USAF selects Agfa data center

USAF selects Agfa data center
Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX Data Center will manage and share clinical information and images across all U.S. Air Force medical facilities in this country. The PACS vendor-neutral repository of clinical imaging data will be installed at David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base (AFB) in California and at the 375th Medical Group at Scott AFB in Illinois. The data center will work with existing PACS in multiple clinical departments and facilities, allowing Air Force facilities to add imaging data to its electronic medical record.

Caliper offers hybrid preclinical imager
Preclinical scientists have a new imaging tool. Caliper Life Sciences is now offering its IVIS Lumina XR for in vivo imaging of mice and rats. This addition to the IVIS family integrates bioluminescence and fluorescence molecular optical imaging with digital X-ray. The company claims peer-reviewed publications show that other family members have aided the discovery and development of five FDA-approved therapies and more than nine drug compounds currently in development. By co-registering fluorescent and bioluminescent images with digital radiographs, biological activity is put in anatomical context, such as an infection site in relation to skeletal reference points.

Zevalin moves to the front
The FDA has bumped the radioimmunotherapy (RIT) drug Zevalin from last resort to a front-line treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL). With this, the radiolabeled monoclonal antibody developed by Spectrum Pharmaceuticals can be marketed in the U.S. as an effective treatment at the onset of lymphoma. It is the first RIT treatment to be approved by the FDA as a first-line therapy for lymphoma. Previously, its use was reserved for patients in relapse and those for whom conventional therapies had failed.

Fuji wins extended contracts
Group purchasing organization Novation has extended three separate contracts with Fujifilm Medical Systems USA for up to two more years. Covered by the extensions are the company’s cassette-based computed radiography systems, including its Aspire ClearView for digital mammography; high-throughput digital radiography systems using phosphor plate detectors; and a comprehensive line of film and imagers.