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February 14, 2011

TOSHIBA INSTALLS FIRST AQUILION ONE WITH DOSE CHECK SOFTWARE MEETING MITA CT DOSE CHECK INITIATIVE

Aquilion ONE’s New Features Support MITA’s Radiation Dose Reduction Plan Initiatives and Allow Clinicians to Attain High-Quality Images with Lower Doses of Radiation

TUSTIN, Calif., Feb. 14, 2011 – Leading the medical imaging community in supporting the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance’s (MITA) Radiation Dose Reduction Plan and its CT Dose Check Initiative, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. installed the first Aquilion^TM ONE CT system featuring Toshiba’s Dose Check Software and additional low dose technologies at Winona Health in Winona, Minn. Toshiba’s Dose Check Software meets MITA’s new standard for CT system dose management and includes additional software enhancements that reinforce the principle of “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) CT imaging.

In alignment with the MITA CT Dose Check Initiative’s continued commitment to further assist healthcare providers in administering scans that adhere to the “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) principle, Toshiba’s Dose Check Software enhances user awareness of the radiation dose being administered to patients. Now standard on all new Aquilion ONE CT systems, Toshiba’s Dose Check Software includes Dose Alert and Dose Notification addressing the two main components of MITA’s CT Dose Check Initiative, as well as Tracking and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) to further enhance patient safety. Details of these features include:

• Dose Alert – The Dose Alert feature alerts the user if the selected scan settings yield a predicted dose that exceeds an upper threshold dose value. The default settings require that the user edit scan parameters or input their username to confirm the selected scan settings before continuing with the programmed scan.

• Dose Notification – The Dose Notification feature allows the user to set a nominal dose notification value for each part of a protocol being run. The Dose Notification feature will notify a user if the predicted dose value exceeds the nominal dose notification value.

• Tracking – The Tracking software upgrade adds tracking capabilities allowing clinicians to create a report that can be downloaded from the system for facility quality assurance programs. The Tracking software will log events related to the Dose Alert and Dose Notification features.

• Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) – The DICOM IHE SR software feature allows for the system to be configured to transmit dose related information to a PACS or workstation as an electronic file compatible with DICOM’s Integrated Healthcare Environment (IHE) Structured Reporting (SR) technical framework. Previously, the system’s preceding dose report sent this information as a fixed DICOM image. The DICOM IHE SR feature allows this data to be sent in such a way that the data can be read by other systems with the proper DICOM IHE SR software, which facilitates monitoring dose for CT examinations. Additionally, the DICOM IHE SR feature will allow the transmission of dose information to dose registries as they become available.

Toshiba’s Aquilion ONE and Aquilion^® Premium feature additional dose reduction technologies enabling clinicians to manage and lower radiation dose more effectively while still obtaining high-quality images. For example, Adaptive Iterative Dose Reduction (AIDR) is software that uses an iterative process to remove noise from the image to increase image quality, thus enabling a dose reduction of up to 75 percent. The software intuitively improves the image by removing noise until the optimal image is produced. AIDR is standard on new Aquilion ONE and Premium systems.

Winona Health, a community hospital in close proximity to two tertiary care centers, acquired the Aquilion ONE due to its suite of low dose CT technologies and its ability to image an entire organ in a single rotation, ensuring greater accuracy and diagnostic confidence. Winona Health will use the Aquilion ONE for emergency department patients, as well as in-patient and out-patient cases.

“We selected the Aquilion ONE because of its superior image quality, advanced clinical applications, and an improved patient-centered care experience, all at lower radiation doses,” said Ann Baker, director, Imaging Services, Winona Health.

“Toshiba shares MITA’s commitment to patient safety and clinical accuracy in medical imaging,” said Joseph Cooper, director, CT Business Unit, Toshiba. “By upgrading the Aquilion ONE with the Toshiba Dose Check Software, the system is able to further enhance the healthcare provider’s implementation of ALARA to provide patients with the right imaging exam, at the right time, with the right radiation dose.”

About Winona Health

Winona Health is a community owned, nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to meet the lifelong healthcare needs of the Winona, Minnesota, regional community. For more information, visit www.winonahealth.org.

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 Corp. is a worldwide leader 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 742 companies with more than 204,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing $68 billion. For more information, visit Toshiba’s website at www.medical.toshiba.com.