CHICAGO - Fuji Medical Systems' efforts to become a player in the PACS market are beginning to pay off. At its booth at this week's RSNA meeting, the Stamford, CT, company is highlighting the first commercial installations of its Synapse image management product, as well as new software enhancements.
Fuji launched the Synapse program at RSNA '97 as part of a plan to diversify beyond its core computed radiography market. Rather than partner with a PACS developer, the firm chose to develop its own Windows NT-based software.
Shipments of the product began earlier this year, and have included a software-only installation at Barnes Jewish Christian Health System in St. Louis, according to Clay Larsen, Fuji's vice president of marketing and network development. Larsen believes the drop in PACS purchases this year due toY2K fears has actually helped Fuji, by slowing down the purchase process long enough for the company to get Synapse on the market.
Fuji is highlighting new Synapse technologies in its RSNA booth. Among them is Aon, a wavelet compression algorithm designed for use in PACS within an enterprise rather than in teleradiology transmissions, as are most wavelet techniques today. The company will also introduce version 1.3.0 of the Synapse software, which includes new features for cross-sectional imaging.
Fuji isn't ignoring its core CR market, either. The company is taking on competitors in digital x-ray with SpeedSuite, a new CR offering that integrates an FCR 5501D internal-plate reader with x-ray components to enable purchasers to acquire a turnkey digital x-ray room.
Another new technology is dual-side reading, which coats storage phosphor on both sides of an imaging plate, rather than just one, according to Todd Minnigh, marketing manager for computed radiography systems. Dual-side reading results in much higher detective quantum efficiency (DQE) and better image quality, Minnigh said.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writersDecember 1, 1999
