Toshiba and Mayo settle MRI patent suit

Toshiba America Medical Systems of Tustin, CA, and the Mayo Foundationfor Medical Education and Research of Rochester, MN, have settledlitigation relating to an MRI artifact-suppression patent grantedto Mayo in 1987. Mayo filed the suit against Toshiba last yearin U.S. District Court in Milwaukee (SCAN 2/14/96).

Both parties declined to disclose the terms of the settlement,although they did say that Mayo has licensed the patent to fourother companies besides Toshiba. The patent covers a techniquethat eliminates artifacts caused by flow, motion, and phase aliasingby using a series of saturation pulse sequences that are interleavedwith MRI pulse sequences.

Mayo is also involved in a dispute with Picker Internationalof Cleveland over the patent, according to Mayo attorney WayneBabler of Quarles & Brady in Milwaukee.