New Free Hand Ultrasound System Improves Work Flow and Reduces Scan Time

Researchers have developed an automated 3-D mapping and labeling system that reduces scan time and improves the work flow, efficiency, and accuracy of routine freehand ultrasound exams, according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

“The labeling and measuring of free hand ultrasound images are operator dependent, time consuming, and are usually manually performed,” said Calin Caluser, MD, lead author of the study. “The new 3-D mapping and labeling system that we have developed automatically records information and replaces steps in the image acquisition process (that are typically performed manually) with a simple key stroke,” said Caluser.

The study measured the timing and accuracy of the new system in a realistic breast ultrasound phantom with small masses scattered throughout. “Results showed that the average scanning time per target using the new mapping and labeling system was up to 16 seconds per target; compared to at least 51 seconds per target using the standard scanning protocol. The system accurately measured and recorded the location of the masses in relation to the nipple (up to 2 mm), which is difficult to obtain using the manual method,” said Caluser.

“The new system can be added to any existing ultrasound machine and the reduced time for scanning the patient can translate in improved work flow and efficiency,” he said.

source: ARRS

EDAP Receives European Approval for New Sonolith i-move Lithotripsy Device

LYON, France, Apr 12, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- EDAP TMS SA /quotes/comstock/15*!edap/quotes/nls/edap (EDAP 3.15, +0.00, +0.03%) , the global leader in therapeutic ultrasound, announced today the European approval of its new lithotripter, the Sonolith i-move. The EDAP sales team and distributors will begin marketing Sonolith i-move immediately and will officially introduce the product to distributors, partners and visiting urologists at the European Association Urology (EAU) congress, Booth #14, from April 17-19, 2010 in Barcelona, Spain.

Leveraging EDAP's patented electroconductive technology, Sonolith i-move is a compact, stand alone lithotripter with a revolutionary infrared stereo-vision system for real-time, three-dimensional ultrasound localization of urinary stones. With its various modular configurations, Sonolith i-move targets the largest lithotripsy market segment, offering a wide range of treatment procedures for mid-size clinical sites and hospitals. Sonolith i-move will replace Sonolith Praktis, an earlier generation lithotripter, and complements the Company's high-end Sonolith I-sys lithotripter, an integration of x-ray and ultrasound locatization systems.

In addition to the official launch in Europe, EDAP is actively working towards filing for regulatory approval of Sonolith i-move in the U.S. and in Japan.

source: MarketWatch

Simple ultrasound test improves diagnosis of heart disease

New research shows that doing a simple ultrasound scan of the carotid artery significantly improves the prediction of heart disease, giving doctors a better clue of who is at high risk for a heart attack.

The new study, published in today’s Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC), shows that approximately 23 percent of patients would be reclassified into a different risk group by adding information obtained from the noninvasive test and that risk prediction using this approach was more accurate.

"Today, up to 70 percent of people who have heart attacks are in a low or intermediate risk category for a heart attack when their risk is estimated using traditional risk prediction models. That’s not very predictive, and we need to do better," said Dr. Christie Ballantyne, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and last author on the study. "Our research shows that a noninvasive ultrasound can give us a more complete snapshot of our patients’ risk, so we can do a better job determining if they’ll have a heart attack."

This is significant because patients who are at higher risk could be treated more aggressively to prevent heart disease.

source: Houston Mehtodist Hospital

Groundbreaking Whole Breast, Warm Bath Ultrasound Technology Is Producing Promising Results

SALT LAKE CITY, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TechniScan, Inc.'s (OTC Bulletin Board: TSNI) unique whole breast ultrasound technology, which provides a comfortable, radiation-free method for assessment of breast lesions was part of a scientific presentation at the National Consortium of Breast Centers (NCBC) conference in Las Vegas last week.

Yuri Parisky, radiologist, vice president and trustee of the NCBC organization and consultant to TechniScan, Inc. participated in the Orange County, CA research study that was presented at the conference. The objective of the study was to determine the usability of the new Warm Bath Ultrasound (TM) technology in a standard breast diagnostic practice. The study found that the groundbreaking technology used in TechniScan's Warm Bath Ultrasound (WBU) produced promising results and indicated that it may have a future role in the evaluation of breast lesions.

"Ultrasound technology is playing a larger role in breast diagnostics because it images cysts, fibroadenomas and cancers differently than mammography. Ultrasound is much better at seeing through dense breasts and finding cancers when they are smaller," said Parisky. "The emergence of whole breast ultrasound technology and specifically the WBU system is providing us with 3-D images of the entire breast, and will hopefully become a standard imaging modality in the next few years."

