A high-tech arms race is escalating in the scanner service industry--tothe benefit of equipment users. Mediq Engineering and MaintenanceServices launched a remote scanner diagnostics product last monththat competes head-on with GE's InSite remote

American Health Services took advantage of low interest ratesto restructure its equipment financing relationship with GE MedicalSystems this month. The imaging services firms converted 16 GEMRI units from operating leases to owned systems.GE provided AHS

Philips Medical Systems liked what it saw when it began cooperatingwith Hewlett-Packard in the cardiac catheterization field lastyear. The two firms agreed to integrate HP patient monitoringequipment with Philips' cardiac cath imaging line in November.A

Diasonics managed to increase income from continuing operations15% in fiscal 1991 (end-December) despite ultrasound price competitionand softening imaging demand in Europe, according to Rod Young,president and CEO.Income for the year was $18.9 million,

Radiologists may lose their image if they depend on a picturearchiving and communication system (PACS) without adequate patientdatabase controls, according to Dr. Richard Turkanis, presidentand CEO of Radiology Management Systems (Radman). Radman, a

Philips Ultrasound should have its ultrasound blood-quantificationproduct, CVI-Q, on the market by the third quarter of this year.While there is general expectation that CVI-Q will provide newand valuable diagnostic information, a successful launch

Picker International's acquisition last week of Dynamic DigitalDisplay will provide the major medical imaging vendor a leg upin the fast-emerging field of volumetric CT imaging. DDD, previously an independent supplier of medical

Toshiba's medical imaging effort in the U.S. has made considerablestrides over the past several years. But the major multimodalityimaging vendor has been plagued with personnel problems in itsU.S. operations that constitute a Japanese manager's

Remote scanner diagnostics allow GE to offer its imaging customersservices beyond maintenance troubleshooting. Implementation ofits InSite remote diagnostics program has also improved user educationand training, said John R. Haddock, vice president and

ADAC Laboratories claimed at the RSNA meeting last month to havegrown from the third-largest supplier of SPECT cameras in theU.S. to first place in 1991. According to ADAC's analysis of theU.S. SPECT market, the top camera suppliers after itself are

Gendex of Des Plaines, IL, completed its acquisition of the Philipsdental x-ray business in Europe last month, but broke off negotiationsto acquire Transworld X-ray of Charlotte, NC. The dental and medicalx-ray supplier had been interested in Transworld

IBM brought together two strange bedfellows at the RadiologicalSociety of North America conference last month. Most of IBM'sexhibit was devoted to picture archiving and communication systemproducts under development by the GE/IBM Integrated

Next Computers has set its sights on medical imaging. The RedwoodCity, CA, computer vendor made an industry debut last month atthe Radiological Society of North America technical exhibit, whereit displayed systems at the Resonex, Metecon and Lumisys

Two different approaches to the nuclear SPECT camera market wereon display at the RSNA meeting last month. There was some debateat the show over the benefits of dedicated versus general-purposenuclear cameras. GE offered a fixed-detector dual-head SPECT

Although potential expenditures for the U.S. military's medicaldiagnostic imaging support (MDIS) project may appear massive,the goal is to save money over the long run. The Department of Defense, unlike most civilian hospitals,can make the necessary

GE Medical Systems showed details of a new dual-head single-photonemission computed tomography camera dedicated to cardiology imagingapplications at the American Heart Association meeting last month.The vendor will have the fixed-detector unit, dubbed

Siemens formed a new ultrasound company as a final step in themerger of its existing ultrasound operations with that of QuantumMedical Systems. Siemens Quantum will seek to provide the productand market focus of a dedicated ultrasound vendor, said

Demand for remanufactured equipment is growing as customers seeka reliable alternative to used scanners in their quest for low-costmedical imaging systems, according to Matt Baroli, president ofRefurbco of Sylvan Lake, MI. "Remanufacturing bridges

Toshiba America Medical Systems has trimmed overhead and shiftedresources to field operations in order to compete more effectivelyin a sluggish U.S. medical imaging equipment market. The Tustin, CA, vendor cut 45 administrative and other positionsat

Image PSL (formerly Image Premastering Services) has installedits first analog picture archiving and communication system, labeledImage Access, at the University of Southern California in LosAngeles. The St. Paul-based optical technology company is