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January 28, 2008

TOSHIBA RECEIVES FDA CLEARANCE FOR VANTAGE TITAN MR SYSTEM

Large Bore MR System Improves Patient Care with Reduced Noise, Extended Field-of-View and Increased Homogeneity

TUSTIN, California — January 28, 2008 — Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc., an industry leader in magnetic resonance (MR) technology, announced FDA clearance for the new open-bore 1.5T Vantage Titan™ MR system. With this clearance, Toshiba is on schedule to make the system commercially available in the first quarter of 2008. The open-bore of the Vantage Titan is 18 percent larger than other 1.5T systems on the market, featuring a large 71-centimeter patient aperture.

“Toshiba’s Vantage Titan is now one of the most powerful MR units available with a 30/130 gradient platform,” said Bob Giegerich, director, MR Business Unit, Toshiba. “It is a dramatic improvement over traditional open-bore 1.5T MR systems and offers the largest and widest bore available with a significant reduction in noise.”

The Vantage Titan’s large clinical field-of-view is unique for this bore size and produces high-quality images without compromising homogeneity or overall imaging performance. The system also features Toshiba’s patented PianissimoTM noise reduction technology, which creates a better imaging experience for all patients.

The Vantage Titan MR system also takes advantage of Toshiba’s proprietary, contrast-free MRA techniques – Fresh Blood Imaging (FBI), Contrast-free Improved Angiography (CIA), Time-Spatial Labeling Inversion Pulse (Time-SLIP) and Time-Slip Angiography (TSA). Contrast-free imaging is particularly important because gadolinium, the most common contrast agent used for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) exams, has been directly linked to a sometimes fatal disease that occurs in patients with renal insufficiency, called Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) or Nephrogenic Fibrosing Dermopathy (NFD).

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 Corp., an independent group company of Toshiba Corp., is a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and comprehensive medical solutions, such as CT, Cath & EP Labs, X-ray, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, MRI and information systems. Toshiba Corp. is a leader in information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer products, and power systems. Toshiba has approximately 191,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of $60 billion. For more information, visit www.medical.toshiba.com.