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November 29, 2005

TOSHIBA AMERICA MEDICAL SYSTEMS INTRODUCES NEW TECHNIQUES FOR VANTAGE MRI SYSTEMS

DUO and JET Designed to Deliver High Quality Images and Improve Departmental Efficiency

RSNA Booth # 7114 and # 6913 (North Building, Hall B)
CHICAGO, Nov. 29, 2005 – Continuing its charge to meet the needs of clinicians, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. (TAMS) today unveiled two new techniques for use with its full line of Vantage MRI systems—JET (works-in-progress) and Dual Uniform Overlay (DUO).  Both techniques will be demonstrated for the first time at this year’s Radiological Society of North America’s (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago, Nov. 27-Dec. 2 (Booth #7114, North Building, Hall B). 

“Image quality and field-of-view continue to be ongoing concerns for MR professionals,” said Bob Giegerich, director, MR Business Unit, TAMS.  “We believe Toshiba’s new JET and DUO techniques will enable clinicians to cover more area in one scan and produce better quality images in the process.”

JET
With JET, innovative motion correction software allows clinicians to reconstruct patient data while sharpening and refining images that may have been unusable due to patient movement.  The new technique can deliver near-motionless images and eliminates the need to repeat MR scans.

Dual Uniform Overlay (DUO)
DUO allows clinicians to utilize two SPEEDER coils simultaneously—delivering high-resolution images over the largest field-of-view.  Using DUO, clinicians are able to image the entire torso—from neck to pelvis—in one process, reducing the time required to image each patient and improving efficiency. 

Vantage MRI—Unmatched Performance and Patient-Focused Features
The Vantage features an ultra-short magnet at 140 cm with linear 30 mT/m (milliTesla per meter) gradient strength with a slew rate of 50 T/m/s (Tesla per meter per second) (AGV), 86 T/m/s (MGV), 130 T/m/s (XGV) or 33 mT/M, 200 T/m/s (ZGV works-in-progress). Despite the short length of the magnet, the system delivers the highest homogeneity of any magnet in the industry over the full 50 cm diameter spherical volume (DSV). 

The Vantage also offers some of the most advanced MRI applications available on the market today, including optional packages for cardiac imaging, advanced Echo Planar Imaging (EPI), Perfusion and Diffusion Imaging, Peripheral MRA, and SuperFASE (Fast Advanced Spin Echo) imaging.  In addition, Toshiba has pioneered research into contrast-free MRA with its Fresh Blood Imaging (FBI) protocol and Body Diffusion.

With Toshiba’s patented Pianissimo^TM technology, which reduces acoustic noise by as much as 90 percent, the Vantage dramatically reduces the most significant cause of patient discomfort and enables clinicians to better utilize all of the system’s high-field MRI capabilities including SPEEDER parallel imaging for increased acquisition speed that reduces examination times.  For more information about the Vantage, TAMS and its wide range of medical imaging products, visitwww.medical.toshiba.com.

About Toshiba
With headquarters in Tustin, Calif., Toshiba America Medical Systems markets, sells, distributes and services diagnostic imaging systems, and coordinates clinical diagnostic imaging research for all modalities in the United States.  Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, an independent group company of Toshiba Corporation, is a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and comprehensive medical solutions, such as CT, X-ray, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, MRI and information systems.  Toshiba Corporation is a leader in information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer products, and power systems.  Toshiba has approximately 161,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of $53 billion.

Excelart Vantage^TM and Pianissimo^TM are trademarks of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.