Ultrasound manufacturers are adept at image acquisition and display technology, but these skills may not be pertinent to the development of three-dimensional and other image processing techniques. Vendors might be well-advised to outsource this technology rather than invest in internal development, according to Robert H. Wake, president of Reality Imaging.
Reality, a supplier of 3-D ultrasound technology, is targeting OEMS in this emerging field. The Solon, OH, firm was the only independent 3-D company displaying its wares at the February meeting of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine in Atlanta. Although Reality has a number of OEM agreements with multimodality vendors, it is still seeking its first dedicated ultrasound customer, Wake told SCAN.
The firm's largest OEM customer is Toshiba, which uses a freestanding 3-D workstation for its magnetic resonance imaging line. Other OEMs incorporate Reality's Voxel Flinger 3-D processing engine into their equipment. Over half the company's sales are to scanner vendors, he said.
There is no 3-D ultrasound system commercially available in the U.S. market. Both Acoustic Imaging and Philips (see following story) have shown 3-D images, but are at least a year from commercializing a product. Kretztechnik of Austria has built a 3-D ultrasound unit that is awaiting FDA market approval.
Development of 3-D ultrasound has lagged behind other imaging modalities for technological and economic reasons, Wake said.
"The technical problems are easier with CT. Ultrasound can be intimidating. It produces a tremendous volume of data in a short time," he said.
Several years ago, 3-D workstations cost more than an entire high-end radiological ultrasound scanner. That pricing relationship has changed dramatically. Color-flow Doppler and other improvements to scanner technology have increased the cost--and capabilities--of high-end scanners, while workstation and 3-D technology has become less expensive, he said.
"They are moving in opposite directions. Three-D technology is becoming more affordable," Wake noted.
