by
Joanna Padovano, Reporter | September 23, 2011
From the September 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
During the 2010 Radiological Society of North America’s annual trade show in Chicago, GE Healthcare introduced two new MRIs, says Jacques Coumans, the OEM’s general manager of premium and interventional MR. The new systems are the Optima MR450w, a 1.5T wide bore scanner; and the Discovery MR750w, a 3T wide bore scanner, which is currently pending FDA approval. Both units feature Geometry Embracing Method (GEM) technology, which Coumans explains is coil technology that uses a lightweight, ergonomic design to “maximize patient comfort” for small field of view detail studies and whole-body reviews. GE Healthcare, which sells MRIs to a variety of customers—including hospitals, private imaging facilities and academic institutions—currently conducts approximately 50 percent of its business in North America and 50 percent internationally, Coumans estimates.
According to Steve Mitchell, the senior director of MR for Philips Healthcare, the OEM introduced the Ingenia, an MR system that received FDA clearance in April 2011. The Ingenia, available at 1.5T or 3T strength, is the first digital broadband MRI. In the machine, “the analog digitization conversion is actually done on the surface coil itself,” says Mitchell, who explains that this process usually takes place away from the magnet and patient. “By [converting on the coil surface], we are increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the system by up to 40 percent, and that’s providing a much, much better image quality for the physician. And it’s allowing the scanner to go faster.” Mitchell approximates that the business of Philips Healthcare is divided equally between North America and the rest of the world. The company sells to various hospitals, imaging clinics and academic centers.
Suresh Narayan, Toshiba America Medical Systems’ senior manager of market development for MR business, tells DOTmed News about the OEM’s new Vantage Titan 3T, an open bore MRI that recently received FDA clearance and will be featured at this year’s RSNA show. According to Narayan, the 1.5T Vantage Titan is currently the company’s most popular MRI. Toshiba’s business in the U.S. is primarily with large hospitals, says Narayan. “Most of the sales are moving from the imaging centers marketplace to the main hospitals.”
