R2 Technology to sell ImageChecker in Japan

Mammography computer-aided detection firm R2 Technology’s ImageChecker CAD unit has received approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare for use in breast cancer screening in Japan. The unit will be distributed by R2’s partner, Marubeni America, with which R2 signed an agreement last spring (SCAN 6/23/99).

The MHW’s decision came as more good news for the Los Altos, CA, company, which is seeing its efforts to establish industry alliances pay off. In 1998, R2 signed an exclusive OEM supply deal with GE Medical Systems of Milwaukee. GE agreed to bundle ImageChecker with the full-field digital mammography system it had under development (SCAN 4/29/98). With the Food and Drug Administration’s Jan. 31 approval of GE’s Senographe (see story, page 5), R2 comes closer to bringing a digital version of ImageChecker to market.