TechniScan's Warm Bath Ultrasound system is designed to capture three-dimensional images of the breast as a woman lies prone on a table and state-of-the art ultrasound technology is used in a warm water tank to capture images of the breast anatomy.

source: PR Newswire

GE Healthcare Introduces New Ultrasound Elastography Capability

SAN DIEGO, CA, MARCH 24, 2010 ― GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) today announced that an important new feature has been added to its LOGIQ E9 platform; elastography. The enhanced device is on display at the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine’s (AIUM) 2010 Annual Convention in San Diego (booth 301).

GE’s LOGIQ E9 introduces ultrasound elastography utilizing a high frequency E-series transducer with a simple compression technique which helps make elastography easier to perform and a more reproducible method of examination.

“Physicians have traditionally examined differences in tissue by hand palpation during physical exams,” said Brian McEathron, general manager of General Imaging Ultrasound, GE Healthcare. “The LOGIQ E9 helps give doctors a digital interpretation of the physical exam that can be easier to reproduce in follow-up examinations by either the original physician or other clinicians.”

LOGIQ E9 elastography is a tool that helps provide a gentle way to obtain information about internal tissue structures and has the potential to assist in patient management decisions, increase diagnostic confidence and help lead to fewer invasive procedures.

source: GE Healthcare

Unique Guideline Demonstrates A Multi-Specialty Outlook For Musculoskeletal Ultrasound

The AIUM is pleased to announce that 4 professional societies have collaborated with AIUM to endorse the recent AIUM Training Guidelines for the Performance of Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Examinations. The guidelines allow for a several practitioners, including physicians, osteopathic physicians, podiatrists, and sonographers, to perform musculoskeletal ultrasound examinations, marking significant promise for the future of this growing field.

The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, American Podiatric Medical Association, and Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Society have provided official support/endorsement for the guidelines to date.

source: Medical News Today

Toshiba Highlights Ultrasound Cardiac Capabilities At ACC 2010

ATLANTA, March 16, 2010 – Health care facilities use ultrasound as a first-line diagnostic exam to quickly and efficiently perform a range of patient exams, including cardiac imaging. Developed to meet these demanding clinical needs, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. will showcase the advanced cardiac capabilities of its AplioTM MX and Aplio ArtidaTM ultrasound systems at this year’s American College of Cardiology (ACC) annual meeting in Atlanta, March 14 – 16, 2010 (Booth # 1944). This is the first appearance of the Aplio MX at ACC.

Introduced in November 2009, Toshiba’s new Aplio MX ultrasound system is a mid-sized, cart-based system that improves patient care by offering increased portability and patient access, with the ability to perform premium ultrasound exams using this smaller system. The functional Aplio MX allows physicians to quickly and efficiently perform a range of advanced ultrasound exams, including cardiac, on patients when space is limited, such as in the emergency department, intensive care unit, outside the lab and at the patient’s bedside.

Features of the Aplio MX include:
• Contrast Harmonics to provide the ability to use bubble based contrast agents that help to provide better tissue definition on difficult-to-image patients during echocardiograms.

• Differential Tissue Harmonic Imaging for the better imaging of difficult-to-image patients, like bariatric, without sacrificing resolution to give superior border and tissue definition.

• ApliPure+ to enhance both image clarity and detail definition with real-time compounding technology to simultaneously perform spatial and frequency compounding during transmitting and receiving.

• Advanced Dynamic Flow to provide color Doppler imaging at an unprecedented level and show flow with directional information for even the smallest vessels.

• Tissue Doppler Imaging Quantification (TDIQ) software to perform various analyses by Angle Corrected Displacement and Strain to measure myocardial viability.

source: Toshiba Medical

GE Healthcare Introduces New Ultrasound Needle Tracking Capability

NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Tampa, FL, United States, 03/15/2010 - LOGIQ E9’s new volume navigation feature includes electromagnetic needle tip sensor for improved guidance accuracy.

GE Healthcare (NYSE: GE) today announced an important new onboard feature to its LOGIQ E9 platform – needle tracking powered by GE’s innovative Volume Navigation capability. The enhanced device is on display at the Society for Interventional Radiology’s 35th Annual Scientific Meeting (booth 620).

With the extraordinary image quality of the LOGIQ E9, this new Volume Navigation needle tracking capability with its sensor tipped needle helps overcome many of the traditional challenges of existing ultrasound needle guidance such as needle visualization and deflection, determining entry points and the avoidance of critical anatomy. This, in turn, can help increase the accuracy of procedures such as biopsies, ablations, drainage, fluid aspiration and general injections.

“LOGIQ E9’s advanced needle tracking can now help medical professionals utilize ultrasound during in-plane and challenging out-of-plane interventional procedures,” said Brian McEathron, general manager of General Imaging Ultrasound, GE Healthcare. “This can reduce time, limit repeat procedures, improve outcomes and result in a better overall patient experience.”

