San Diego. Release 8.1 software for the Unity RIS/PACS platform is designed to enhance mammography viewing, reporting, and workflow.
Intelerad Medical Systems Inc, Montreal. Intelerad will showcase IntelePACS and InteleViewer 3-5-1.
Merge Healthcare, Milwaukee. eFilm Workstation 3.0, the latest release of this desktop diagnostic imaging software available via download from www.merge.com, provides two options for reading: Gold or Platinum.
Meta Fusion, Silicon Valley, Calif. The Helium radiology practice-management solution now supports multicountry, localized workflow, while maintaining seamless RIS/PACS integration.
Neurostar Solutions, Atlanta. The Virtual Radiology Network platform business management solution now includes a 3D image-processing functionality.
RADinfo Systems, Dulles, Va. DICOMmail software allows physicians who are seeking consultative opinions regarding medical images to share critical and protected images through e-mail.
Sage Software Healthcare Inc, Tampa, Fla. The Radiology Navigator (RadNav) application streamlines tasks radiologists typically perform while reading studies and approving reports.
TeraRecon, San Mateo, Calif. Aquarius iNtuition offers workstation-class functionality and thin-client convenience for advanced image-management needs.
Vital Images Inc, Minneapolis. Vital Images releases its next-generation, enterprisewide advanced visualization and analysis product solutions, Vitrea 4.0 and ViTALConnect 4.1.
ULTRASOUND
GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis. The 10-pound LOGIQ I ultrasound system provides clinicians with volume imaging and wireless capability for comprehensive radiology, vascular, neonatal, breast, and musculoskeletal imaging at the point of patient care.
Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc, Tustin, Calif. Toshiba’s 4D volume imaging applications for ultrasound will enable physicians to better perform transvaginal/OB, small parts, and abdomen imaging procedures.
Zonare Medical Systems, Mountain View, Calif. Based on Zone Sonography technology, the z.one ultra system features advanced software, hardware, and transducer technology, including a new basic cardiac package.
Ann H. Carlson is a contributing writer for Medical Imaging. For more information, contact .
