VIENNA - An old face with a new look returned to the European radiology scene at this week’s European Congress of Radiology. Italian vendor Ferrania Imaging Technologies is relaunching its corporate brand with a line of x-ray film, printers, and PACS software.
Although the name may be new to many radiology observers, Ferrania actually has a long history in the x-ray market, according to Luisa Tucciariello, marketing manager for LifeJet systems at the firm. The company started production of photographic film in 1923, and in 1926 began manufacturing film for medical applications at its factory in Ferrania, in northern Italy.
3M bought the company in 1964, and for the next 32 years Ferrania served as a European manufacturing plant for the U.S. conglomerate. Things began to change in 1996, when 3M created Imation by spinning off its medical and data storage operations. Imation’s medical business was subsequently acquired by Eastman Kodak in 1998.
The Ferrania plant wasn’t included in the Imation sale, but for the next two years the company manufactured x-ray products for Kodak as it prepared for life on its own, using the products, licenses, and personnel it had retained. When its manufacturing relationship with Kodak expired in December, Ferrania was launched as a privately held independent firm with the backing of venture capital firm Schroder Ventures.
Medical imaging is one of five industries in which Ferrania participates, the others being photographic film and private-label single-use cameras, graphic arts, ink jet media, and custom manufacturing. The company’s Life Imaging division is responsible for the radiology market, with products running the gamut from x-ray film to PACS to digital radiography systems.
In PACS, the company has developed a digital image management system, called LifeWeb, that is undergoing its first installation at Umberto I Hospital in Rome. LifeWeb is based on Web and DICOM technologies and is designed to be highly scalable and platform-independent, according to the company. Ferrania has also developed a RIS that integrates with LifeWeb.
In digital radiography, Ferrania intends to develop a complete DR unit, called LifeRay, based on amorphous silicon detectors supplied by French detector developer Trixell. Ferrania is working with partners on the system’s post-processing and electronics, and hopes to begin selling the system by the beginning of 2002.
Another Ferrania product line is its LifeJet family of printers. Ferrania is displaying two models in its ECR booth. One is based on ink-jet technology for producing non-diagnostic gray-scale and color prints for general medical and ultrasound applications, as well as for referring physicians and patients. The other printer is a large-format 35 x 43-mm dry system.
Ferrania plans to sell its products in Europe through a mix of distributors and its own direct sales force, depending on the country. The company will also work through distributors in the U.S., where it has a film manufacturing plant in Weatherford, OK, and a sales office in New Jersey.
Although the x-ray film market is dominated by large global players, Ferrania hopes to make its newcomer status an asset. The firm isn’t encumbered by a large installed base of legacy users, and can be flexible in dealing with customers, according to Tucciariello. At the same time, the company has a long history in the industry as part of 3M.
"We are smaller, but we’re more flexible and close to the customer," Tucciariello said. "In our past we’ve been innovative, and we’d like to be innovative again."
By Brian Casey
AuntMinnie.com staff writer
March 5, 2001
Copyright © 2001 AuntMinnie.com
