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Issaquah to resume deliveries in MaySiemens Medical Systems let fly a shocker last week: The Iselin,NJ-based vendor said it as suspending domestic shipments fromthree U.S. manufacturing facilities. The action is part of a consentdecree with the

Underlying technology bought from PhilipsThe patent infringement legal dispute between nuclear medicinevendors ADAC Laboratories and Elscint took an unusual turn lastmonth. ADAC acquired patents from Philips Medical Systems relatingto gamma

Sluggish results in the high-field segment of the U.S. MRI marketlast year vindicated Toshiba's decision to focus on developmentof a premium mid-field scanner, according to Bill Carrano, directorof MRI marketing for Toshiba America Medical Systems. This

Claims top spot in ultrasoundATL made a dramatic bid to increase its presence in the cardiologyultrasound market by announcing last week its intention to acquirecardiac ultrasound firm Interspec. If approved by shareholders,the acquisition will

Medical imaging manufacturers face an R&D dilemma. Health-careproviders in the U.S. will likely remain focused on trimming costsand improving productivity over the next three to five years,according to veteran imaging industry executive and

Hospitals will play a stronger role in large scanner acquisitionsin the 1990s, according to David L. Higgins, president and CEOof medical financing firm DVI. Several trends underlie the swingto hospital purchasing: the decline of referring-physician

No changes are expected in Esaote Biomedica's ultrasound marketingstrategy or its emerging niche MRI effort, following a managementbuy-out of the firm, according to Fabrizio Landi, deputy generalmanager. Landi is one of four senior managers involved in

With MRI sales withering under politicoeconomic heat in the U.S.,market prospects for general radiographic and radiography/fluoroscopyequipment are relatively sanguine, according to Jack E. Price,vice president of marketing for Philips Medical Systems

Signal Stream Technologies of Novato, CA, finalized its firstOEM supply contract with GE Medical Systems last month, providingadditional momentum to an already rapid business launch. The medicalimaging interface and image management company was started

Fischer Imaging and GE Medical Systems entered into an x-ray supplyrelationship last month. Under the agreement, Fischer will supplyGE with radiography systems, trauma positioning systems and aspecialized tilting C-arm table for interventional

Fuji Medical Systems has long been the dominant player in thecomputed radiography market due to its strong patent positionin phosphor-based CR. Competition began to heat up last year,however, when Philips Medical Systems unveiled its

The largest medical imaging independent service organization is about to get larger. MMI, parent of ISO leader R Squared Scan Systems, launched a plan last month to purchase its main competitor, MEDIQ Equipment and Maintenance (MEMS), a subsidiary of

For a company with only two medical imaging products, Scitex MedicalSystems made its debut with a bang last month at the RadiologicalSociety of North America conference. Scitex occupied expansivebooth space and put on a full-court press at the meeting

A new exhibitor at last year's Radiological Society of North Americameeting piqued interest with a versatile mammography system itis introducing into the U.S. market. While Medical Marketing International's(MMI) booth space at the conference was small,

PACS firm Genesys and compact video camera manufacturer VisiplexInstruments have inked a joint marketing agreement to sell eachother's products on a global basis. The new alliance was evidentat last month's RSNA meeting, where Visiplex demonstrated

MRI supplier Otsuka Electronics of Fort Collins, CO, plans toenter the European market this year through a distribution agreementwith Kontron Instruments of France, according to John Ariatti,Otsuka sales & marketing director. An agreement in

Philips Medical Systems received Food and Drug Administrationmarketing clearance last week for its 0.5-tesla and 1.5-teslaGyroscan NT MRI systems introduced at the Radiological Societyof North America meeting earlier this month. Both systems

Victory in the battle for U.S. medical imaging sales will go tothose vendors that can produce advanced equipment at reduced cost.The days of technical glitz at almost any price--fading sincethe onset of DRGs--are over. Imaging suppliers now vie for

Medical image processing vendor ISG Technologies opened the doorsfor a peek at its expanded stable of OEM partners during the 1993RSNA meeting. ISG hardware and software was shown at about a dozenoriginal-equipment market suppliers on the show's exhibit

Nuclear medicine equipment vendors are having the last laugh overcritics who predicted in the 1980s the eventual demise of thegamma camera market. As 1993 comes to a close, it appears thatnuclear medicine will be the fastest growing segment of the

Picker International took the plunge into digital scintillationcamera design with the introduction of sweeping changes to itsPrism SPECT camera series introduced at the RSNA meeting thismonth. Digital components were featured on the Picker

Siemens and Loral Aerospace are discussing ways to spin theirpicture archiving and communications systems partnership intoa separate joint venture. The effort follows Siemens' developmentof a separate cluster PACS concept--versus the centralized

The fight in radiology ultrasound was already bloody when GE MedicalSystems threw a sucker punch at competitors during the RadiologicalSociety of North America conference this month. GE unveiled atechnically sophisticated works-in-progress scanner that

Anyone who doubted the future of digital mammography must be thinkingtwice after this year's Radiological Society of North Americameeting. Digital systems were featured prominently on the exhibitfloor. Fischer Imaging and Lorad displayed

Elscint's small position in the U.S. MRI market has proven a blessingin disguise for the Israeli multimodality medical imaging vendor.While MRI suppliers with a larger stake in the U.S. reel froma dramatic drop in system sales (SCAN 11/3/93), Elscint's

Despite the onset of health-care reform, there is still room inmedical imaging for good old-fashioned technological innovation.This year's Radiological Society of North America meeting is acase in point, particularly in MRI. Industry leaders Siemens

There may be a cure for MRI sales depression: Take two aspirinsand expand applications. With routine MRI procedure volume saggingin the U.S., vendors are scurrying to move the modality into newrealms, such as interventional MRI. Cutting-edge

Shimadzu Medical Systems is beefing up its 1-tesla MRI lineupwith two new scanners to be unveiled at the Radiological Societyof North America meeting this month. The new systems spearheada renaming of the Japanese vendor's MRI product line, accordingto