When Merge Healthcare acquired etrials Worldwide (now operating as Merge eClinical) in July 2009, it set about to find an improved way to get imaging into clinical trials from a more technological standpoint.

Combining its expertise in imaging and clinical trials, Merge has come up with a management software program designed to launch a complete workflow solution for imaging in clinical trials.

The result is Merge's Clinical Imaging Management System (CIMS), which is debuting at the 2010 Drug Information Association's annual meeting in Washington D.C, being held June 13-17.

According to Joe DeVries, president of Merge eClinical, the CIMS solution has been designed to revolutionize imaging in clinical trials.

"The product we are launching at DIA has all the different tools required to execute an imaging trial," DeVries told DOTmed News. "It has data uploads from the sites, a very simple interface. It has web-based archives. It has viewers... and all of that information that the radiologist generate, autopopulates the case report form in our electronic data capture system so that the measurement are available for CROs (clinical research organizations), sponsors; and they do the analysis for the conduct of a trial."

The new CIMS solution is the industry's first open platform that allows those conducting clinical trials to transparently execute the imaging portion of the study within the overall electronic trial management solution.

DeVries says it automates the full imaging process which involves stages such as image submission, storage, analysis and viewing.

"We are eliminating a lot of duplicate effort," DeVries says. "It's a technology solution, rather than a manual source of solution. It's really kind of end-to-end from the time the exams are acquired through providing the final data for statistical analysis. All the stakeholders at one central location, providing seamless ability to the whole process."

The new system will help with workflow issues, save money and save valuable time in the trials.

"Currently radiologists who participate in clinical trials have to move from reading images on fast and robust PACS solutions for normal work, to reading trial images on totally different applications or even film," said Justin Dearborn, Merge Healthcare CEO, in a press release. "It is terribly inefficient for them, and the FedEx costs of moving film are very expensive for the trial sponsors. We developed the new CIMS solution specifically to truly solve these workflow issues. We believe it will save time and money by providing a better reading environment, and it should really change the way imaging in clinical trials is done across the industry."

Merge is also launching myEDC, which provides an economical, wizard-driven solution that enables users to get studies up and running in days without the need for a technical team, and without the cost and time associated with full service solutions.

"This is an easy platform for small, less complicated trials," DeVries says. "The software is a service solution where a sponsor of CRO can build their own database in less than a week."

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