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December 2, 2009

TOSHIBA SHOWCASES AQUILION ONE’S ADVANCED CAPABILITIES IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT STROKE SETTING

Unique Ability to Show Entire Brain and Dynamic Function Quickly Improves Stroke Diagnosis

CHICAGO, Dec. 2, 2009 – When a patient comes to a hospital’s emergency department (ED) exhibiting stroke symptoms, it can take hours to diagnose and treat the patient when time is of the essence. Toshiba’s Aquilion® ONE dynamic volume CT system has the ability to improve the quality of life for patients with neurological symptoms, especially related to stroke, by reducing diagnosis time to minutes. Highlighting these capabilities, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. will feature the Aquilion ONE at this year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting, held in Chicago, Nov. 29 – Dec. 4 (Booth #5629, South Hall).

The Aquilion ONE allows physicians to reduce diagnosis time for life-threatening conditions such as a stroke from hours or days to minutes. Unlike any other CT system available, the Aquilion ONE covers up to 16 cm of anatomy using 320 ultra-high resolution 0.5 mm detector elements to image an entire organ, including the brain, in a single rotation. It can show the organ’s dynamic blood flow and real-time function. The ability to see dynamic function, such as blood flowing through the brain, is critical for stroke patients in emergency settings and enables rapid and accurate diagnosis when time is critical.

This Neuro ONE acute stroke imaging protocol on Aquilion ONE combines non-contrast CT, cerebral blood flow analysis and four-dimensional digital subtraction angiography (DSA) into a single exam. By combining these exams into a single low dose protocol, full stroke workup can be performed in less than five minutes.

Beyond brain imaging, Toshiba offers a suite of automated technologies for ensuring low dose and diagnostic image quality such as ^SUREExposure™, QDS, ^SURECardio™ Prospective, Active Collimation and Variable Helical Pitch (vHP).

PinnacleHealth, based in Harrisburg, Pa., which is ranked as one of the best hospitals by U.S. News and World Report, is experiencing the capabilities of the Aquilion ONE in stroke diagnosis on a daily basis.

“Toshiba’s Aquilion ONE is helping us improve patient care in our high-volume ED by diagnosing life-threatening conditions, like stroke, quickly,” said Karen Botts, director of Imaging, PinnacleHealth. “The comprehensive data produced by the system allows us to detect if a patient is having a stroke and if so, what type and how much damage has been caused, all of which is critical to plan appropriate treatment.”

PinnacleHealth used this technology to receive a Joint Commission’s Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers accreditation, which requires centers to diagnose stroke within 45 minutes of patient arrival. The hospital anticipates it will have nearly 90,000 annual patient visits to its ED over the next few years.

“Identifying stroke at its earliest stages is critical to develop the best treatment path and improving the life of the patient, as every minute counts in stroke diagnosis,” said Doug Ryan, senior director, CT Business Unit, Toshiba. “We designed the Aquilion ONE for low dose stroke diagnosis, and PinnacleHealth’s stroke program will utilize the capabilities of the system.”

About Toshiba’s Aquilion ONE

The Aquilion® ONE, the world’s first dynamic volume CT, utilizes 320 ultra-high resolution detector rows to image an entire organ in a single gantry rotation and shows dynamic function like blood flow. Since its introduction in November 2007, the Aquilion ONE has been named Popular Science magazine’s “Best of What’s New 2008 – Personal Health Category,” rt Image’s 2008 Most Valuable Product (MVP), Frost & Sullivan’s Global CT Systems Product Differentiation Innovation Award 2007, AuntMinnie.com’s “Minnies 2008 – Best New Radiology Device” and Medical Design Excellence Award Gold Winner in 2009.

About Toshiba’s Aquilion CT Product Line Recognition

The Aquilion® CT product line has received numerous accolades, including the number one ranking in CT from MD Buyline since 2002 (seven consecutive years). The Aquilion CT line has also been named Best in KLAS in the Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards reports for 2006 and 2007 for CT; Best in KLAS in the Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards reports for 2008 and 2009 for 64-detector row and above; and Frost & Sullivan’s “Healthcare Innovation Award in Cardiovascular Imaging” in 2008. (For more information about KLAS, visit www.KLASresearch.com.) Most recently, Toshiba’s service for the Aquilion line was ranked number one in 21 out of 34 in ServiceTrak Imaging’s 2008 report on CT system service.

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, MRI and information systems. Toshiba corporation is a worldwide leader and in technology, electronic and electrical products, digital consumer products, electronic devices and components, power systems, industrial and social infrastructure systems and home appliances. Toshiba was founded in 1875 and today operates a global network of more than 740 companies with 199,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing $73 billion. For more information, visit Toshiba’s web site at www.medical.toshiba.com.

Aquilion ONE, Aquilion, ^SUREExposure and ^SURECardio are trademarks of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.