Toshiba's CT, MR Systems Named ‘Best in Class'

The Aquilion 64-slice computed tomography (CT) and the Vantage 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. (Tustin, CA, USA), received top honors in the medical equipment leaders category with two 2006 "Best in Klas” awards, one in CT and one in MR.

Presented by Klas Enterprises, LLC, (Orem, UT, USA), the recognition signifies leadership in working with customers to achieve high satisfaction and performance. For the first time, Klas included the medical equipment category in their Best in Klas round-up and provided ratings for CT and MRI. The Aquilion 64 received an overall score of 90.95 out of 100 in the CT category, and the Vantage received a score of 91.8 out of 100 in MR. The Best in KLAS award reflects product and service performance data provided by hospitals, clinics, and outpatient facilities collected over the last 13 months.

"Toshiba is honored to receive the Best in Klas award for 2006,” said Larry Dentice, general manager and senior vice president, Toshiba. "As a company, we continue to set the industry standard when it comes to working with our customers. Our commitment to maintaining this leadership position is critical to our continued differentiation in the market.”

The Aquilion 64 features advanced multislice CT technologies, and is built on Toshiba's unique 64-row Quantum detector. With 64 detector rows, three-dimensional (3D) cone beam algorithms, and volume reconstruction, the system has an excellent multi-detector design, producing high-speed, high-resolution imaging with superior low-contrast resolution at a very low dose. The Quantum detector enables the Aquilion CT scanner to acquire 64 simultaneous slices of 0.5 mm with each 350-millisecond gantry revolution, allowing precise isotropic imaging of any region of the body during a single breath-hold.

The Vantage MR system features many sophisticated MRI applications, with a wide range of optional packages including cardiac imaging, advanced echo planar imaging, diffusion and perfusion imaging, peripheral angiography and fresh blood imaging, SuperFASE (Fast Advanced Spin Echo) imaging and Body Vision. Moreover, Toshiba's Speeder parallel imaging allows for increased acquisition speed and reduced examination times.

Klas is a research firm specializing in monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare information technology (HIT) vendors and products.



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Toshiba America Medical Systems
Klas Enterprises