Toshiba, UC Irvine to develop state-of-the-art imaging center

UC Irvine School of Medicine, through its division of cardiology, recently announced a joint agreement to collaborate on development of the UCI/Toshiba CT Education and Research Center.

This center is installing Toshiba's industry-leading multislice CT cardiac imaging technology, the Aquilion 64 CFX system, to improve the detection and treatment of heart disease. UCI also plans to install several Vital Images workstations, which will allow students and faculty to view, manipulate and store various data sets acquired by the system.

"Our goal is to develop a cardiovascular center at UCI that rivals the world's best," said Jagat Narula, MD, chief of cardiology at UCI Medical Center and an associate dean in the School of Medicine. "We need state-of-the-art technology to complement our advanced research and training programs," he added.

As part of the agreement, UCI will develop a continuing medical education curriculum for cardiac CT imaging techniques using the Aquilion 64 CFX. The course will satisfy stringent guidelines for imaging, which meet the American College of Cardiology's Level I and II training standards as outlined by Medicare for reimbursement purposes. Toshiba, in turn, will send a minimum of 34 physicians per year to UCI for training for each of the three years of the agreement.

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