Around 1,100 people attended the AHRA 2008 Annual Meeting and Exhibition last week, not including the 200+ vendors. The floor was very dynamic this year, and only at the AHRA can you see so many brand new companies showcasing new equipment.

"Normally, all vendors come to me here so I usually know what's out there and what's new before anyone else, and not everyone's that fortunate," said Bonni Standley, CRA, MBA, Director of Radiology, Mayo Clinic.

The DOTmed.com Auction team met well over 200 people at our booth, among them top radiology directors and imaging opinion leaders. We also met more than a dozen staffing companies. Other booths at the show gave away free pens and chocolate, but DOTmed raffled off a free Apple iPhone. Based on a statistical random sample, the following visitor to our booth was chosen as the winner of this year's raffle: Brenda DeBastiani, Op CC Supervisor, Monongalia General Hospital. Congratulations Brenda!

AHRA is for radiology administrators. "Dollar for dollar, it is the best show. The people know what they are looking for when they come to the AHRA," said Anne Yi, Marketing Supervisor, Canon Medical Systems.

So what was the buzz at the AHRA this year? "The biggest focus of the courses offered was on graphics and catch phrases to save money -- budgeting -- because of the DRA cuts," said Yi. "Now is the time to provide a solution."

Hazel C. Hacker, FAHRA, Business Manager of Edison Imaging Associates P.A., had the opportunity to facilitate the morning round table of the DRA discussion and the conversation was positive. "It seems to me that everybody realizes we all need each other now more than ever," said Hacker. "If the vendors fail we fail and vice versa."

There was also a session on national patient safety goals, which was a big hit and is what Covidien focuses on with their product (see below). Their presentation on Tuesday night, July 29, which generated a great deal of interest and had an extraordinary turn out.

Overall, most have seen nothing but growth, change and improvement each year. "The show floor was bigger than we've ever seen," said Standley, "It was a huge success."

DOTmed Business News Magazine staff had the privilege of meeting some of the exhibitors at the AHRA. Here is a rundown:

Dunlee

At Dunlee's booth, Tom Spees, Director of U.S. Sales, proudly showed off their speed line table, introduced at last year's RSNA, with patient positioning and radiographic solutions. "There is a single pedestal and a detector or C-Arm can be slid under the table easily," said Spees. "It is made out of carbon fiber and holds a 500-pound patient capacity." The product has sold very well, with 100 already installed in operating rooms, which is exceptional for a single DR system.

In May, Dunlee also launched the TSA program - Tube Service Assistant, an online tutorial for service engineers. When registered on the secured web link, users can access step-by-step instructions for installing and de-installing a Performix tube on a GE light speed CT system.

"It is a unique system that no one else offers," said Spees. Dunlee has attended the AHRA conference for the past 20 years, and plans on unveiling a new product at the RSNA.

Canon Medical Systems

Canon has solutions so that facilities can upgrade their systems without spending the money on a new DR system and reconstruction. They are able to do so with their new -- and smaller -- CXDI-60G, a portable, compact digital radiography system, with an ultra-portable flat panel detector.

This system can be used at multiple patient locations, including patient's bedside, orthopedics, trauma, ICU and even fits into neonatal incubator trays. The detector is easy to position and its smooth edges allow it to slide under patients comfortably and simply. The detector can be pulled out and put into different systems.

"If a detector is placed in another system, you configure the buckey, fit in the digital plate, and then you can rotate it as you wish," said Canon Medical System's Yi.

Carestream Health

The line between RIS and PACS has been blurred with Carestream's fully integrated RIS and PACS, Version 11. "With this version, it will be a single solution and the line will fade," said Michael Hornback, RIS PACS Specialist.

On the PACS, the slices of the X-ray image come up on the screen and you can use the mouse to scroll up and down through the body image. All of the clinical data is in the RIS and the imaging data is in the PACS, but they synchronize on two different computer screens.

"One program doesn't do both, they come as a couple," said Hornback. The new system is still going to be a RIS PACS, but the difference is that you can have a PACS with a different RIS. There are also different functions like voice recognition and inserting key images that you can do in either program. Not to mention, it comes equipped with advanced 3D tools.

"This is the Swiss Army knife of tools," he said. "In under a minute, you can isolate one part of an image by increasing of transparency of everything, except the part in focus."

