11/6/2000
For Immediate Release
HITACHI RECEIVES FDA CLEARANCE ON THEIR ALTAIRE HIGH-FIELD PERFORMANCE OPEN MR SYSTEM
CONTACT:
Sheldon Schaffer
Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc.
1959 Summit Commerce Park
Twinsburg, Ohio 44087
800.800.3106 or 330.425.1313 Ext. 5447
330.425.1410 Fax
info@hitachimed.com
www.hitachimed.com
Twinsburg, Ohio -- November 6, 2000 -- Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. (HMSA) announced they have received FDA 510(k) clearance to market their new AltaireTM high-field performance Open MR imaging system. It will be featured at the annual Radiological Society of North America meeting being held this month in Chicago, Illinois. Shipments of the Altaire system will begin in the first quarter 2001.
Altaire combines the advantages of high-field performance and Open MR to deliver image quality and patient throughput comparable to the best high-field systems together with superior patient comfort of Open MR. Altaire’s advanced imaging capabilities are optimized for the open environment and include single-shot EPI, diffusion-weighted EPI, RF fat saturation, MRA with very short TEs and FSE with short inter-echo times.
“Altaire responds to the market’s demand for an MR imaging system that delivers exceptional image quality and high patient throughput in an Open MR environment,” stated Sheldon Schaffer, Vice President and General Manager of Magnetic Resonance. “Every sub-system has been optimized to work in concert with all other sub-systems to achieve high-field performance while maintaining cost-effectiveness. We call this VOSITM Technology. For example, the gradient system has been designed to operate in a vertical magnetic field and deliver a slew rate of 55 T/m/s for achieving high-field imaging techniques.”
Hitachi has taken their proven Open MR gantry architecture along with their expertise in vertical field Open MR technology and applied it to Altaire. Inside the gantry, patients find the environment spacious and comfortable, greatly reducing anxiety and claustrophobic tendencies. The company pioneered the two-post asymmetric gantry design more than five years ago and has achieved a market leadership role with this award-winning concept.
“Altaire’s passively shielded design contains the 5 Gauss magnetic fringe field within an 18 by 22 foot scan room, reducing the time and cost to prepare a site,” continued Schaffer. “Since the room itself does not have to be magnetically shielded, sites can use windows and skylights to accentuate the open environment.”
Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. markets premium, high performance magnetic resonance (MR) imaging products of Hitachi Medical Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. These include the AIRIS® and AIRIS II Open MR systems with advanced permanent magnet technology and the new Altaire high-field performance Open MR system. HMSA has established itself as a major provider of magnetic resonance imaging systems with more than 900 systems installed throughout the United States and 2,000 worldwide. Since the company first popularized the concept of Open MR a decade ago, it has been the fastest growing segment of MR imaging, and today accounts for nearly 50 percent of all MR imaging system sales.
