11/29/1998
For Immediate Release
HITACHI RAISES THE BAR FOR OPEN MR PERFORMANCE AT ANNUAL RADIOLOGY MEETING
CONTACT:
Sheldon Schaffer
Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc.
1959 Summit Commerce Park
Twinsburg, Ohio 44087
800.800.3106
330.425.1313
330.425.1410 FAX
info@hitachimed.com
www.hitachimed.com
Chicago, Illinois -- November 29, 1998 -- Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. (HMSA) unveiled performance and image quality enhancements to their AIRIS® and AIRIS II premium open MR imaging systems at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting being held this week in Chicago. Hitachi has established a leadership position in Open MR with more than 600 systems installed throughout the United States and 1,700 worldwide.
The AIRIS and AIRIS II both feature Hitachi's unique award winning "Open-Air" gantry design that is open on all four sides for greater patient comfort and easy access. They also feature 0.3T field strength, advanced permanent magnet technology and ultra-low noise electronics for excellent image quality. AIRIS II offers a more powerful gradient system and advanced digital RF system for users who need faster, more detailed imaging capabilities. AIRIS II also has the added throughput of a RISC-based workstation and easy-to-use OpenWindowsTM graphical user interface. The company offers an upgrade path to AIRIS II from AIRIS so customers can add the high-performance features if their needs change in the future.
For the AIRIS, HMSA demonstrated their version 5.0 software release that features a host of improvements to imaging techniques including enhancements to fast imaging and MR angiography. Ease of use, which has long been a trademark of Hitachi's open MR systems, has also been the focus of attention. HMSA will begin shipments of version 5.0 software following receipt of FDA pre-market clearance.
HMSA also introduced head/neck and shoulder phased array coils for the AIRIS II. These are the first in a series of phased array coils scheduled for AIRIS II and build upon its high-performance digital RF design, offering increased coverage and image quality. Availability of the phased array coils is pending FDA clearance.
Hitachi made popular the concept of using an "Open-Air" style magnet gantry with the introduction of its MRP MR imaging systems in 1989. Since then, the "open" segment has grown to more than half of the total MR market in the U.S. and Hitachi's pioneering work with Open gantry design and permanent magnet technology has enabled them to become the market leader. "AIRIS ideally meets the comfort needs of large and claustrophobic patients," said Sheldon Schaffer, vice president of marketing for HMSA. "With its high-performance capabilities, AIRIS II enables users to also perform demanding imaging techniques once reserved only for high-field MR systems."
