Industry Roundup: Siemens, iCRco

Computed Radiography system manufacturer iCRco announced PaxBox as an addition to its line of digital imaging storage systems. Using an appliance-based foundation and industry-standard DICOM architecture, the PaxBox server appliance accelerates image access, simplifies operation and management, and protects patient images in a highly reliable, HIPAA-compliant storage and archival system. PaxBox is designed so that imaging centers and clinics can focus on their operations instead of system management, as well as reduce costs overall. PaxBox features fully integrated, DICOM server appliances that speed digital image access and routing, simplify image management, and provide highly reliable, cost-effective storage. PaxBox is able to route images directly and concurrently from each modality for immediate storage, thus eliminating the need for manually transferring images to CDs or DVDs for archiving, the company says.
 
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich and Siemens Medical Solutions have developed a method of electronically transferring clinical data gathered at the point of care from an EMR (electronic medical record) to an EDC (electronic data capture) in clinical trials. Through this process, clinical trial research results can be more quickly documented. In the past, the capture of clinical trial data has been labor intensive and error-prone, requiring data to be transcribed into a paper case report form or, more recently, entered manually into Internet-based data capture systems. This approach offers a scalable, automatic transfer of data. The system is being tested in a pilot study that was initiated in June 2006. The implementation was designed to create an automatic electronic data transfer platform for two studies focusing on women's health. One of the trials is evaluating the effectiveness of the various types of chemotherapy on women with breast cancer. The second trial will evaluate the diagnostic value of the use of motion correction algorithms on magnetic resonance imaging MRI) and is slated to begin in October.

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The two companies aim to improve patient access to high-quality MRI scans by combining their artificial intelligence capabilities.