There is more than big OEM hardware on display at RSNA 2005. The Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting is also an important showcase for smaller OEMs and for software solutions. (RSNA will be held in Chicago November 27 - December 2.)

Case in point is DR Systems, headquartered in San Diego, Calif., an independent provider of RIS/PACS solutions including film-free medical systems and paperless information systems for diagnostic imaging centers and hospitals. The company will be exhibiting its unified RIS/PACS platform with enhanced EMR integration, mammography PACS capabilities, and improved RIS features. These improvements and others are part of the company's next software release, version 8, available in the U.S. in 2006. (DR Systems will be at RSNA Booth 2751 in the South Building, Hall A in McCormick Place, Chicago from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1.)

"Our mission is to enhance the clinical and financial success of our customers, while offering the lowest overall cost of ownership in the industry" said Murray Reicher, M.D., chairman and cofounder of DR Systems. "With Version 8, we are taking another step in integrating medical imaging with the EMR and establishing even greater scalability, easier maintenance, and even better security for our customers."

New features of the system include: extended scalability with the capacity for at least one million immediate online records, as well as millions more records available within seconds; enhanced patient management tools for the RIS, including web-based scheduling for referring doctors, patient tracking, output to billing systems, film tracking and new management reports; full integration of mammography PACS capabilities with new diagnostic reading tools; WebLaunch for easy, single sign-on integration capability with other HIS's or EMR's. (Caregivers can log-on to their HIS to access a patient's record and launch images with appropriate documents, notes and hear an audio summary), expanded web capabilities and other integration and support features.

For more information about DR Systems, Inc., call 800-794-5955 or visit www.dominator.com.

CTs by GE Healthcare

Meanwhile, the OEMs remain a major attraction at the event. A large number of hospitals are still using single-slice CT technology today, according to GE Healthcare. At RSNA, GE will introduce a new family of products that focus on these customers. A new series of scanners will bring the advances of the LightSpeed VCT to a broader audience, such as community hospitals and outpatient imaging centers.

Lung Cancer is always a priority as the number one cancer killer. GE's Lung VCAR offers the ability to systematically visualize, isolate and quantitatively analyze lung nodules over time. Traditional manual measurements are tedious, prone to error and lead to subjective analysis, the company cautions. Lung VCAR utilizes innovative technologies that offer an objective analysis for superior patient management.

Also at RSNA 2005, GE Healthcare will introduce a new 16-slice Wide Bore CT system with capabilities to scan for radiation oncology, bariatric patients and interventional procedures. This new system will be the only one CT on the market that can lift and scan a 650-pound person. The new Wide Bore system will have the most powerful tube available, and provide clinicians with the accuracy of table movement for the largest patients.

GE Healthcare will also introduce the next generation Smart View advanced application for multi-slice CT systems. This CT Fluoro technology will provide clinicians with one of the fastest real time acquisitions available today, with 12 frames per second. This Smart View application will have the shortest latency time on the market. As a result, this new technology provides better control of needle placement during interventional procedures.

And don't forget the Innova CT. GE's Innova 4100 and Innova 3100 cardiovascular interventional imaging systems could help change the direction of medical imaging for surgical patients, according to Laura King, global vice president of interventional cardiology and surgery at GE Healthcare.

"We've now combined the best of both worlds," said King. "GE has taken three-dimensional medical imaging to the next level by bringing 3-D interventional images normally acquired during CT scans into the X-ray interventional lab. The new Innova CT technology will make 3-D anatomical imaging much more available for patient use during an image guided interventional procedure."

Traditionally, interventional radiologists and surgeons have competed for access to a hospital's diagnostic CT system to help guide their instruments in real time during an image guided medical treatment. Few hospitals today have a fully dedicated CT suite for CT-image guided procedures, in either radiology or surgery. GE's Innova CT now provides CT-like tissue visualization on the Innova flat panel interventional X-ray systems as well as two-dimensional fluoroscopy during a single session of care, without moving the patient from one table to another. (More details about BE offerings will be unveiled at the meeting.)

Watch DOTmed for further previews and updates on what to expect in Chicago. For meeting information, go to: http://rsna2005.rsna.org/rsna2005/V2005/index.cvn.