Diagnostic Imaging Scan - March 25, 2008 - (Page 4) breaks up deep vein blood clots in about 20 minutes, according to clinical data presented at the Society of Interventional Radiology meeting, March 15 to 20 in Washington, DC. The technique serves as an adjunct to the standard therapy of anticoagulation, which is designed to prevent future clots but does not break up existing ones. The international clinical trial involving 771 patients restored patency in 97% of acute clot cases, according to the research. The Adventist Health System/ West has signed Konica Minolta to provide computed radiography systems. The three-year contract covers the purchase of Konica’s flagship Regius Xpress and Nano CR systems for all Adventist Health facilities in California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington, as well as 45 affiliated sites scattered throughout the Western states. PeOPLe Don Kiepert, recently appointed president and CEO of the newly minted Lantheus Medical Imaging (formerly Bristol-Myers Squibb Medical Imaging), has recruited Phillip Lockwood, formerly vice president of human resources at Indevus Pharmaceuticals, as vice president of human resources and Michael Duffy, formerly senior vice president and general counsel at Point Therapeutics, as vice president and general counsel. Other additions to the Lantheus management team include Peter Card, vice president of strategy and business development; William Dawes, vice president of manufacturing and supply chain; Scott Edwards, vice president of global R&D; Robert Gaffey, vice president of finance and operations; and Cyrille Villeneuve, general manager of Canada, Latin America, Pacific Rim. David Mann, formerly vice president of sales, was promoted to vice president, sales and marketing. Before joining Lantheus Medical Imaging, Kiepert was the founder, chairman, CEO, and president of Point Therapeutics. He also served commentary ct: Faster, better, and (soon) cheaper complex than the simple paradigm of leading-edge technologies trailblazing the stratosphere of pricing, while previous generations settle into the dust. Unlike every generation of CT scanner up to the 64, the coming new breed of systems will not appeal to every buyer in the marketplace. A single rotation acquisition of the heart or a multirotational, multiexam of the brain, as will be possible with Toshiba’s Aquilion One, for example, affords the ultimate experience in CT imaging. For the first time in a decade, we may be approaching a period of calm in the technological scheme of all things CT, when technologies with various capabilities establish subcategories of price and performance. This future world of CT may be characterized by flights to value of the kind we saw last year. Prospective customers may look at the performance of technology, and, rather than buying the newest with the most slices, they will choose the one that best fits their unique environment. The radiology department in need of a workhorse for routine CT may gravitate toward the low-tier 16-slice CT. A medical center without cardiac cath but wanting to triage patients complaining of chest pain might look in the midtier 64. The tertiary-care center with a high volume of cardiac patients needing noninvasive assessment or long-term follow-up after an intervention or surgery might go for the ones with large-area detectors. We’ve seen exactly this kind of segmentation in other modalities. For a very long time, MR segmented into 0.5T, 1T, and 1.5T categories. Similar price/ performance tiers define diagnostic ultrasound. The day when such a model applies to CT may not be too far away. GREG FREIHERR CT is known for getting faster and better. But cheaper? Ten years ago, $1 million seemed an impenetrable ceiling for CT scanners. Then multislice designs broke through. The coming generation of systems, bearing what amounts to curved large-area detectors, promises to shred the $2 million mark. But the march of these systems, while leading the industry into uncharted pricing territories, opens the door to cheaper CT scanners on the trailing edge of technology, possibly adding a new twist to an old story. With each new generation of CT scanners, those left behind have become less and less costly. This process has been going on for the better part of a decade. New systems command top prices as falling demand for less powerful scanners causes price erosion. But last year something strange happened. Sixteen-slice CTs caught fire despite their position well behind the more advanced 40- and 64-slice products. Even stranger, as demand rose, prices shrank. You might argue that this follows the line of most capitalist thinking: Increasing sales volume drives down the price of a product. But this is just not what happens in the CT marketplace. Rather, the resurgence in demand for 16 slice scanners was, as one vendor described it, a “flight to value.” I can think of no better term. This market perturbation developed in the waning months of 2007. The leading edge of available technology, 64-slice CT, had lost its edge. Not only had demand for this technology been pretty well satisfied for large and midsize customers after years of availability, but a prime reason for purchase—its use in coronary CT angiography—had been called into question by the biggest payer of them all, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. While 64-slice scanners do a lot more than just cardiac work, all the mundane radiological exams they might do can also be done with 16-slice CT. The sudden realization of that fact led many providers to rediscover the 16. The uncertainty surrounding CCTA has since been resolved in its favor, and vendors now are predicting a “bump” in demand for 64-slice systems. More than likely, it will come at the expense of the 16s. In the year ahead, the next wave of systems offering 264, 512, and more slices will take command of the marketplace, sending prices up once again. But last year’s quirky experience with 16-slice CT may hint that the market is evolving into something more PeOPLe (cont.) as president and CEO of Chartwell Home Therapies, a home infusion services company. On March 17, Timothy J. Wollaeger and Raymond V. Dittamore resigned from the board of directors at Digirad. The same day John W. Sayward was elected to the board. Sayward, whose term will expire at the 2008 annual meeting of stockholders, will replace Dittamore as chair of the company’s audit committee. From September 2005 to January 2007, Sayward was a partner at Nippon Heart Hospital, which was formed to build and manage cardiovascular care hospitals in Japan. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer of LMA North America, a medical device business focused on patient airway management. March 25, 2008 Copyright © 1991-2008 CMP Healthcare Media Group LLC
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