Medical technology

First FDA-approved artificial disc for the neck

New treatment for patients suffering from Degenerative Disc Disease: Medtronic's Prestige Cervical Disc is the first artificial disc system for the neck that received approval from the FDA.

Achieving precise power output

Professor Martin Raithel MD* works alongside medical devices manufacturer Bowa on the use of argon plasma coagulation in endoscopy. "The argon unit, in conjunction with the generators of the Bowa ARC range, is working very reliably in different disciplines", he says. "It is opening up new methods in flexible endoscopy with argon-assisted electrosurgery due to its outstanding…

New technology to speed up CT scans

With an innovative technique called multiplexing, the data collection speed of CT scanners may increase by hundreds of times with the result of better and faster imaging and potentially lower x-ray exposures.

Wearable heart monitor improves patients' mobility

A wearable cardiac telemedicine system based on Bluetooth technology could text the local hospital if a patient is about to have a heart attack, according to a publication of two Indian researchers of the Sathyabama University in Tamil Nadu, who developed the system.

Siemens to acquire Dade Behring

With a merger agreement with the US-based Dade Behring, Inc., Siemens Medical Solutions again strengthens its in-vitro diagnostic division and becomes leader in the diagnostic market. Dade Behring, Inc. is a leading clinical laboratory diagnostics company covering the market of clinical laboratory equipment and integrated solutions for routine chemistry testing, immunodiagnostics, hemostasis…

3D Vascular Imaging

Imaging of blood flow with colour Doppler sonography is an established method in prenatal medicine. Today, there are several techniques which offer colour visualisation whose quality is on a par with that of the B-mode. One example of such a technique is Advanced Dynamic Flow (ADF). Looking at two cases, we will describe the clinical use of ADF to visualise fetal vascular tumours. The quality of…

Cardiac Multislice Computed Tomography (MSCT) Angiography

Spiral computed tomography first allowed the seamless acquisition of entire volumina without first separating them into individual slices. With the newest generation of MSCT devices having the 16-slice technology, short gantry rotation time of < 0.5 seconds, and a high performance processor, it is now possible to acquire large amounts of data in a short period of time with high spatial and…

Vantage for Advantage - Interview with Hans Baartman, MR specialist at Toshiba Medical Systems Europe

Toshiba introduces its new 1.5 MR system in Europe VISIONS: After a period of relative silence Toshiba' MRbusiness division is about to introduce a new system. What is the reason for this increased attention? Hans Baartman: In 2003 a new MRI product, the EXCELART Vantage, was introduced in Japan and the USA where it has become very successful. Because the MRI community is very internationally…

Pancreatic Tumours and Echo-Enhanced Ultrasound

Echo-enhanced ultrasound is a newly available imaging modality for use in the differential diagnosis of pancreatic tumours. Ductal carcinomas are often hypovascularised compared with the surrounding tissue. On the other hand, neuroendocrine tumours ar hypervascularised lesions. Tumours associated with pancreatitis have a different vascularisation pattern depending upon their inflammation and…

A New Dimension in Home Entertainment

It was a living room-revolution: The introduction of the DVD in 1996. DVD players impressed their users with superior images and convenient handling, for example the possibility to choose several chapters from a structured menu instead of spinning a tape back and forth searching for a special scene.

Amsterdam Slotervaart Hospital with New MRI Technology

Patients of the Slotervaat Hospital in Amsterdam, Netherlands, now benefit from state-of-the-art Toshiba MRI technology: In May, the hospital commissioned a brand new MRI Vantage System and thus now disposes of premium technology the MRI market currently offers. For Toshiba this new installation is an excellent opportunity to present the companys most recent MRI development on the European market.…

World Class Volleyball Set Against a Perfect Backdrop

It was the perfect tournament. The crowd cheered enthusiastically, the players gave their best, and there was no lack of celebrities. With a 93,000 strong audience, this year's Beach Volleyball A1 Grand Slam Tournament in Klagenfurt, Austria, proved to be a top-level sporting event. Top beach volleyball players such as Clemens Doppler delivered exciting games and ensured maximum audience…

Tissue Doppler Imaging of the Fetal Heart

In the last 25 years, fetal echocardiography has become established as an integral component of prenatal medicine. Structural heart defects are found in approx. 0.8% of all foetuses. They are consequently comparatively frequent and head the list of isolated fetal organ malformations. Routine screening of the four-chamber view and the outflow tract allows the experienced investigator to detect…

A Private Hospital Group Installs 64-Slice CT Scanners

BMI Healthcare is installing Toshiba's Aquilion 64-slice CT scanners in five of its 49 acute care private patient hospitals (The Alexandra Hospital, Cheadle; Bath Clinic, Bath; Blackheath Hospital, London; Meriden Hospital, Coventry; Priory Hospital, Birmingham) as part of a £7.5 million spend on diagnostic imaging technology.

Aquilion Large Bore (LB) CT Scanner

The Aquilion LB (Large Bore) sets yet another milestone in the success story of computed tomography, providing a new dimension in diagnostics and treatment.

25 Years of Toshiba Medical Systems Europe

In 1981 the company embarked on a path of very rapid growth. Already in the first year of operation 30 million euro were realized mainly with ultrasound equipment. At that time, 150 people were working for the company which was active in several European countries.

Designed for bariatrics

Berchtold markets a multi-specialty surgical table that can articulate heavyweight patients yet maintain necessary height.

PhaseXact Promises Motion-free Cardiac Images

The goal in cardiac computed tomography is to obtain motion-free images of the beating heart. A newly launched software from Toshiba called PhaseXact introduces advanced features to reach this goal fully automatically.

Stroke Imaging: The Procedure in Practice

In the past, native computed tomography of the neurocranium (CCT) was often the only procedure to diagnose a stroke. Technical limitations of previous generations of scanners made their use impractical for complementary methods of visualising blood vessels or for perfusion imaging. With the introduction of multi-slice spiral CT these technical limitations disappeared and both perfusion CT (PCT)…

Non-invasive lung diagnosis

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a non-invasive diagnostic method has been evolving into an attractive alternative to methods associated with radiation exposure.

Medical Technologies Map of European Regions and Clusters

MediMap is an innovative Internet portal developed in the framework of an EU project with partners from eight countries. The aim is to encourage an exchange of experience between European regions and to initiate and facilitate partnerships and business relationships throughout Europe for scientific organisations and enterprises in the medical technology sector.