New MEDRAD 3.0T Prostate eCoil(TM) Enables Personalized Treatment Planning
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eCoil designed to produce very accurate MR images for targeted prostate cancer treatment
INDIANOLA, Pa., Aug. 2 - To enable personalized treatment planning that may reduce significant side effects of prostate cancer treatment, MEDRAD and GE Healthcare announce the availability of the first endorectal coil for 3.0T magnetic resonance (MR) prostate imaging. The MEDRAD 3.0T Prostate eCoil(TM) is available for GE Signa HDx 3.0T MR scanners through sales representatives from MEDRAD and GE Healthcare.
Patients diagnosed with prostate cancer often undergo either a radical prostatectomy, complete removal of the prostate gland, or radiation treatment over large portions of the prostate to combat the cancer. The after-effects on the patient can include impotence, urinary incontinence, and bleeding.
MEDRAD designed the 3.0T Prostate eCoil to produce very accurate diagnostic images of the prostate that may enable early diagnosis and staging of prostate cancer. The 3.0T Prostate eCoil can also be used to plan radiation therapy in a way that helps physicians localize treatment to only the affected part of the gland. By giving clinicians more accurate images for use in planning and delivering targeted treatment, the eCoil may help them personalize the patient's treatment.
The 3.0T Prostate eCoil gets closer to the problem than other imaging options to help clinicians get closer to the solution. The eCoil balloon conforms to the size and shape of the prostate for consistent contact between the gland and the signal-amplifying elements of the coil. The result is small field-of-view (FOV) and high spatial resolution, sensitivity, and specificity that yield clearer pictures of the prostate.
"Prostate cancer strikes over 200,000 men annually, and we believe the Prostate eCoil can help in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease," said MEDRAD's Gary Bucciarelli, senior vice president, Magnetic Resonance Business Unit. "It will provide urologists, radiologists, and radiation oncologists with better information for treatment planning, recognizing that each patient is unique and that their treatment for prostate cancer should be as well."
"GE Healthcare has made a commitment to aggressively pursue the development of MR technology for the assessment of prostate disease," said GE's John Chiminski, vice president and general manager, Global Magnetic Resonance business. "Developments such as GE's exclusive LAVA and Diffusion Weighted Imaging provide physiological information that leads to improved diagnostic confidence. The availability of the MEDRAD 3.0T eCoil on the GE 3.0T HDx scanner strengthens our clinical roadmap."
Dr. Neil Rofsky, director of MRI at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, in Boston, Mass., has used the MEDRAD eCoil on a GE 3.0T MR scanner for the past several years. "The MEDRAD 3.0T eCoil can aid in the earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer and optimize the treatment options for patients," said Rofsky.
John Kurhanewicz, Ph.D., director of the Prostate Imaging Group and Biomedical NMR Lab and professor of radiology and pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, has observed similar results on a GE scanner. "The increased spectral dispersion obtainable at 3.0T allows for better quantification of metabolites, notably the elevation of choline resonance, which has emerged as the most specific marker for prostate cancer," said Kurhanewicz.
The Prostate eCoil is also available for 1.5T magnet strength environments and is one of MEDRAD's Leading Image(TM) MR Coil products.
About MEDRAD
MEDRAD, INC. is a worldwide leading provider of medical devices and services that enable and enhance imaging procedures of the human body. Used in diagnostic imaging, MEDRAD's product offerings include a comprehensive line of vascular injection systems, magnetic resonance (MR) surface coils and patient care products, and equipment services. Total 2005 revenues were $411 million. MEDRAD is a 2003 recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the top honor a U.S. company can receive for quality and business excellence. The company's world headquarters is near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. MEDRAD is a U.S. affiliate of Schering AG, Germany (FSE: SCH; NYSE: SHR). For more information, visit MEDRAD's website at www.medrad.com.
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. GE Healthcare's expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform and treat disease, so their patients can live their lives to the fullest.
GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases, and other conditions earlier. GE Healthcare's vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $15 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 43,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit their website at www.gehealthcare.com.
Source: MEDRAD, INC.
CONTACT:
Dan Dieter,
MEDRAD Marketing Services,
+1-412-767-2400 ext. 3726,
ddieter@medrad.com
Brian McKaig,
GE Healthcare Public Relations Manager,
+1-262-544-3937,
brian.mckaig@ge.com
Web site: www.medrad.com/
http://www.gehealthcare.com/