Before the skin is even penetrated, the LOGIQ E9’s advanced technology projects the path to the target, helping to plan the optimal angle and point of entry. During the procedure, the system displays the needle’s position in real-time graphics that are overlaid on the image of the scan plane. The trajectory can then be monitored as it progresses toward the target.

source: Newswire

TechniScan teams with researchers at UC San Diego in clinical study with Warm Bath UltrasoundTM system

SALT LAKE CITY (March 9, 2010) -- TechniScan, Inc. (OTC BB: TSNI) (“TechniScan” or the “Company”), a medical device company engaged in the development and commercialization of an automated breast ultrasound imaging system, today announced that it has commenced phase two of its grant study at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Moores Cancer Center.

TechniScan’s Warm Bath Ultrasound (WBU™) system is designed to capture three-dimensional images of the breast as a woman lies prone on a table and state-of-the- art ultrasound technology is used in a warm water tank to capture images of the breast anatomy.

The Moores UCSD Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute (NCI) designated comprehensive cancer center with scientists and clinicians focused on developing the next generation of cancer therapies and cures. The TechniScan Warm Bath UltrasoundTM system investigations will be conducted with Michael P. Andre, Ph.D., Professor of Radiology, and breast radiologists Dr. Linda Olson and Dr. Haydee Ojeda-Fournier.

source: Techniscan

SonoSite's NanoMaxx Ultrasound System Selected as a Finalist for the 2010 Edison Best New Product Awards

BOTHELL, Wash., Mar 04, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- SonoSite, Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!sono/quotes/nls/sono (SONO 31.08, +0.32, +1.04%) , the world leader and specialist in hand-carried ultrasound for the point-of-care, announced today that the 6 lb. NanoMaxx(TM) ultrasound system was selected as a finalist for the prestigious Edison Best New Product Awards. The awards are inspired by the enormous contributions of renowned inventor Thomas Edison and honor significant achievements in new product development, marketing, and innovation.

SonoSite's NanoMaxx system is an extremely portable, high-resolution imaging tool that provides point-of-care visualization to a variety of medical specialties. Empowering physicians to meet the highest standard of patient care, the NanoMaxx system targets applications that will improve patient safety and minimize complications. With one-dial control, advanced proprietary imaging algorithms, a 20 second boot-up time, and a rugged form factor (successfully drop-tested from three feet), the NanoMaxx system is a breakthrough technology that truly meets an unmet clinical need.

The Edison Award finalists were selected by a rigorous peer-reviewed voting system, which comprised of an estimated 2,000 members of not-for-profit Marketing Executives Network Group (MENG), America's top executives, and academic researchers.

source: MarketWatch

Sound of Melanoma: Ultrasound Can Help Doctors Find Cancer More Accurately

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2010) — Knowing the stage of a patient's melanoma is important when choosing the best course of treatment. When the cancer has progressed to the lymph nodes, a more aggressive treatment is needed. Examining an entire lymph node for cancer takes much effort and time. Now, a new technique might help make the process more efficient.

University of Missouri researchers in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center are studying how photoacoustics, or a laser-induced ultrasound, could help scientists locate the general area of the lymph node where melanoma cells could be residing. This new technology could help doctors identify the stage of melanoma with more accuracy.

"This method can be used to determine if the cancer has spread from stage 2, where the melanoma is still just in the skin lesion, to stage 3, where the melanoma has spread to the lymph nodes," said John Viator, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Engineering and Department of Dermatology.

source: Science Daily release

GE Healthcare Introduces Vscan™ Pocket-Sized Visualization Tool for Point-of-Care Imaging

MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GE Healthcare today announced the availability of Vscan, a new, pocket-sized visualization tool developed to provide physicians with imaging capabilities at the point-of-care. Roughly the size of a smart phone, Vscan houses powerful, ultra-smart ultrasound technology that provides clinicians with an immediate, non-invasive method to help secure visual information about what is happening inside the body. Vscan is portable and can easily be taken from room to room to be used in many clinical, hospital or primary care settings.

The Vscan imaging device received 510(k) clearance in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the CE Mark by the European Union, as well as the Medical Device License from Health Canada and is now commercially available in the U.S., Europe, India and Canada.

