RSNA 2008: AGFA New Technologies / Updates

AGFA will be presenting Booth #4800 in the South Building - Hall A of McCormick Place, Chicago.

At RSNA 2008 Agfa HealthCare will offer visitors the opportunity to discover its state-of-the-art Imaging and Informatics solutions that help meet the major challenges faced by modern healthcare providers, including increased patient and image volumes, and the demands of multi-site consolidation and varied technological standards. At its booth, Agfa HealthCare will highlight three core themes:

* Integrated Workflow for Digital Imaging and Radiology,
* Enterprise Image Data Storage and Management and IT Extensions,
* Enterprise Clinical Visualization in relation to specific application areas such as Digital Radiography, Advanced Image Processing, Digital Breast Imaging, Pediatrics and Neonatal Imaging, Orthopaedics and Cardiology.

Digital Imaging
Developed specifically to improve workflow, NX - Agfa HealthCare's standard CR workstation for image identification and quality control - comprises a stand-alone CR workstation and software designed for use at the point-of-care, enabling technologists to remain with their patients.

Its touch-screen interface allows technologists to complete all standard tasks using the least amount of clicks, thereby minimizing training time, ensuring easy system access and enabling increased flexibility and efficiency. Used for mixed general radiology and mammography* (women's health) - for which Agfa Healthcare offers a dedicated imaging solution - workflow is made more convenient through NX's in-room integration, while improved interoperability with other systems delivers a high level of integration.

In a single user environments for example, small specialist practices such as veterinary surgeons or chiropractors, the NX workstation can also be used for diagnosis when used in conjunction with a high resolution monitor. In addition, the optional installation of NX's new work-in-progress software program - the Office Viewer - onto their office PC allows the user to access and show patients their exams without leaving the office environment.

Radiology Workflow
Healthcare delivery today is becoming more and more complex and institutions are experiencing increasing pressure to improve efficiency and productivity. At RSNA 2008, Agfa HealthCare will showcase its web-based enterprise scheduling and planning solution, IMPAX Scheduling. The solution enables hospitals and clinics of all sizes to increase productivity by efficiently managing appointments and multiple resources in real-time.

Fully integrated advanced applications (such as 3D, Fusion and Decision Support) and progressive display tools, such as redesigned CT/MR navigation workflow, provide users with a single platform for completing their tasks while dealing with the ever increasing volumes of studies and images. Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX solution enables clinicians to connect information, images, and applications into a single workflow, connecting and empowering caregivers to deliver healthcare in an efficient and productive manner.

In reporting, speech recognition in the workflow can improve turnaround time. Agfa HealthCare will introduce an integrated Reporting solution with Philips' SpeechMagic™ technology,a cutting-edge speech engine,to the North American market. This solution is embedded within IMPAX, streamlining a variety of reporting workflows such as Dictate-Edit-Sign™, Correctionist, Resident-Attending, and digital dictation, as well as allowing at-home reporting and remote sign-off.

IMPAX EPS is Agfa's solution for managing reporting workload in a distributed environment. It creates a "Virtual PACS" environment for reporting from multiple facilities by employing a centralized worklist to manage workloads and workflow.

Image Data Storage and Management
RSNA2008 Breakthrough Agfa HealthCare's new SE software Suite makes image data management affordable for all by providing a comprehensive archiving and distribution solution - with integral viewing functionality - for managing image data in a CR environment. Designed to help facilitate the transition from analog to digital, its feature-rich functionality is intuitive to use and easy to learn, and enablespractices to manage rapidly increasing information volumes, and help increase efficiency and productivity at a price they can afford. Ideal for single and multi-user environments, it supports key requirements and configurations through multimodality archiving and viewing components.Comprised of three main software components - SE Server, SE Client and SE Standalone - it is based on Agfa HealthCare's proven technologies and extensive experience in radiology, and complements a practice's digital acquisition system by providing the tools to store, manipulate, manage and digitally output acquired images - for both CR and other modalities. SE seamlessly integrates with Agfa HealthCare's CR systems and hardcopy imagers.

Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX Data Center provides large-scale multimedia storage for all types of medical images and diagnostic results for hospital groups, regional healthcare organizations and national medical archives. The solution consolidates the data from disparate systems into a single point of storage to serve the needs of the enterprise. IMPAX Data Center is a highly scalable and fault tolerant DICOM archive system designed to store clinical DICOM data objects, including DICOM encapsulated non-imaging objects such as waveforms, structured reports and PDFs. A key benefit of the solution is that care providers are able to easily access various sources within the hospital or regional enterprise, through one mechanism served by the IMPAX Data Center. The solution delivers clear patient management benefits as their exams and results will be available at every location in the Hospital Enterprise, and consequently, enhancing their care. The solution is designed to meet the needs of new technologies such as multi-slice CT and allows for the extension of PACS into other image-intensive clinical departments, including cardiology and orthopaedics.

IT Extensions
The IMPAX Enterprise Clinical Portal is a secure and scalable web-based eHealth solution designed to consolidate patient data/records from multiple systems into a single view for simplified and more efficient information delivery.

