FDA approves MR liver agent
An MR contrast agent on the European market since 2004 will soon be available to U.S. physicians. The intravenous agent, Primovist, enhances T1-weighted MR images to detect and characterize liver lesions. Its developer, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, will market the agent in the U.S. under the name Eovist. The agent was approved by the FDA for use in adults with known or suspected focal liver disease.
InSight expands MR services
InSight Health has contracted to provide MR services at four academic medical centers in Los Angeles County. InSight plans to install new MR scanners at Harbor-University of California, Los Angeles, Martin Luther King, Jr./Drew Medical Center, Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. Among the installations will be GE's 3T MR 750 system at Harbor-UCLA. The Lake Forest, CA-based provider of diagnostic imaging services has customers in more than 30 states.
Merge installs PACS at multiple sites
Washington Radiology Associates is running Merge Healthcare's recently installed Fusion PACS MX 3.0 with integrated Merge Mammo 7.10 at each of its six outpatient facilities in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, according to the company. Washington Radiology offers digital mammography, digital x-ray, CT, MR, and PET.
Confirma adds CME
Breast MR software pioneer Confirma has increased access for its customer base to CME-accredited programs. Noting that breast MR interpretation requires special expertise, the maker of CADstream is offering hands-on courses to educate physicians and technologists offering these examinations and MR-guided breast biopsies. The next such course is scheduled for July 11-12 in San Francisco, and others will be offered throughout the year.
