ECR REVIEW
with UK-based JAOtech, a maker of patient entertainment and point-of-care hospital terminals. At the ECR, Hitachi Medical was in transition on two
fronts, establishing itself as an innovator in cylindrical high- field systems, just as its new subsidiary joins the ranks of the world’s largest ultrasound companies. Hitachi spread the word of its cylindrical Echelon Oval
1.5T, featuringa novel-shaped oval bore, arguably the widest of any known cylindrical system. Horizontally, the Ech- elon Oval bore stretches 74 cm – 4 cm more than compet- ing products. But more important than laying claim to the widest bore was the fact that Hitachi is innovating in cylin- drical design. The company came to global fame in MR through the
Siemens unveiled at the ECR its new 3T Magnetom Spectra, which company execu- tives expect to sell at the street price of a 1.5T scanner five years ago. Photo by Greg Freiherr
The Magnetom Spectra and Somatom Perspective may
be just the beginning for Siemens. The driver behind these two systems is the company’s “Healthcare Initiative Agenda 2013,” developed to ensure “sustainable growth” for the imaging sector partly through the expansion of entry-level products and investment in high-throughput, cost efficient technologies. Simply put, Siemens is migrating high-end technologies to low-end products. This kind of transformation may be needed, if the indus-
try and radiology as we know them are going to survive. Declining reimbursements are at the root of this transfor- mation. In the past, when reimbursements were curtailed, healthcare providers could increase procedure volume. In the years ahead, reimbursements may go down in lockstep with procedure volume. The ECR exhibit floor was rife with changes in the char-
acter of other companies. Barco appeared transfigured at the ECR. In Vienna, and even already in Chicago at RSNA 2011, the company showed itself as a provider of not just products for displaying images but of technologies for managing mul- tiple and varied displays. Up until recently, the company was seen as a vendor of
radiology monitors. Before that, Barco was known as a maker of televisions. The progression seemed logical, as does the one now underway as the company brings these two path- ways together in novel fashion. Nestled at the bottom of the escalator leading to the bot-
tom floor of ECR’s exhibits, Barco flashed images on wall- hung displays that brought surgery and radiology together, as well as provided a venue for patient billing and even bed- side entertainment. Monitors three feet wide were split into quadrants displaying a fragment of the visual information that defines a patient’s care – a fractured tibia and cavernous endoscopic views of cavity – alongside closed circuit views of the exhibit floor. Barco demonstrated monitors also for the patient bedside, monitors that might play a key role not only for the visiting physician but the patient who might use them to watch pay-per-view movies, an option that opens new sources of revenue for the hospital – a Barco transformation resulting from a corporate merger, completed in February,
36 DI EUROPE
development of high-quality open scanners. It is today one of only two companies with such a scanner operating at a field strength of 1T or better. Sheldon Schaffer, vice president and general manager of
Hitachi MR and CT, is adamant that the Oasis 1.2T open scanner remains a standard bearer of the company’s high-field portfolio. It is clear, however, from the presence of Echelon Oval as a Hitachi product, that the limitations of open scan- ner design will not soon give way to a 1.5T open. Recognizing these limitations is all the more telling for the evolution of the Hitachi MR portfolio considering the very real prospect that 3T may soon become the de facto clinical standard for high- field imaging. To compete on this future playing field, Hitachi has had to embrace cylindrical scanners. Hitachi was also moving forward in ultrasound with a
range of Hitachi-Aloka ultrasound systems, among them a new and elegantly simple cart-based system, called the F37. It was the first product to be launched since the December integration of Aloka Holding Europe and Hitachi Medical Systems Europe, whose fusion promises cost efficiencies. True to the concept of this corporate merger, the F37 was
designed for use in developing countries, the most cost sensi- tive and challenging marketplaces of the world. Tight budgets restrict capital purchases and training. Broadband Harmonics with Adaptive Image Processing and Spatial Compound Imag- ing onboard the F37 deliver high sensitivity and resolution,
Barco demonstrated is mastery of multiple displays at the ECR, as the company expands its role beyond that of a vendor of high-performance monitors. Photo by Greg Freiherr
APRIL/MAY 2012
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