Carestream announces entry into ultrasound market

CHICAGO – Carestream displayed its Touch Ultrasound System at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference this week, signaling its entry into the ultrasound marketplace. According to the company, the system offers a combination of exceptional user experience and image quality to meet the needs of even the most demanding radiologists and sonographers.

The new ultrasound platform delivers a unique all-touch control panel, integrated GPU processing power and smart transducer technology coupled with a single-board system design. This creates a highly reliable product with advanced imaging capabilities, a compact footprint and a modern user interface.

The sleek, all-touch control panel combines the speed and flexibility of a soft user interface with the tactile feedback of traditional keys. Etched marking for primary controls assists the user with easily locating key functions without looking away from the image display monitor.

“Our new ultrasound platform was developed with extensive input from sonographers and other ultrasound imaging professionals. We have a proven history of customer-focused innovation in digital medical imaging technology and are now extending our expertise to the ultrasound field,” said Diana L. Nole, President, Digital Medical Solutions, Carestream.

“We identified important user needs that were not adequately addressed by existing ultrasound systems and created a powerful platform for ultrasound imaging. This is the first product in a new family of Carestream systems that can redefine this market and enable ultrasound providers to further enhance patient care,” she added.

Just as the company’s product development team relied upon input from dozens of radiologic technologists to create its successful Carestream DRX-Revolution Mobile X-ray System, the design team for the Touch Ultrasound system is working with best-in-class suppliers, using state-of-the-art technology and gathering input from ultrasound professionals around the globe to select and refine the capabilities of this new platform.

Other beneficial features of the new Touch Ultrasound System include:

• A sealed panel that allows easy cleaning to help limit the spread of pathogens;
• High-level computing power provides both speed and excellent image quality;
• Easy maneuverability and a small, lightweight footprint makes the imaging process faster and easier;
• “Swipe and go” badge log-on saves time and promotes secure access;
• “Smart connect” transducer technology enables easy one-touch selection of the desired transducer;
• Cold boot time of an unprecedented 18 seconds to further enhance productivity, with no need for standby mode or battery backup; and
• Easy cart adjustments to allow sonographers to position the system where it is most comfortable to help reduce repetitive stress injuries.

The Touch Ultrasound System’s technologies and features are planned to extend across a family of products, addressing the needs of various users and markets throughout the world – backed by Carestream’s network of service, support and training. The first two products in the Touch Ultrasound family are expected to ship in the third quarter of 2015.