The IMPAX Enterprise Clinical Dashboard is a virtual EMR which can provide clinically relevant data such as allergy and pharmaceutical histories, biopsy notes, clinical notes and lab results to your IMPAX Radiology or Cardiology station. IMPAX ECD enhances workflow by replacing paper and the need to access multiple systems (eliminating multiple log-ins and sign-ons) with a single view for concise information delivery, making critical clinical data available more quickly to the clinician.

Enterprise Visualization
RSNA2008 Breakthrough At RSNA 2008, Agfa HealthCare will highlight a work-in-progress viewer technology that addresses one of the most common issues facing healthcare providers today : the task of delivering images and information to care givers across a wide range of technical and physical barriers.

IMPAX Mobility™ * is an ultra-thin, web deployable Enterprise Image and Result Viewer designed for rapid and easy deployment operating across wide area networks. IMPAX Mobility is an add-on component to IMPAX Data Center, IMPAX or even third party PACS Systems that provides full mobility to access image data, analysis tools and reports. IMPAX Mobility uses Server-Side Computing, Adaptive Streaming, and Micro-Footprint Clients to give access to all data and all tools on virtually any device and at any location and over any type of network connection. IMPAX Mobility is a best-of-breed enterprise clinical viewer targeted for use by clinicians, specialists, diagnosticians and referring physicians and provides a rich set of 2D and 3D image review and manipulation tools.

* IMPAX Mobility is manufactured by Medical Insight A/S as EasyViz.

Digital Radiography
Agfa HealthCare's advanced DX-S solution is a groundbreaking Computed Radiography system that has created a new threshold in CR. It provides fast CR workflow at decreased dose, particularly for pediatrics and neonatal imaging and fills the gap in the current range of Direct Radiography Solutions by providing a unique combination of image quality, speed and flexibility that exceeds traditional CR solutions. Designed to deliver a full range of imaging exams with minimum wait times and directly to the point-of-care, it is used in environments where patient comfort, exam speed, and imaging flexibility are of paramount importance, including Emergency, Trauma, Pediatric, Neonatal, and General Radiography departments.

In addition to providing high image quality, speed and flexibility, Agfa HealthCare's DX-S also reduces the dose required - a benefit of particular value when working with children (pediatrics), where multiple images are so often needed. For pediatrics, DX-S can further be installed with the optional MUSICA²™ Platinum Imaging Software for Pediatrics, even enhancing the quality further of images of children and babies. The benefit of the DX-S system achieves high throughput and flexibility by combining two innovative and exclusive Agfa HealthCare technologies DirectriX™ phosphor plate technology and Scanhead™ high-resolution scanning. Its compact in-room design allows the technologist to stay with their patient and a cassette-based system allows quick and trouble-free positioning. Taken together, the overall result of these combined capabilities is reduced examination time that provides a more rapid workflow and a shorter waiting time for patients.

Advanced Image Processing
Agfa HealthCare is continually developing clinical applications designed to optimize workflow, all within the IMPAX PACS workstation, and meet the specific needs of clinicians. Below is a sampling of a few of the many applications integrated into IMPAX which will be demonstrated at RSNA 2008:

* IMPAX Virtual Colonoscopy (Note: not available in the U.S.)
* IMPAX Registration and Fusion
* IMPAX OrthoGon
* IMPAX X-ray Angio Analysis1
* IMPAX RDS

The IMPAX X-ray Angio Analysis R1.0 solution contains the following major components: IMPAX R6.3.1 or later release versions, and the QAngio XA Clinical Edition R7.1 component, manufactured by Medis Medical Imaging Systems BV (www.medis.nl).

Digital Breast Imaging
The Digital Breast Imaging area of the booth showcases the IMPAX for Digital Mammography workstation, fully functional IMPAX Multi-Modality Diagnostic Workstation with additional functionality for mammography, such as specific hanging protocols forviewing. In addition, Mammography IT and 3rd party CAD will be included in these demonstrations.

Pediatrics and Neonatal Imaging
Agfa HealthCare's groundbreaking DX-S™ solution has created a new threshold in Computed Radiography and fills the gap in the current range of Direct Radiography solutions. In addition to providing a unique combination of image quality, speed and flexibility, the DX-S gives the potential to decrease dose - especially important when working with children, where multiple images are so often needed. For pediatric imaging, the DX-S system can be installed with the optional MUSICA²™ Platinum Imaging Software for Pediatrics, further enhancing image quality for children and babies.

Orthopaedics
Agfa's Orthopaedics modules are advanced measurement and templating tools for Radiologists and Orthopaedic and Pediatric specialists. Visit this area to see a demonstration of the IMPAX OrthoGon measurement toolset as well as the OrthoTools prosthetic templating applications

* OrthoGon's automated prompts guide a specialist through measurement workflow sequences to produce consistent results for treatment planning.
* Agfa Orthopaedic tools offer digital templating for Orthopaedic prosthetic sizing and selection, using industry-standard calibration.
* Orthopedic modules are available as an extension the Agfa HealthCare suite of image and information management products: PACS, RIS, Reporting, and Storage.

Cardiology
Agfa HealthCare's IMPAX Cardiovascular Suite is an enterprise-wide, feature-rich cardiology image and information management solution that integrates with industry leading modalities and enterprise information systems, providing a longitudinal view of cardiology patient data from a single point-of-access.