Two and a half years after purchasing Teknar, Santa Barbara, CA-basedMentor is bringing that firm's ultrasound product line fully intothe fold. Mentor is reorganizing operations, placing the Teknarscanners in the hands of its existing urology sales and
Pretty pictures do not necessarily make a better diagnosis, butthey can attract referral business in MRI. Image Enhancement Systems,a company that branched out of an MRI center operating Toshiba's0.064-tesla Access MRI system, has developed a hardware
3M's picture archiving and communications systems partnershipwith RStar is still alive and kicking, despite an executive housecleaningat RStar earlier this year (SCAN 4/7/93). 3M last month made sureits PACS effort hasn't been forgotten by announcing
Agfa continues to refine its marketing focus with the sale thismonth of the Orangeburg, NY-based facility the company acquiredwhen it bought Matrix Instruments in 1988 (SCAN 12/14/88). Thesale marks the second time in four months that Agfa has
Manufacturers of SPECT cameras might improve equipment performancewith an advanced microcast fanbeam collimator developed by NuclearFields. The technology creates ultra-high resolution nuclear imagesthrough the use of uniform casting technology and
Big isn't necessarily better in today's ultrasound market. Customerswho crave high-end performance may willingly part with optionalfrills for a better price. Philips Ultrasound found demand higherfor its P700 mid-range scanner than for the premium
Elscint adds another card to its imaging hand with the formationthis month of a marketing and distribution agreement with positronemission tomography manufacturer Positron. The relationship givesElscint access to a PET camera without having to invest in
While many scanner vendors pare operations to contend with sluggishhospital purchasing, picture archiving and communications systemssupplier Cemax is boosting its sales organization to capitalizeon rapid OEM sales growth. The privately held Fremont, CA,
Toshiba America Medical Systems used a little marketing pizzazzto unveil an adjustable-angle dual-head gamma camera as a work-in-progressat this month's Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Toronto.Rather than display an empty mock-up of the camera,
Former Adaptive Video president and co-founder Michael Francostarted a new company in April that will offer interfacing andimage management products to medical vendors. Signal Stream Technologiesof Novato, CA, is developing interface boards for IBM-based
Medasys, a nuclear medicine computer manufacturer, and EncoreMedical Systems, a gamma camera refurbisher and reseller, haveagreed to merge. While details of the merger remain to be workedout and shareholder approval is required for both companies,
Diasonics will expand advertising and direct-mail promotion programsduring the latter half of this year in support of its VST high-endradiology ultrasound scanner. The firm brought over 100 physiciansto San Francisco last Sunday for an introductory
Bennett X-ray hopes to continue its success in the export marketby developing a high-frequency generator specifically for theWorld Health Organization's Basic Radiological Systems (BRS) program.WHO is revising the device specifications for BRS. Bennett
Picker International has consolidated its equipment financingservices by shedding its relationship with a third-party firmand forming a new joint-venture finance company. The new company, Picker Financial Group, expects to focus onleasing and
Countervailing pressures for price cuts and enhanced performanceare shaping the product offerings of high-end radiology ultrasoundvendors. Formerly high-end scanners are competing on price inthe upper mid-tier of the market. At the same time, a new
Wedding bells may soon ring in the MRI profession. Plans for amerger of the discipline's two major medical societies have reachedan advanced stage. While no equipment vendor will bring a shotgunto the wedding, they will bless a union that should simplify
Imaging service companies have a hard row to hoe staying aliveand profitable in a rapidly changing U.S. health care deliverysystem. But those center and mobile providers that are smart andquick enough to outlast the shakeout and build connections tothe
Radiology Management Systems (Radman) received Food and Drug Administration510(k) clearance this month to market its Radman Image ManagementSystem. The company will seek to build its teleradiology/picturearchiving and communications systems business on
Tomographic Technologies (TomTec) of Munich is building a stableof OEM and development partnerships to expand the market reachof its Echo CT cine three-dimensional ultrasound image processingsystem. As part of this effort, the firm is developing
A federal judge last month dismissed a patent lawsuit filed againstAdvanced Magnetics (AMI) by a former member of the company's scientificadvisory board. The suit involved patents for six of AMI's MRIcontrast agents. Dr. David D. Stark filed suit last
A new player with a familiar face is making waves in the not-yet-emergedultrasound contrast market. Salutar founder and Omniscan inventorDr. Stephen C. Quay formed Sonus Pharmaceuticals in 1991 withthe intention of duplicating his MRI contrast success in
Imaging center chains must control what they pay for center acquisitionsif they hope to compete in a managed-care-driven U.S. health-caresystem. Many center partnerships continue to request prices thatare too high, considering how cost-driven the imaging
The joint marketing and development effort between Siemens andultrafast CT developer Imatron has yet to translate into successfor the South San Francisco, CA-based company. Imatron last monthposted disappointing financial results for 1992 and
Demand for MRI services has softened with the uncertainty overimminent changes in the U.S. health-care system. A question forproviders is whether this slowdown in growth of MRI proceduresis a temporary blip on a steady upward-trend line or a preludeto
Shimadzu Medical Systems last month began selling a radiography/fluoroscopysystem tailored to exploit growth in the U.S. x-ray replacementmarket. The R/F system, YSF-220, was designed to double patientthroughput, enabling hospitals to replace older
Siemens initiated a restructuring of its U.S. medical operationslast week that will eventually centralize all corporate unitsunder Siemens Medical Systems in Iselin, NJ. The German vendorpreviously had U.S.-based medical businesses with worldwide
General Electric maintains that it sold its Aerospace Divisionto Martin Marietta because of negative business trends in thedefense industry. But Infact, a self-styled corporate accountabilitygroup, declared victory last week at the closing of the
Medical film digitizer suppliers Lumisys and Vision Ten brokeoff their merger discussions last month. One problem with theunion was apparently Vision Ten's involvement in litigation, theliabilities of which could have carried over to an expanded Lumisys.
The growing trend toward ultrasound networking promises hospitalsimproved flexibility and efficiency. But unless connectivity problemsare resolved, having equipment from different ultrasound vendorstalk to each other will be like building a Tower of
ATL this month began shipping ultrasound scanners armed with AspectElectronics cameras, following a sole-source supplier agreementinked between the companies. The deal is a vindication for Aspect,which has carved out a medical imaging niche for its
