11/25/2001
For Immediate Release
HITACHI DEMONSTRATES HIGH-FIELD PERFORMANCE IN THE ALTAIRE OPEN MRI SYSTEM 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 Ext. 5447
330.425.1410 Fax
Sandra King
King Strategic Communications
El Segundo, CA
310.322.7205 Phone
310.640.0899 Fax
info@hitachimed.com
www.hitachimed.com
Chicago, IL -- November 25, 2001. At the Radiological Society of North America meeting being held this week in Chicago, Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. (HMSA) is showcasing hundreds of clinical studies from their Altaire Open MR system customer sites. The company introduced AltaireTM at last year’s meeting with claims of innovative technology, which delivered high-field performance together with Open MR comfort. This year they are proudly displaying conclusive evidence from clinical sites that validates Hitachi’s leadership position in Open MR systems.
Altaire combines the advantages of high-field performance and the comfort of Open MR to deliver image quality and patient throughput comparable to conventional high-field systems. The conscious choice of equipping Altaire with a 0.7 tesla superconducting magnet along with a powerful gradient sub-system, allows Altaire to exceed old performance barriers with Hitachi’s VOSI (VO-sigh) technology. This unique design approach optimizes each subsystem to work in concert with the other subsystems, in order to achieve high-field performance. Altaire’s performance has been demonstrated to be comparable to conventional high-field systems in terms of signal-to-noise, spatial resolution and contrast resolution. Image resolution is sub-millimeter. Image acquisition sequence times are typically five minutes or less. The gradient system has been optimized for Altaire’s vertical magnetic field and delivers a slew rate of 55 T/m/s for achieving high-field imaging techniques including RF fat suppression, diffusion weighted imaging, high resolution MRA, and single-shot and multi-shot echo-planar imaging.
“It is not just field strength that determines MR system performance, it is the combined performance of all the MR sub-systems that counts,” stated Sheldon Schaffer, Vice President and General Manager of HMSA. “By optimizing every sub-system in Altaire we have delivered image quality, throughput and clinical imaging capabilities rivaling MR systems with twice the field strength. Plus, our customers get the proven leader in Open MR patient comfort with Hitachi’s award-winning open gantry design.”
Hitachi has long been recognized as the leader in Open MR and recently had that distinction confirmed by receiving the coveted Frost & Sullivan Market Penetration Award. Today, they have more than 1,000 Open MR systems installed across the United States and more than 2,300 worldwide.
Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. markets premium, high performance magnetic resonance (MR) imaging products of Hitachi Medical Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. These include the AIRIS® and AIRIS II Open MR systems with advanced permanent magnet technology and the new Altaire high-field performance Open MR system. HMSA has established itself as a major provider of magnetic resonance imaging systems with more than 1,000 systems installed throughout the United States and 2,300 worldwide. Since the company first popularized the concept of Open MR a decade ago, it has been the fastest growing segment of MR imaging, and today accounts for nearly 50 percent of all MR imaging system sales.
