B&K adds staff for radiology drive

Bruel & Kjaer of Denmark is building up a direct sales organizationto support entry into the U.S. radiology ultrasound market, accordingto Ralph Winters, radiology marketing manager for B&K's U.S.company in Marlborough, MA.

The vendor received 510(k) market certification for its 3535scanner from the Food and Drug Administration in September, shortlyafter the product's official worldwide launch at the World Federationof Ultrasound in Medicine meeting in Copenhagen (SCAN 10/23/91).B&K is currently recruiting sales and applications specialistsin the U.S., Winters said.

B&K, a leading urology ultrasound vendor, designed itsnew color-flow radiology unit from the ground up. The compact3535 system is about half the size of most high-end radiologyultrasound units, but it packs all the features of a premium scannerinto that smaller space. The compactness actually delivers advantagesin image quality, Winters said.

System signal-to-noise is high, due to the scanner's smallsize as well as reduced heat and background electrical circuitry.This enables higher frequency scanning and improved resolution,he said.

"You can't equate size with price. This is a full radiologyproduct," Winters said.

The vendor used parallel processing in designing the 3535system. This technique allows a variety of information to be processedsimultaneously and increases the frame rate dramatically, he said.

The scanner is built with surface-mount circuit board technology,which increases system durability. Software upgrades can be installedand service performed remotely on the 3535 through its small computersystem interface (SCSI) modem.

B&K installed an upgrade to the system over telephone linesfrom Denmark during the RSNA conference in Chicago last month,Winters said.