Hologic

Hologic had one of the biggest booths at the show, displaying a large amount of their equipment aimed at women's healthcare. The two latest products for mammography were Radiolucent Breast Cushions, or "Mammo Pads," and the Mammo Site. The Mammo pads are soft and come in various sizes, making a mammogram more comfortable, reducing pain and adding warmth. The pads do not interfere with image clarity and studies have found that because women are more comfortable and less tense, technicians are able to get more breast tissue during an exam. This has been well received by patients, making the product popular.

The Mammo Site is a new form of targeted radiation therapy. This procedure is less painful and decreases the likelihood of cancer reoccurrence. However, not as many women use this procedure because there is not enough patient awareness. That is why Hologic has created a website called Voices of MammoSite, where breast cancer patients can interact with one another online.

Flaghouse

This was FlagHouse's first time at the AHRA, and they are a very different company for this show. Their target patients are young children and adults with special needs. The company is in partnership with GestureTek and the products they were showing at the AHRA were a GroundFX and a computer on a portable cart.

The GroundFX is a projector and camera that produces images by projecting them onto the floor and/or the wall. The computer has four different applications: passive activity; games (soccer, volleyball, ninja, etc.); and two applications for making music. Both products allow special needs people to interact with their environment and with the images using movement instead of touch. The company has had 30 installations so far and the product has only been on the market for six months.

Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta, the CR manufacturing company that just recently merged with Minolta Co., a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, etc., showcased their newest CR equipment.

Their standard Dual-Bay CR reader was designed to improve efficiency and workflow. The Regius 190 Dual-Bay CR Reader -- a mammo-ready stand alone system -- and the Regius 110 Single-Bay CR Reader work as in tandem on clinical solutions, using one screen to aid large hospitals, small imaging companies and physician offices.

"The same cassette is used for both units and for all exams," said Lou Bower, Technical Sales Manager U.S. "The plate is never removed from the cassette, causing no extra wear on the plate and making the systems easy to use."

The Nano CR Model 110 ImagePilot is a cost-effective way for small offices to go DR. Its Autopilot software reads the material from a patient's exam without an exam tag, loads the information onto the plate and then calculates the patient's bone density.

"This is the only system on the market that can do that," said Bower. "The hospital grade CR reader software makes the differences."

Covidien

Covidien was one of the many new companies at the show and this was their first AHRA show. They are a leading global healthcare products company that manufactures, distributes and services industry-leading product lines in four segments: Medical Devices, Imaging Solutions, Pharmaceutical Products, and Medical Supplies.

Their new product, the Contrast Delivery System with RFID, helps reduce the risk of life-threatening medical errors and infections in CT imaging procedures. This system combines its prefilled contrast media syringe and the power injector to help technologists better ensure correct contrast media dosing.

IDC

Imaging Dynamics hails from Alberta, Canada, as one of the few DR companies that still manufactures their own detectors at good price points. They also deliver the highest line pair of resolution in the industry, offering several different models to fit in small clinics, orthopedic practices and mainstream hospitals.

Their booth was another that had one of the biggest spaces, situated right in the middle of the exhibition hall. Both of IDC's products at the show, the 1600+ and the 2200 were introduced in 2005, but were brought back because they were so well received. The 1600+ is an automated system seen in small clinics and outpatient centers. It was built to maximize speed and productivity in any of these sites.

"The 2200 is a dual detector fixed table designed to meet stringent demands within a trauma or ER department," said Carlos Cabral, Vice President of Sales, Mid-West Region.

The Sky Factory

The idea behind the SkyCeiling system and Virtual Windows, set up at Sky Factory's Booth, was to create authentic illusions of nature for places that have no windows or skylights. There are up to 1,000 landscapes to choose from to place within a window frame or on the ceiling.

"Some patients get nervous, impatient and claustrophobic before a procedure, so the products help patients relax before, during, and after an exam," said Karan Garg, Director of Marketing.

These products are present anywhere in hospitals, waiting rooms, individual patient rooms, hallways, etc. It has been out for 6 years now and enhancements, and new products, are still being made. The newest version arrived the first of this year, called the Programmable SkyCeiling system, where the light level and color temperature change in synchrony within a 24 hour cycle automatically. And, late last year, they created custom shapes for their systems, added new images periodically and a dim system that controls the intensity of light in the image.

In November, The Sky Factory is coming out with a moving sky using realistic movement. "My goal is to have something believable and to be able to look out through a structure and see the outdoors," said Garg.

Watch for further coverage of AHRA events in DOTmed Online News.