Shimadzu Medical Systems
This Torrance, CA, company will display SDU-1200, a digital color Doppler linear convex system, as a work in progress. The unit is in the same mid-range product family as SDU-2200, which was introduced last year. SDU-2200 features sector and cardiac imaging capabilities, according to the company.
SDU-1200 is designed to be targeted at ob/gyn, urology, and vascular imaging applications, while SDU-2200 is a workhorse hospital system. Shimadzu will also highlight 3-D options on the systems.
In the entry-level segment, SDU-450 XL is a new model in the company's grayscale SDU-450 product line. The new system features a faster CPU and better cache memory. The system will be targeted primarily at the private-practice niche.
Siemens Ultrasound Group
One of the highlights of the Siemens booth will be SieClear, the company's version of spatial compound imaging, which creates an ultrasound image by scanning from multiple angles around the region of interest.
Siemens is offering SieClear on all its Elegra transducers, and the technique can also be used with other imaging modes, like SieScape and color Doppler. The technique is useful in that it removes some artifacts found in conventional imaging, like shadowing, according to John Benson, vice president for product creation at the Issaquah, WA, company.
Siemens will be expanding Elegra's compliance with the DICOM connectivity standard by adding support for modality performed procedure step (MPPS). Imaging devices that support MPPS are capable of transmitting a DICOM-formatted message to an HIS that tells the information system that a scheduled procedure has been completed. This gives the HIS the go-ahead to start billing-system functions, providing an important workflow benefit, according to Benson. Siemens will also demonstrate Elegra's support for store commit, another important DICOM function.
In addition to Elegra's enhancements, new features will be demonstrated on other scanners in the Siemens product line. The company's 3D Express technique has been added to the Omnia and Sienna scanners, while Sienna is now available with the Crescendo dedicated hardware board, which improves graphics performance (Crescendo is already offered on Omnia).
SonoSite
SonoSite will be featuring two new transducers, as well as connectivity solutions for the Bothell, WA, company's handheld ultrasound systems: the SonoSite 180 for general imaging and the SonoHeart echocardiography system.
The company will be introducing a curved-array probe, the C11/7-4 broadband transducer for pediatric heart, abdomen, and neonatal head imaging. The transducer also has potential for use in interventional vascular applications. SonoSite will also be showcasing its linear-array transducer, the L38/10-5 high-frequency transducer for breast, musculoskeletal, and small-parts imaging.
In response to consumer interest in connectivity, SonoSite will be showcasing its DICOM connectivity partnership with the mobile Newport system from ALI Technologies. The system enables SonoSite products to connect and transmit data onto a DICOM network.
For PC connectivity, the company is exhibiting SiteLink, a serial-port connectivity product. SiteLink permits images to be downloaded from SonoSite scanners as uncompressed bitmaps onto a PC. The software automatically stores images in individual folders that are associated with each patient's name.
Terason
Handheld ultrasound developer Terason of Burlington, MA, will be featuring an enhanced and more robust Terason 2000 at this year's conference. Terason 2000 features the company's 10-oz (280-gram) 128-channel SmartProbe that connects, via an IEEE 1394 FireWire cable, to any Microsoft Windows 2000-compliant PC.
Terason bills its product as a "visual stethoscope" due to its light weight and plug-and-play capability. Terason 2000's clinical imaging capabilities range from cardiac to small parts. In addition, the product has access to all organs via phased-array transducers. All Doppler imaging modes are supported as well.
The product received FDA 510(k) clearance in November 1999, and the company has slated production units to ship in the first quarter of 2001. Terason 2000 is currently installed at sites in the U.S. and Europe and has a list price of $25,000 to $26,000 depending on configuration.
Toshiba America Medical Systems
New transducers for the PowerVision 6000 and 8000 scanners will be a focal point for the ultrasound section of Toshiba's booth this year. One of the probes features a 25-mm field of view and is designed for superficial and intraoperative imaging applications, like tendons and vessels, according to John Zimmer, vice president of marketing at the Tustin, CA, company.
The other probe, with a 36-mm FOV, is suited for breast, thyroid, and other small-parts uses. Both transducers feature excellent grayscale image quality, as well as pulsed-wave and color Doppler, and use Toshiba's triple-frequency linear technology, Zimmer said.
By Jonathan S. Batchelor and Brian CaseyAuntMinnie.com staff writers
November 16, 2000
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