“These folks don’t have medical licenses to lose; they didn’t take any Hippocratic oaths. They are in it for the profit. And Americans are going to pay for it, either with their health or their finances or both.”
– Association of Independent Doctors executive director, Marni Jameson Carey, clearly stating the trade association’s position on the trend of private equity firms and VCs buying private practices (they don’t like it).
The Imaging Wire
The Great Security Accountability Debate
Healthcare manufacturers and providers staked their positions in an emerging battle over the the cybersecurity of legacy devices. Although responsibility for the installed base is a long-debated issue, things have heated up since April when the US House Energy & Commerce Committee issued a Request for Information (RFI) regarding healthcare technology and device security. MITA appeared to take a collaborative tone, stating that manufacturers, health delivery organizations, and third-party servicers should share the responsibility for protecting against cyberattacks, but its primary argument was that healthcare organizations should use the info and solutions provided to them to ensure security. As you may expect, the American Hospital Association believes that device manufacturers should carry more of the cybersecurity burden, adding that the current structure places too much responsibilities on hospitals. This type of debate doesn’t happen between manufacturers and end-customers in most industries, but it’s a dispute that could shape how devices are serviced in the future and dictate who is responsible when serious/expensive/dangerous security issues arise.
GE Imaging’s New Boss
GE Healthcare named Tom McGuinness as president and CEO of its imaging business, replacing Karim Karti after only 2.5 years in the role. Karti appears to have left the company. McGuinness’ rise within GE has been rapid, as he joined the company as GE Healthcare’s chief strategy and commercial officer less than two years ago. However, McGuinness brings 20-plus years of healthcare leadership experience (PatientPoint, Medtronic, McKinsey Healthcare) and could bring new ideas to a company known for its homegrown leadership.
Fujifilm and Availity Partner Up
Fujifilm USA announced a partnership with large payer and provider engagement network, Availity. The partnership adds Availity Authorizations (digital authorization platform) and Availity Patient Access (collection cycle automation) to Fujifilm’s Synapse radiology information system (RIS), allowing the company to offer a solution that integrates PACS, RIS, billing, and physician and patient portals. Fujifilm appears to be Availity’s first major medical imaging partner, joining PACS provider RamSoft along with dozens of other partner companies.
Philips Continues M&A Spree
Philips continued its recent healthcare M&A buying spree with the acquisition of Remote Diagnostic Technologies (RDT), a UK-based developer of pre-hospital monitoring, cardiac therapy, and data management solutions. The acquisition is Philips Healthcare’s’ third of 2018, all of which took place in the last two months. RDT’s products will bolster Philips’ Therapeutic Care business and boost its position in the €1.4 billion ($1.64B) resuscitation and emergency care market. Noting RDT’s relatively small size (100 employees), this acquisition is another example of Philips’ bolt-on acquisition strategy at work, adding smaller, specialized companies to help fill-out its existing portfolio, while avoiding the costs and headaches of larger acquisitions.
Turkey Gets Tough with Philips
Philips Healthcare and its local affiliate company in Turkey are under investigation from the country’s Competition Authority for the possible violation of patent licensing laws. This investigation comes 18 months after Philips Turkey was charged and cleared by the country for “abuse of dominance” and follows a recent rule that all medical imaging devices used in Turkey must be made in the country.
The Wire
- EDAP announced the FDA 510(k) clearance of its Focal One prostate ablation device, which combines MRI and 3D biopsy data with ultrasound imaging, allowing urologists to pinpoint and direct high-intensity ultrasound at diseased tissue, thus minimizing side effects (incontinence and impotence).
- Chinese scientists developed a specialized MRI coil that reportedly captures clearer fetal images, compared to standard abdominal MRI coils, revealing that the technology was already adopted by a Chinese medical imaging company and is expected to launch commercially by the end of 2018.
- MILabs launched a new line of “high-performance and economical” preclinical PET, SPECT, and CT systems, which are scaled-down versions of the company’s established VECTor systems, and are intended for researchers looking for budget-oriented systems that can be upgraded in the future.
- A new study suggests that medical imaging AI systems are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks, revealing that adversarial examples can trick deep learning systems into misclassifying nearly all images, and claiming that medical AI firms have yet to develop secure infrastructure.
- Agfa sold two DX-D 300 DR systems to Washington DC-area practice, Centers for Advanced Orthopaedics, through local reseller Chesapeake Medical Systems.
- Optovue announced the FDA 510(k) clearance of its AngioAnalytics optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) blood vessel measurement technology and the 510(k) clearance of its 3D PAR three-dimensional projection artifact removal software, used for OCTA measurement and interpretation.
- A University of California study, funded by MedCrypt, revealed that healthcare organizations and vendors believe that between 100 and 1,000 patients were harmed by hacked devices, suggesting that this issue will continue and perhaps worsen due to both device and infrastructure vulnerabilities.
- Chinese researchers developed a new near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging method that helps make orthotopic brain-tumor imaging clearer and faster compared to conventional brain imaging techniques.
- A recent study found that increasing display luminance when reading mammograms may allow the use of lower-dose mammography, without sacrificing image quality and diagnostic accuracy, specifically citing the SpotView feature in Barco’s Coronis Uniti monitors as a viable display solution.
The Resource Wire
– Future home of sponsored content. Maybe yours.
- Agfa whitepaper on augmented intelligence and intelligent workflows
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- Canon Medical video demonstrates how the Aplio i800 Ultrasound images the ankle
- Canon Aquilion Precision, the world’s first Ultra-High Resolution CT system
- Caresteam touts benefits of weight bearing CT imaging
- Carestream’s low-cost/weight DRX-Revolution Nano mobile X-ray system
- Fujifilm video introduces enhancements to Synapse Cardiovascular image analysis solution
- Fujifilm’s FDR AQRO mobile x-ray combines high sensitivity with small size and low-dose
- GE’s most advanced ultrasound system, the LOGIQ E10
- GE highlights Versana Essential doppler ultrasound
- Hitachi white paper on the business benefits of high-field MRI
- Hitachi Scenaria CT scanner, the industry’s first all-inclusive CT
- Hologic’s 3Dimension Mammography System leads with 3D imaging and patient comfort
- Hologic once again top-ranked for mammography system performance and service
- IBM Watson Health leaders discuss best practices in strategic healthcare transformation
- IBM Watson Imaging Clinical Review cognitive data review tool for more accurate patient records
- Konica Minolta publishes latest Kontours issue
- Konica Minolta’s KDR U-arm x-ray targets office-based X-ray environments
- Philips touts combination of technology and collaborative radiologists
- Philips’ new HealthSuite Insights AI platform curates and analyzes healthcare data and offers tools to build and operate AI-based solutions.
- Samsung’s RS85A premium ultrasound combines image quality with advanced ergonomics
- Samsung committed to low-dose x-ray technology
- Shimadzu video highlights Trinias digital angiography system
- Shimaduz MobileDaRt Evolution MX8 premium mobile x-ray
- Siemens’ new Somatom Go CTs add cardiac and image-guided capabilities
- Siemens and the HBR report on “The Power of Digitalizing Healthcare”
