This product was posted in Outpatient Care Technology, August/September issue 2008

Oncentra Brachy is reportedly the first fully DICOM-compatible treatment planning system, featuring state-of-the-art optimization algorithms to shorten time spent planning. Among the features of the new solution is that it is designed to provide reportedly exceptional 3D contouring and margining tools to identify regions of interests (ROIs) on CT or in multimodality imaging environments using image registration for CT, MR and PET data.

Company web site: www.nucletron.com

This product was posted in Outpatient Care Technology, August/September issue 2008

The IPM feature is reportedly beneficial for monitoring slower modalities and slower inter-facility connections in a PACS enterprise that are typically around one IPS. Monitoring in IPM makes setting baseline and alert settings much easier and more accurate, according to the company.

DICOMetrix is a resource tool that enables PACS administrators, directors and IT personnel to actively monitor, historically track system performance, and alert radiology and PACS support staff about system slow-downs and outages.

DICOMetrix is a three-tiered software package. The first tier is a client that sits at the workstation level (rad station, modality, CD burner, Rimage, film scanners, etc.) and monitors how fast the images are coming into that station. The second tier is the DICOMetrix Server that resides on the DICOM Server and monitors IPs sending into this server as well as outgoing traffic. The third tier is a new Web-based enterprise solution (WebDES) that monitors all clients and servers in one easy to access location. After base-lining the enterprise, it also allows a user or administrator to set alerts for notification if any levels drop below specified tolerances as well as gather data for quick reporting.

Company web site: www.doubleblackimaging.com

The AS3000 delivers precision anesthesia and ventilation assistance with an intuitive design developed to bring a higher level of ergonomics to the operating room, the company said. The system provides enhanced inhalation anesthesia and ventilation support capabilities for a variety of anesthesia cases and critical care settings, including hospitals, health clinics, outpatient and ambulatory surgery centers, specialty and surgical hospitals. The new system can reportedly be integrated with existing DPM monitors including the recently launched Spectrum OR and Gas Module III.

Company web site: www.mindray.com

REACH Call developed the general telemedicine module in response to demands from current customers, primarily hospitals that already use the company’s remote stroke diagnosis and evaluation service. This 100 percent Web-based service originally was designed to facilitate faster treatment for stroke patients in rural areas by enabling neurologists to remotely diagnose, evaluate and recommend treatment from anywhere in the world. These same hospitals realized the value of Web-based telemedicine and asked REACH Call to design similar modules for other medical conditions.

More than 50 hospitals have deployed REACH Call in a “hub and spoke” design, where a larger “hub hospital” provides physician-consulting services to smaller “spoke hospitals.” The company said several spokes are connected to the hub and leverage the expertise of specialists at the hub to provide care for patients in their own ERs. These spokes use a mobile workstation to initiate a consultation request with a physician affiliated with the hub. The workstation is an assembly of non-proprietary, off-the-shelf components including a laptop, LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, and a camera. It is battery powered and is equipped with a wireless bridge for maximum mobility within an ER.

REACH Call said its system is a 100 percent Web-based turnkey service and there is no hardware or software installed in the hub hospital. The consulting physician can use any laptop or PC, a standard off-the-shelf Web cam, and a broadband Internet connection to communicate with the spoke and evaluate the patient. The physician, who can conduct the consultation from anywhere in the world with a broadband Internet connection, has complete control over the two-way audio and video communication and can view all patient data and DICOM images, such as CT scans or X-rays, to efficiently and effectively evaluate the patient and recommend treatment.

April 2008

Company web site: www.reachcall.com