"Having Vscan at my disposal at all times has allowed me to use ultrasound in a number of settings and with patients that I wouldn't have anticipated before – from the ICU, to the outpatient clinic as well as with ambulatory patients," said Anthony N. DeMaria, MD, Professor of Medicine, Judith and Jack White Chair in Cardiology and Director, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

source: GE Medical

Toshiba Receives FDA Clearance for VIAMO Ultrasound System

New Portable Laptop System Offers Best-In-Class Imaging Capabilities in a Laptop Size

TUSTIN, Calif., Feb. 4, 2010 – Designed to meet the needs of today’s hospitals by combining portability with high-end radiology features, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.’s new ViamoTM laptop ultrasound system has received FDA clearance. The Viamo is the industry’s no-compromise ultrasound system with advanced radiology capabilities, previously unavailable on hand-carried systems. Toshiba’s Viamo provides the best value in the hand carried class by offering the same premier image quality as larger, more expensive ultrasound systems, but at a lower price point for hospitals. The Viamo was introduced at the 2009 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting.

The Viamo combines the portability of a laptop system with advanced radiology features to deliver outstanding image quality, enhance diagnostic confidence and improve ease of use. Developed from a radiology foundation, Toshiba’s Viamo provides the confidence to image patients at bedside, which generally requires larger, more expensive cart-based systems. When an immobile patient needs a high-end ultrasound exam, the portable Viamo ultrasound is brought to the patient to improve the patient’s comfort without compromising exam quality. It is also ideal for a variety of patient exams, including general radiology, pediatric, emergency, OB/GYN and vascular.

source: Toshiba Medical

Prostate Cancer Biopsy Effective but Lacks Practice Standards

TORONTO, ONTARIO, NEWS RELEASE--(Marketwire - Feb. 9, 2010) - In the first, long-term study of its kind, Sunnybrook researchers provide compelling evidence to support much-needed practice standards in transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy.

The 10-year, Canadian population-based study of serious complication rates requiring hospital admission after transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy reports a significant four-fold increase in hospital admission rates over the study period, with over 70 per cent of cases caused by infection. The findings from this study, which is the largest conducted to-date, are published today in The Journal of Urology.

Transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy is the most common method to confirm a prostate cancer diagnosis by obtaining tissue from the prostate gland using a small probe and echoes of ultrasound waves to form a picture through the wall of the rectum. The procedure is not standardized despite the test's diagnostic effectiveness.

"Data from this study add critical momentum for the development of standards to make transrectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy as safe as possible for patients," says Dr. Robert Nam, lead investigator and urologic oncologist, Sunnybrook's Odette Cancer Centre.

source: Sunnybrook Press Release

Siemens Showcases New Dedicated Women’s Imaging Ultrasound Platforms at SMFM

Chicago, Ill., February 3, 2010 – Featuring the new release of its premium ACUSON S2000™ ultrasound system – Women’s Imaging and ACUSON X300™ ultrasound system, premium edition (PE) – Women’s Imaging, Siemens Healthcare (booth #813) will highlight the latest innovations in OB/GYN imaging at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s (SMFM) 30th Annual Meeting in Chicago. Siemens will be showcasing advanced clinical applications that bring a new dimension of diagnosis and workflow enhancements to fetal ultrasound.

The ACUSON S2000 ultrasound system – Women’s Imaging represents the pinnacle of innovative technologies and workflow-enhancing clinical applications, which dramatically improve the efficiency and quality of ultrasound exams. Latest acoustic technologies deliver a powerful system optimized for superb 2D, Doppler and 3D/4D imaging for the most demanding requirements in maternal-fetal medicine. The system features Siemens-exclusive knowledge-based workflow applications, such as eSieScan™ workflow protocols, enhancing examination processes and increasing the consistency of exams, while at the same time reducing keystrokes to enable shorter exam times and improve patient throughput.

The ACUSON S2000 system – Women’s Imaging also features Fetal Heart STIC (Spatio-Temporal Image Correlation) imaging, which captures data over multiple heart cycles and creates a 3D fetal heart volume, allowing sonographers to view the fetal heart in multiple planes.

source: Siemens Healthcare

Scientists Issue Comprehensive Report Into Health Effects Of Ultrasound, UK

The independent Advisory Group on Non-Ionising Radiation (AGNIR), which reports to the Health Protection Agency, has reviewed the latest scientific evidence on the health effects of ultrasound (frequencies above 20 kilohertz) and infrasound (below 20 Hz).

The report finds that the available evidence does not suggest that diagnostic ultrasound affects mortality of babies during pregnancy or soon after birth. The evidence also does not suggest any effect on childhood cancer risk. There have, however, been some unconfirmed reports suggesting possible effects on the developing nervous system - for instance, on handedness of the child.

AGNIR concluded that there is no established evidence that diagnostic levels of ultrasound are hazardous. However, further research is needed to determine whether there are any long-term adverse health effects, especially following exposure of the unborn child.

soure:Medical News Today