DICOM provides fertile ground for sales growthPACS companies are jockeying for position in the race to takeadvantage of an impending boom in purchasing interest. Interfacefirm Merge Technologies moved itself a little closer to the insiderail

This year's American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine meeting in San Francisco found the diagnosticultrasound industry in a transition phase. By most accounts, theindustry has bottomed out from the drop in new scanner purchasingexperienced in 1993 and

Philip Smith, vice president of Toshiba ultrasound business operations, has left the company,the Tustin, CA, vendor said last week. Smith's last day with Toshibawas April 3. Smith joined Toshiba in 1987 as business manager of x-ray afterserving as

Acquisition-minded defense firm E-Systems found itself on the other end of a buyout offer thismonth. The Dallas company, which spent much of the past two yearsaccumulating PACS and archiving firms, has agreed to be acquiredby fellow defense contractor

Siemens Medical Systems has become the second gamma camera vendor to win Food and DrugAdministration 510(k) clearance for a nonuniform attenuation correctionproduct. Siemens' Hoffman Estates, IL, nuclear medicine grouplast month got the FDA's imprimatur

Philips Ultrasound is moving forward in its R&D program for Color Velocity Imaging-Quantification(CVI-Q), the vendor's unique non-Doppler method for quantifyingblood volume flow. Ten papers will be presented on CVI and CVI-Qat this week's American

Agfa is experiencing strong demand for its Impax PACS components, the Ridgefield Park, NJ,company reported last week. The company's total PACS sales inits electronic imaging division exceeded $12 million in the firstquarter of 1995, according to Vishal

Urology equipment manufacturer Direx Medical Systems is planning to enter the MR market withMarex, a low-field magnet shown for the first time at this month'sEuropean Congress of Radiology meeting in Vienna. Marex is a 0.1-tesla permanent magnet

Siemens and Picker are developing similar programsThe multivendor service deal forged this month between GE HealthCareServices and the Columbia/HCA hospital chain has other scannervendors shaking their heads. GE's competition is examining

3M has enhanced the functionality of its Image Management System PACS product by adding the abilityto send ultrasound images over a DICOM 3.0-compatible network.The St. Paul, MN, company will display the new capabilities atthis week's American Institute

The producers of ``60 Minutes'' dedicated about 12 minutes ofits Feb. 26 broadcast to investigate ties between the CIA andE-Systems, the Dallas-based company that has recently gained amajor stake in teleradiology and PACS technologies. CBS complimented

Despite recessionary pressures, Lorad counts 1994 as another record year, with revenue growthin excess of 45%. The Danbury, CT, mammography equipment manufacturerreported sales of $55 million for the fiscal year ending Dec.31, compared to $37.5 million

Combined product line appeals to broader marketThe proposed merger of PACS component supplier Cemax with teleradiologymarket leader Icon has industry analysts buzzing about the marketimplications of a marriage between the two northern

Signa Contour and Sytec Synergy make their debut GE Medical Systems demonstrated its emphasis on the internationalmarket with two new scanner introductions at last week's EuropeanCongress of Radiology meeting in Vienna. GE debuted Signa

Technology to make PACS work efficiently has finally arrivedIt has been more than a decade since medical imaging vendors beganpromoting the concept of picture archiving and communicationssystems (PACS). The initial promise of PACS was so great

Elscint has reinforced its reputation for ongoing structural change by again reorganizingits nuclear medicine and CT/MRI sales and marketing groups. Changes announced March 1 are intended to give the units clearlydefined lines of responsibility,

Five-year, turnkey deal covers hundreds of acute-care hospitalsGE Healthcare Services of Brooklyn Heights, OH, signed a five-yearagreement on March 2 to provide comprehensive equipment maintenanceand asset management services to hospitals owned

Siemens Medical Systems of Iselin, NJ, has received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearancefor an upgrade package that brings faster echo-planar imagingrise times to its 1.5-tesla Magnetom Vision MRI scanner. The packagewill be available as a free

FDA action comes in time for ACC meetingSomeone has lit a fire under medical device reviewers at the Foodand Drug Administration. While Congress debates reform of theagency and the way it approves medical devices, FDA staffers seemto have gotten

Toshiba's nuclear medicine division is adding enhancements to its line of gamma cameras.The Tustin, CA, vendor is planning to extend its transmission-emissionartifact-correction technique from its triple-head gamma camerasto its dual-head systems,