Technicare CT lives again as Advent

Universal Medical Systems is scouting out opportunities to remanufactureand upgrade CT systems in China. The Solon, OH, firm will thenlease or sell the resulting scanner, dubbed Advent, to U.S. hospitals,according to President David R. Zavango.

UMS licensed basic CT technology from Johnson & Johnsonthrough J&J's agent, British Technology Group, in June. Thelicensing provides legal support for a business in which UMS hasbeen involved throughout its five-year history: refurbishing andsouping up old Technicare Quantum CT scanners. UMS sells, leasesor uses the refurbished scanners to provide fee-per-scan imagingservices to hospital and imaging center clients, Zavango said.

The Quantum CTs will be stripped down to the main steel frameand resurrected into Advent, using state-of-the-art computer andimaging components, he said.

Zavango, a former Technicare sales specialist, formed UMS whenJ&J closed down its Solon-based medical imaging subsidiaryin 1986. The firm also provides equipment and service in the petrophysicalresearch and non-destructive-testing fields.

UMS works with several business partners to expand the capabilitiesof its CT systems. Plexar, the group of former Technicare engineerswho provided GE with upgrades for Technicare Teslacon MRI systems(SCAN 2/3/88), now provides UMS with software upgrades for QuantumCTs.

Reality Imaging, another Solon-based company founded to commercializethree-dimensional image processing technology originally developedby Technicare (SCAN 8/17/88), provides 3-D features to UMS.

The firm will offer its CTs with a leasing package similarto GE's Maxiservice lease, Zavango said. UMS will supply CTs witheither used or new components, but will guarantee a level of uptimefor users. At the end of the lease term, the user may either buythe scanner or return it to UMS, he said.

There are similarities between UMS's CT strategy and that ofcenter firm Health Images in the MRI services field, Zavango acknowledged.HI uses Technicare Teslacon technology in its own HI StandardMRI system, which the firm provides primarily to its own centers.

Like HI, UMS will sell an Advent CT scanner if a customer approachesthe firm, but it will emphasize leasing and fee-per-scan servicesover outright system sales, he said.

About 600 Technicare CT scanners were installed worldwide atthe time of Technicare's demise. Of that number, 300 to 350 arestill in operation, Zavango said. During its five-year history,UMS has sold--or continues to own and lease--about 60 Technicarescanners, he said.