Caprius debuts as Advanced NMR's progeny

MRI developers Advanced NMR and Advanced Mammography Systems have chosen the RSNA meeting to make their debut as Caprius (Hall B, #7358), the new entity that represents the merger of the two firms. Shareholders approved the merger Nov. 11 in a deal that dissolves Advanced Mammography Systems and incorporates its assets into Advanced NMR, which had been a major shareholder in AMS prior to the agreement.

The merger permits Caprius to build on the strengths of both companies, according to Jack Nelson, CEO of the Wilmington, MA, vendor. Advanced NMR is cash-rich and experienced in opening breast imaging centers, he said, while AMS owns the rights to the industry's only dedicated MR mammography scanner cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, the 0.5-tesla Aurora system.

Caprius is developing joint-venture MR breast imaging collaborations with clinical sites that have the Aurora system. The Faulkner-Sagoff Centre for Breast Health Care, the first such commercial breast imaging venture, opened earlier this month in Boston. A test site has operated since April 1996 at the University of Texas in Galveston.

On the new technology front, Caprius will describe the introduction of RODEO, a fat-suppressed pulse sequence specifically developed for breast imaging by Dr. Steven Harms. Progress with its investigation MRI-guided breast biopsy system will also be covered.