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To: Benoit Desrochers who wrote (3157)	4/24/1999 9:24:00 AM
From: Labrador	Respond to of 4122

Interesting article from Crains discussing CT scanning et al. Guess Robert is giving up on IMDS? 08/29/1988 Crains Cleveland Business Solon, OH, US -- Instant three-dimensional pictures of any part of the body are no longer the stuff of science fiction. Robert H . Wake, president and founder of Solon-based Reality Imaging Corp., says his company has developed Voxel Flinger, a computer-based device designed to add depth to the "flat" computed- tomography and magnetic-resonance imaging scans that physicians use to diagnose and treat disease. Formed in January 1987, Reality Imaging was a sole proprietorship until last May, when Arriflex Corp. purchased an equity interest. Arriflex is a subsidiary of Arnold & Ricther, a West German-based company that makes movie cameras. Reality Imaging's entire 10-member staff previously worked for Technicare Corp., a Solon-based subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that manufactured MR and CT scanners. Mr. Wake, who had been an engineering manager with Technicare for 15 years, said he left the company in 1987 after General Electric purchased several Technicare service contracts and Johnson & Johnson folded the company. A physicist who holds nine U.S. and 22 foreign patents in medical image processing, Mr. Wake was granted a license by Johnson & Johnson to develop and market the 3-D technology. MR scanners use radio waves and a magnetic field to make cross- sectional images of the body. CT scanners use X-rays to perform the same task. Three-D display has been used mainly as a research tool in very selected cases because the time it takes to generate 3-D images can run into hours," Mr. Wake said. "Of the half-dozen companies in this field, we're offering a second-generation product that has speed." Voxel Flinger is a specialized computer that is connected to an MRI or a CT scanner's image processor. Voxel Flinger begins generating 3-D images on a screen within seconds after the patient's images are loaded into it, according to Mr. Wake. As for the unusual name, Mr. Wake explained that "voxel" is a computerese term for 3-D picture element; he paired it with "flinger" because the word connoted speed. The device not only shows a three-dimensional view of a certain body part, but the Voxel Flinger also simultaneously displays up to four different views. The images also can be shown in different densities or rotated, enabling the physician to pinpoint the diseased areas. Using Voxel Flinger, a physician can electronically simulate surgery, Mr. Wake said. The 3-D display enhances the surgeon's knowledge about a patient before surgery and as a result "the surgical procedure will be faster and therefore safer," Mr. Wake said. "Less than 5% of the 35,000 specialty surgeons and radiologists in this country have access to the 3-D presentation of images," he said. He explained that few hospitals could justify the purchase of a 3-D displayer, which costs about $250,000 and takes hours to process images. However, the Voxel Flinger, which can be installed in a new scanner or used as a stand-alone work station, costs $50,000 and $75,000, respectively. He anticipates Reality Imaging will sell about 85 units in 1989. A Chardon-based company, Protest Electronics Inc., plans to begin manufacturing the printed circuit boards of Voxel Flinger in February. "We won't sell the work stations directly, but through medical distribution companies that specialize in sales to the medical market," Mr. Wake said, adding that the company plans to have clinical test sites in place by the end of the year.