Vital Images demonstrates upgrade for Vitrea 2 imaging product at ISMRM

Enhancements improve productivity and security

Vital Images used the annual meeting of the ISMRM to showcase the next generation, Version 3.0, of its image processing software, Vitrea 2. The upgraded product features major enhancements that promise to improve hospital integration and enhance end-user functionality through a change in architecture and the addition of new customer productivity tools. Along with the release of this latest version, Vital Images introduced a 3D angiography (3DA) software option, which includes workflow enhancements and novel visualization of vessel features.

The ISMRM meeting provided the first opportunity for the company to show off its new product to a professional audience since its release May 8.

"Most of these MR departments have CT scanners, and Vitrea is a very popular CT tool as well as MR tool," said Ryan Hennen, installed base manager for Vital Images. "We want to show that this does cross from CT into MR very nicely."

Vitrea 2 is optimized to process MR and CT data into 2D and 3D views. Driving its development is a company philosophy to engage Vitrea in the major phases of medical practice: screening, clinical diagnosis, and therapy planning. Development of applications such as virtual colonography and 3D angiography, as well as the company's partnership with Medtronic to develop image-guided surgical tools, has involved the firm in all three phases, Hennen said.

This latest iteration of Vitrea 2 features a new DICOM architecture and graphical user interface design, which together promise to improve connectivity at customer sites. The new DICOM connectivity engine combines Vital Images' software modules with software libraries to improve the performance, flexibility, and reliability of Vitrea communication with the hospital enterprise IT. Another key enhancement is the switch to Windows XP, arguably Microsoft's most secure and reliable operating system.

"We can take better advantage of speed enhancements because the XP operating system is faster than NT and is also more stable," Hennen said. "We also took advantage of some security features that Microsoft enables in XP."

Other enhancements include an improved network communication framework, which allows more effective and robust transfer of image data. User interface improvements in the study directory make patient case management easier. Users can now burn CDs at the push of a single button for instant archiving or sharing of patient information with referring physicians and surgeons. Not only can this be used to improve communications between the radiologist and referring physician, but also to forge a link between the physician and patient.

"People having their own medical records is a new concept," Hennen said. "But it's a necessary one as people become more involved in their health. Today patients are going directly to physicians (for screening exams), and with Vitrea they can take the results with them when they leave."