Friday, December 28, 2007

Ultrasound fails to spot ovarian cancer

Annual screening with a technique called transvaginal ultrasound, coupled with a blood test for CA125, a protein that can be elevated in the setting of ovarian cancer, does not reliably detect ovarian cancer early, at a more curable stage, according to a new study.

"We and other groups confirm that the current method of ovarian screening, which is a combination of ultrasound scans and (blood) markers, is ineffective," Dr Emma R Woodward from Birmingham Women's Hospital, UK, told Reuters Health.

"Therefore, for women at high risk of developing ovarian cancer, the only real option at present to prevent ovarian cancer death is to have the ovaries removed as a preventive measure."

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SonoSite Begins Customer Shipments Of S Series Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Tools

SonoSite, Inc. (Nasdaq:SONO), the world leader in point-of-care, hand-carried ultrasound, announced that it has begun worldwide shipments of its S Series ultrasound tools. Based on the company's fourth generation technology platform, the S Series product line combines the processing power, image quality and advanced data management features of SonoSite's newly introduced M-Turbo™ system with a customized user interface to address the specific needs of four clinical specialties.

"SonoSite is the only company that has designed a system that can withstand rigorous use in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)," said John M. Oropello, MD, FCCP, FCCM, Professor of Surgery and Medicine, Program Director, Critical Care Medicine and Co-Director, Neurosurgical - ICU, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York. "We evaluated a lot of machines and no one else has taken into account what critical care physicians need. Both the S-ICU and M-Turbo have superb image quality and are easy to clean-so essential to infection control. I can foresee the day when there will be an S ultrasound tool mounted by every bedside in the ICU."

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

ZONARE Ranked Best in KLAS as Hand Carried Ultrasound Vendor in 2007 Top20

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Dec. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- ZONARE Medical Systems, a developer of premium ultrasound systems, today announced it has been ranked Best in KLAS as the top hand carried ultrasound (HCU) vendor in the KLAS Top20: Year-End Report published this week. Previously, the company was ranked number one in the inaugural HCU KLAS study. KLAS, a highly respected research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of information technology and medical imaging vendors in the healthcare field, continued several studies to incorporate additional customer data in order to determine Best in KLAS for 20 different categories for the year, including the HCU market.

press release

Monday, December 10, 2007

GE Healthcare Licenses Rights To Ultrasound Diagnostic Protocol Developed By Eastern Virginia Medical School Obstetrician

GE Healthcare, a leading manufacturer of 3D/4D ultrasound systems, has licensed a technique patented by an Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS) obstetrician that can automate the acquisition of ultrasound images used by physicians to diagnose fetal heart defects. GE Healthcare has licensed the software for exclusive use in its 3D/4D ultrasound systems.

Alfred Abuhamad, M.D., chairman of obstetrics and gynecology at EVMS - recognized worldwide for his skills in using ultrasound to detect fetal heart defects - developed the automation protocol, called Sonography based Volume Computer Aided Diagnosis (SonoVCAD).

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Friday, December 7, 2007

Toshiba And TomTec Deliver New Tools For Cardiac 4D Ultrasound

Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation and TomTec Imaging Systems GmbH announced an agreement to deliver new tools for assessing cardiac 4D data and a collaboration to make them more widely available at EuroEcho which is held from December 5th to 8th in Lisbon, Portugal. With the recent announcement of Toshiba's ArtidaTM Cardiac 4D Ultrasound System, a variety of new 4D capabilities were released. TomTec diagnostic workstations will be able to read Artida's data providing increased customer options for image review and a host of new advanced applications.

"We designed Artida to be the first of a new generation of the cardiac 4D ultrasound systems." said Hiroyuki Tsujino, General Manager, Ultrasound Systems Division at Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation. "This is why we developed the smallest and lightest 4D transducers together with the SmartCore technology to generate precise 4D images quickly. To provide a total workflow solution to the customer, TomTec was a natural choice for the image review and analysis. We admire TomTec for its long-standing commitment to innovation in diagnostic ultrasound"

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Tuesday, December 4, 2007

New Research Reveals Ultrasound Treatment Of Benefit To Prostate Cancer Sufferers

First analysis of the long-term results with transrectal HIFU in patients with localized prostate cancer (European Journal of Urology online).

Prostate cancer experts say high intensity focussed ultrasound (HIFU) is an effective treatment option for men with prostate cancer, according to new research published this month in the European Journal of Urology online.

Experts from France and Germany studied the results of 140 people with prostate cancer over an eight year period and published their findings in the EJU.

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