Wednesday, September 30, 2009

New Miniature, Portable GE Ultrasound Allows for Rapid Diagnosis, Procedures at Patient’s Bedside

WAUWATOSA, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE is helping to transform the delivery of patient care with Venue™ 40, a miniaturized ultrasound system with advanced touch-screen technology, launched by GE Healthcare, a business unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Venue 40 is portable, allowing physicians to quickly perform rapid diagnostics and needle-guided procedures right at a patient’s bedside, providing real-time results. Whether it is being used in the emergency room, operating room or sports medicine clinic, the lightweight system can be easily transported from location to location, offers high-resolution imaging, and is easy to both use and clean. Venue 40 is the first new-to-market product validated under GE’s healthymagination initiative, dedicated to improving the quality, access and cost of healthcare.

“The Venue 40 is a powerful, user-friendly ultrasound system that is helping to transform the patient experience by enabling doctors to deliver quality care at the patient bedside,” said Omar Ishrak, President and CEO of GE Healthcare Systems. “Services delivered at the point of care allow doctors to spend more time with their patients and can help enhance patient comfort and reduce anxiety. Venue 40 development is part of GE’s commitment to driving efficiencies in healthcare through technology that helps yield more rapid diagnosis, improved patient experiences and better outcomes.”

source: Business Wire

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Ultrasound can predict tumour burden and survival in melanoma patients, sparing many people unnecessary surgery

Berlin, Germany: Researchers have shown for the first time that patterns of ultrasound signals can be used to identify whether or not cancer has started to spread in melanoma patients, and to what extent. The discovery enables doctors to decide on how much surgery, if any, is required and to predict the patient’s probable survival.

Dr Christiane Voit told Europe’s largest cancer congress, ECCO 15 – ESMO 34 [1], in Berlin today (Wednesday 23 September): “We have identified two ultrasound patterns of lymph node metastasis in melanoma patients which can identify correctly any amount of tumour cells in the sentinel lymph nodes in 75-90% of cases before proceeding to surgery on the sentinel lymph nodes.”

Dr Voit, who is a dermatologist and head of the diagnostic unit at the Skin Cancer Centre at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Medical University of Berlin, Germany, said that although her research needs to be confirmed in multi-centre, randomised clinical trials, it had the potential to spare patients unnecessary surgery, especially if it was combined with ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy of lymph nodes rather than conventional surgery.

source: ECCO

Monday, September 21, 2009

Boston Scientific Announces Release of Next-Generation iLab® System Software

NATICK, Mass., Sept. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) today announced release of its CE-Marked, next-generation iLab System Software for the iLab® Ultrasound Imaging System. Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) technology is designed to provide physicians a 360-degree view inside the heart and coronary vessels to assist with diagnosis and to allow a more accurate representation of the diseased vessels than is possible with angiography alone. The iLab software upgrade includes functionality designed to improve diagnosis and save time. The principal new feature of the system, iMap™, provides a detailed color analysis of plaque composition within the targeted areas.

"The upgraded iLab software, featuring iMap tissue characterization, offers detailed plaque information that may help physicians treat coronary artery disease," said Prof. Patrick W. Serruys, M.D., Ph.D., Chief of Interventional Cardiology, Thoraxcenter-Erasmus University, Rotterdam. "The combination of Boston Scientific's 40MHz catheter and the new characterization algorithm represents the latest generation of IVUS imaging technology."

In addition to iMap, the iLab software includes features such as Modality Worklist Management, which allows a physician to access a patient's profile from the hospital server and view it on the iLab System monitor. Additional features include an on-screen print icon and the ability to edit and save video images of a procedure directly to CD, DVD or hard drive. The iLab software is currently in a global limited market release with full commercial availability planned for later this year in all regions.

source: Boston Scientific

Monday, September 14, 2009

SonoSite Highlights New Patient Safety Technology And Other Advances For Vascular Access Applications

BOTHELL, WA - September 14, 2009 - SonoSite, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONO), the world leader and specialist in hand-carried and point-of-care ultrasound, announced today new patient safety technology, mobile power solutions and image quality advances for vascular access applications. The company will be showcasing the new products and capabilities at the annual scientific meeting of the Association for Vascular Access (AVA) being held in Las Vegas September 14th - 18th, 2009.

THE NANOMAXX™ ULTRASOUND SYSTEM
SonoSite will be showing the 6-pound NanoMaxx ultrasound tool1, the latest addition to its suite of specialized products for point-of-care visualization in medicine. Combining one-button optimization technology with a fluid resistant touch screen user interface, the NanoMaxx system is highly sophisticated, easy to use and easy to disinfect. While other touch screens require a stylet to activate system controls, the sensitivity of the NanoMaxx touch screen allows the user to operate the system with the touch of a finger while wearing sterile gloves. The image quality and color flow mapping on the NanoMaxx provide increased utility versus alternatives by giving users the ability to identify nerve bundles and distinguish veins from arteries, delivering the visualization needed for safe and effective line placements.

source: SonoSite

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

University of Virginia Health System Celebrates Opening Of World's First Fully-Dedicated Focused Ultrasound Facility

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 8, 2009 - The University of Virginia Health System will hold a morning scientific symposium and early afternoon dedication ceremony on Monday, September 14 to mark the opening of its new MR Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) Surgery Center, the first facility in the world that will be used exclusively for performing research and providing treatments with one of today's most promising noninvasive medical technologies.

Located on the grounds of the UVA Health System, the new center will launch a robust, multi-disciplinary research program to investigate the safety and efficacy of MRgFUS in treating brain, breast, prostate, bone and liver tumors and conditions such as epilepsy, stroke, chronic pain, Parkinson's disease and essential tremor.

Beginning in October, the center will also offer FDA-approved MRgFUS treatments to women with small, benign tumors known as uterine fibroids. Clinical offerings will expand as focused ultrasound treatments for other conditions are developed and receive FDA-approval.

source: University of Virginia Health System

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Siemens Ships syngo US Workplace 3.5 Ultrasound Workstation Solution

Mountain View, Calif., Aug. 25, 2009 – Siemens Healthcare is now shipping its syngo® US Workplace, Release 3.5, an intuitive, off-the-system workstation solution that delivers advanced applications for improved clinical workflow and patient care. The release offers comprehensive capabilities for cardiology, general imaging, OB/GYN, and vascular screening, including the syngo Arterial Health Package (AHP) for semi-automated carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) measurements.

The syngo US Workplace 3.5 is an intuitive image management platform that supports instant and open access to DICOM-compliant images produced by select Siemens and other vendor ultrasound systems. This platform provides streamlined workflow and improved productivity for the clinical routine throughout the ultrasound lab or imaging department. While ultrasound images are acquired at the patient’s bedside, physicians can analyze images and complete reports anytime, anywhere through a standard PC network connection.

aource: Siemens Healthcare