:: medical products report: news

PHILIPS SEES iSITE SUCCESS AT UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH CARE

June 16, 2009
Philips has signed an eight-year iSite PACS replacement deal with University of Utah Health Care, the Intermountain West’s only academic health care system. The web-based iSite system is helping University Health Care meet its growing image storage needs and allow access to images across their enterprises.

Instead of upgrading its existing PACS systems, University Health Care replaced its system with iSite PACS to leverage iSite Enterprise filmless distribution and advanced visualization capabilities. University Health Care went live with the Philips system in January and is reporting a positive experience with the iSite PACS solution, highlighting its ability to provide a seamless interface with other technologies.

“iSite PACS features an open ... more

Philips Expands leadership in NUCLEAR MEDICINE AND radiation oncology with innovations DESIGNED to improve accuracy and speed diagnosis

June 16, 2009
Royal Philips Electronics today introduced its
new BrightView X, a scalable SPECT camera that can be easily upgraded with CT when physicians are ready for the full capabilities of BrightView XCT. Along with the addition of the new Nuclear Medicine Application Suite on the Extended Brilliance Workstation, Nuclear Medicine now available with the BrightView XCT; SPECT, PET, and CT processing can all be accessed on one common platform, helping to speed diagnosis and streamline workflow. The BrightView XCT, being shown with expanded applications in orthopedics, is a general purpose nuclear medicine SPECT/CT camera that was introduced at last year’s SNM.

Philips also introduced its fastest PET scanner, the new third-generation Time-of-Flight platform at the Societ ... more

Varian Medical Systems Introduces the PaxScan 3030+ X-Ray Image Detector for Interventional Angiography

May 28, 2009
Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE: VAR) X-Ray Products, a world leader in X-ray tubes and supplier of the premier PaxScan® line of digital X-ray image detectors for filmless X-rays, has introduced their first digital imager specifically designed for interventional angiography procedures.

"With speeds up to 30 frames per second, the PaxScan 3030+ allows the physician to monitor interventional procedures, including the placement of catheters within blood vessels, in real-time," said Carl LaCasce, Vice President Imaging Products. "The PaxScan 3030+ provides highly detailed images with excellent contrast and spatial resolution, while delivering a low X-ray dose to the patient."

In addition to interventional angiography systems, the new PaxScan 3030+ multi-mo ... more

New Jersey Doctors Now Delivering Non-Invasive, Image-Guided Radiosurgery Treatments Using Novalis Tx™ Technology

May 28, 2009
Minutes after receiving a single, powerful non-invasive radiosurgery treatment, John Sisco, 64, happily walked out of the treatment room without any need for an overnight stay in the hospital, and left for home. Doctors at Somerset Medical Center, in Somerville, New Jersey, used the advanced Novalis Tx™ platform from Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) and BrainLAB to deliver the accurate, image-guided treatment designed to eradicate an abnormal tangle of blood vessels, called an artereo-venous malformation (AVM), that had grown near Sisco's brainstem.

Over a year earlier, Sisco's doctors had surgically removed about 60% of the AVM, but due to its proximity to the brain stem and other delicate blood vessels, chose to treat the remaining 40% using radiosurgery, whic ... more

Weinmann's Portable System for Ventilators - New additions to LIFE-BASE family

May 18, 2009
Additions have been made to the versatile portable system for ventilators which are offered under the name 'LIFE-BASE' by the medical technology company Weinmann. Two new models – the LIFE-BASE light and LIFE-BASE 1 NG – are now available.

With this expansion to the product line Weinmann now offers optimum solutions for situations in which the oxygen supply for a ventilator is drawn from a bag, separate cylinder or a hospital's central gas system. Both portable systems are small, light and handy and are available with installation sets for standard rails or poles.
Weinmann's proven LIFE-BASE portable system consists of a pre-assembled unit which is available in different sizes and types. Depending on customer requirements, the unit can be equipped with a venti ... mehr

Varian Medical Systems Introduces Fast and Precise Brachytherapy Planning System at GEC-ESTRO in Portugal

May 18, 2009
A significantly more accurate* way of calculating the dosimetry of cancer treatments will be introduced by Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) at the GEC-ESTRO exhibition in Porto, Portgual, on May 14-16. BrachyVision™ Acuros™ enables clinicians to rapidly calculate patient doses for brachytherapy treatments (a form of radiotherapy) with an extremely high level of accuracy.

"This is a quantum leap forward in terms of accuracy with timeframes that were previously thought unimaginable," says Sophie Wetherall, Varian BrachyTherapy software product manager. "BrachyVision Acuros offers an improvement in dose calculation that will help clinicians make better decisions about dose to their patients and further their knowledge to make treatments more accurate."

Dos ... more

Siemens sets a new standard in subtraction angiography

May 14, 2009
The new application syngo iFlow from Siemens Healthcare makes it possible for the first time to demonstrate a complete digital subtraction angiography (DSA) sequence in a single color image. Previously, multiple black and white image frames had to be reviewed to visualize the contrast medium flow through the blood vessels. Now with the colors of syngo iFlow the representation of contrast from its initial entry into the blood vessels to its flow throughout can be shown in one image.

The syngo iFlow application, for example, can be used to enhance pre-procedural and post-procedural imaging of patients under treatment for leg stenosis. Flow deviations and the increased utilization of collaterals can more easily be detected prior to intervention, since anomalies more ... more

Ajou University Hospital Becomes First in Korea to Treat Using RapidArc™ Radiotherapy Technology from Varian Medical Systems

May 07, 2009
Korea's leading university hospital has begun treatments using a new, faster form of radiotherapy that potentially enables doctors to improve outcomes while extending modern care to more patients. A 17-year-old female with cancer in her salivary gland was the first patient in the country to be treated using RapidArc™ technology from Varian Medical Systems .

Clinicians at Ajou University Hospital in Suwon, which treats patients from throughout Korea, carried out the pioneering treatment in less than two minutes with a single arc, or rotation, of the machine around the patient for each fraction, or treatment session. By comparison conventional IMRT (intensity modulated radiotherapy) treatment sessions would have taken 8-15 minutes, according to Dr. Mison Chun, chair ... more

3D research model tackles prostate cancer spread

April 30, 2009
One of the few research projects to study the spread of prostate cancer to the bones using three-dimensional models of tissue-engineered bone is underway at QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI).

Shirly Sieh, a PhD student at IHBI, is studying the way cancer cells escape from the prostate through the bloodstream to form tumour colonies, most often in the spine and long bones.

"It is an innovative study which uses a tissue engineering platform technology developed by IHBI's Professor Dietmar W. Hutmacher in order to investigate the interaction between bones and cancer cells," Ms Sieh said.

"Tissue-engineered bone provides the 3D architecture for the cancer cells which more closely resemble bone metastasis instead of growing ... more

Varian Introduces Brachytherapy Applicator Set to Optimize Precision and Comfort of Bronchial Cancer Treatments

April 29, 2009
Varian Medical Systems is introducing a new brachytherapy applicator set which is hoped to increase treatment precision and aid comfort for patients suffering from bronchial cancer. The Centering Intraluminal Applicator set is being made available for use with Varian's GammaMed™ and VariSource™ brachytherapy afterloaders.

The Centering Intraluminal Applicator set has been designed for treatment of the trachea, main bronchus and esophagus. The special design of the 3-centering catheter enables a centered position of the source in the lumen of the trachea or the bronchus while maintaining a channel for air to pass and for the patient to breathe. The three centering baskets can be partly or totally extended enabling an individual adaptation to the patient's anatomy ... mehr