Significant changes are characterized in the medical imaging industry with innovations that are away from the expensive, large, stationary and complex systems to smaller, easier to use and accessible devices. Thanks to technological advances imaging capabilities will be limited not only to large hospitals and institutions. Rather, they will begin to show increasingly noticeable in small hospitals, medical practices and wheeled outside medical settings.
Newer imagingtechnologies focus on combining ease-of-use with higher levels of accuracy, allowing information to be accessed efficiently, while providing higher throughput. These new solutions are cost effective and can be used in a variety of clinical applications.
Of the systems entering the market, many offer systems that do not require specialized training. For example, GE Healthcare's CardIQ Function Xpress contains a fully integrated post-processing and analysis tool tailored specifically for Cardiac use. Boston Scientific received 510K approval for its iLAB Ultrasound Imaging System, which has an easy-to-upgrade platform that supports the promotion of innovative technologies.
Facilitate the sharing of information
The digital image processing it possible to make the exchange of information with multiple team members using the wireless communication. The iMRIsneuro from the University of Virginia Health System is one, is a multifunctional, mobile, high-field MRI provides that a medicalTeam to scan, review and exchange of information during a surgical procedure.
Digital imaging and the integration of intraoperative imaging with guided surgery allows for real-time data delivered. This reduces surgical time, increases efficiency and helps medical facilities back their investment faster because they can schedule scans and more patients per day.
Portability also increasingly recognized as a standard component of medical imaging systems madelighter materials, so for transport to multiple locations. The majority of the new FDA 510K approvals for imaging systems have designs that allow for portability. For example, Digirad Corporation XPO system can be configured for fixed or mobile applications and services many different locations. Mobile Imaging Services currently comprise 70 percent of annual revenue Digirad's.
Other companies investing in the development of mobile imaging technologies, Toshiba, GE Healthcare, Siemens,and Teratech. There is a tendency that in Europe, where systems are higher slice configurations. Both Toshiba and Philips market systems, the 256-slice configurations imaging in cardiology, so that coverage area in a 256 mm. A 256-CT, for example, can a full bench of five key diagnostic tests or tests on the heart, which is in the brain so the patient much less radiation. This represents as little as one eighth to one third of the dose when tested with the necessaryThe 64-slice scanner.
Innovation Trends
Medical Imaging Systems will get smaller and more mobile, and in the foreseeable future, hand-imaging devices are likely to take more into the foreground. Mobile Imaging systems will also be first responders, the military and other access to the technology, in particular, give in remote areas, where large, stationary devices are not practical. You will be greatly improved survival in circumstances such as a stroke ifThere is a small window in which to diagnose and treat a patient.
In fact, the medical imaging industry is already producing smaller, portable devices that are user friendly and highly accurate diagnosis of patients with little discomfort. The newer designs are more cost effective by ensuring a faster and more accurate diagnosis to enable the use of a variety of applications.
Future innovations will see the technology that you are always smaller than hand-held devices usedmore frequently for screening and diagnosis. These small imaging devices allow access to more people, wherever they are, allowing the medical community to rapidly diagnose and treat a problem.
The University of California, Berkeley, is currently working on mobile phone that could one day be used for medical imaging accessible to billions of people around the world. The phone would be connected to the DAQ device then transfer the rawdata to a central server where the information would be used to create an image. The server would then relay the image back to the cell phone, where it can be viewed on the cell phone's screen. This will significantly lower the cost of medical imaging because the apparatus is at the patient site and the technology greatly simplified. There is no need for personnel highly trained in imaging processing.
Hybrid Imaging Combines Methods
The use of hybrid imaging methods via single-scan method is also increasing steadily over time, particularly in the field of oncology. Image Fusion in particular, is always useful to create the combination of two or more different images, a "fused" image. Studies have shown that the hybrid systems were able to better detect the presence of cancer than the individual systems, the early treatment.
Philips currently markets the priority SPECT / CT system, a hybrid system that doctors and SPECT-CT scans allowedsimultaneously. It then fuses the images from the two scans and provides physicians with important information about the metabolism and structure. Philips develops Syntegra, a multi-modality software that is automatically superimposed on physiological data (eg PET) with anatomic data (CT or MR). The real-time data in the identification of tumors, radiation therapy reduces planning cycles and lead to more confident diagnoses.
The use of hybrid technology will continue to emerge as thecombination of imaging methods proves to be more effective in diagnosing problems over singular imaging methods. Fusion of multiple image data from multiple systems will be used to recreate accurate anatomical structures. With the market forecast to increase by 6 percent annually through 2010, innovative designs will continue to keep competitors on their toes.
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