Ausonics builds U.S. sales organization

Ausonics opened a representative office in Arlington Heights,IL, during the Radiological Society of North America meeting thismonth. The office will support an accelerated U.S. effort by theAustralian ultrasound supplier, said Tom Koziol, president ofGT Technology.

GT Technology, also of Arlington Heights, serves as both aMidwest distributor and business consultant to Ausonics. Koziolworked for Ausonics in the U.S. as mammography product managerbefore Instrumentarium's purchase of the Milwaukee-based Ausonicsgroup three years ago (SCAN 2/01/89).

Gillian Evans, international marketing director for Ausonicsof Sidney, will be stationed permanently in the U.S. representativeoffice. She will provide technical and clinical support to Ausonicsdistributors and, along with Koziol, will seek to increase Ausonics'U.S. dealer network.

Koziol served as vice president of sales and marketing forAcoma Medical Imaging in the U.S. prior to forming his own firmtwo years ago (SCAN 3/28/90). Acoma of Japan had supplied Ausonicswith mammography systems before Instrumentarium, another supplierto the Ausonics U.S. group, bought that sales organization andtransformed it into its own U.S. subsidiary, Instrumentarium Imaging.

In an ironic twist, Instrumentarium Imaging revealed at theRSNA meeting that it will sell a breast imaging ultrasound scannersupplied by Ausonics. Ausonics itself introduced a mid-tier scannercalled Opus 1 at the RSNA show. The new scanner will sit at thetop of its product line.

The role of Universal Medical Systems has changed with Ausonics'strengthened direct position in the U.S. Shortly before the Instrumentariumacquisition, Ausonics in Milwaukee had ceased selling Ausonicsultrasound scanners. UMS, a successful Ausonics dealer based inYonkers, NY, was granted exclusive North and South American distributionrights for Ausonics ultrasound (SCAN 12/14/88).

Under the new structure, UMS will handle East Coast distributionfor medical markets and continue to sell the scanners into veterinaryapplications in North and South America, according to presidentPeter Brunelli.

The Opus 1, with its 256 shades of gray, advanced microprocessingand expanded transducers, will help Ausonics develop urology,general-purpose radiology, and veterinary sales, Brunelli said.Opus 1 will sell for $30,000 to $60,000, depending on its transducerconfiguration. The compact, mobile unit weighs about 40 lbs.

The system is a versatile imager capable of performing cardiac,abdominal, urology, breast and small-parts imaging. Ausonics introduceda 7.5 MHz-biplane transrectal probe with Opus, which is significantfor a mid-tier scanner.

Ausonics is close to introducing phased-annular-array transducersand is working on 10- and 12-MHz linear arrays, Brunelli said.

"The Opus 1 makes us a serious competitor in the mid-rangemarket," Koziol said.

BRIEFLY NOTED:

• Lenzar Optics merged this month with a sister company,W.J. Schafer Associates, to form Lenzar ElectroOptics of RivieraBeach, FL. Both companies are owned by New York-based Ogden, a$2 billion conglomerate.

Ogden purchased Lenzar, a medical video camera and film digitizermanufacturer, in June, rescuing it from bankrupt parent Corvus(SCAN 7/3/91).

While much of Lenzar ElectroOptics' business will focus onmilitary and industrial markets, the company will continue todevelop and sell its medical imaging line.