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NEWS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
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Beth Frost-Johnson, Sr. VP of Marketing
Merge Healthcare
414.977.4254
bethfj@merge.com
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CEDARA SOFTWARE AND EKLIN MEDICAL SYSTEMS INSTALL DIGITAL REVIEW AND ARCHIVING SOLUTION AT KEENELAND, WORLD’S LEADING EQUINE AUCTION FACILITY
- Installation marks successful transition of technology developed for healthcare industry to veterinarian market
- Solution used to support review of pre-sale digital radiography images involving thousands of horses at annual Breeding Stock sale in November and future Yearling sales
Toronto, ON, December 5, 2006 – Cedara Software, a Merge Healthcare company (Nasdaq: MRGE; TSX: MRG) and a leading independent developer of medical software technologies for the global healthcare market, today announced the installation of a new digital review and archiving solution at Keeneland, the world’s leading equine auction facility. Keeneland is a customer of Eklin Medical Systems of Santa Clara, California, a strategic partner for Cedara Software in the veterinarian market. As a highly flexible diagnostic imaging system, this installation will replace Keeneland’s extensive film repository (library) and is predicted to impact the global equine auction market. Included within the installation were review workstations, a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) and unique components that allow Keeneland to track user information. The system will be used at Keeneland’s 2007 auctions.
Within the first 10 days of Keeneland’s Yearling sale in September 2006, sales figures surpassed all previous records and eventually topped out at $399,791,800 (USD) over the 14-day auction period, making it the highest grossing thoroughbred auction in the world.
With so much at stake economically, horse buyers require a set of radiographs to be taken of a horse’s extremities prior to auction. Obtained within three weeks of the event, standard radiographic studies average 32 x-ray films per horse. This practice amounts to hundreds of thousands of films to be reviewed at each auction. At Keeneland’s most recent Yearling sale, 4,700 sets of pre-sale images were reviewed an average of 3.4 times per set, amounting to the actual physical handling of more than half a million pieces of x-ray films.
"During the auction’s two week duration, the logistics of accommodating almost 200 veterinarians reviewing sets of 32 images per horse for approximately 4,700 horses were massive," said Cathy Schenck, Keeneland’s Repository Supervisor. "With only one set of films available per horse, imagine scores of veterinarians standing in line waiting to analyze images on some of the more popular horses. Needless to say, it can get quite hectic at times."
Similar challenges or workflow bottlenecks occur in many healthcare facilities around the world where specialists wait in line for access to single print, hard copy films. Cedara’s solutions allow different medical professionals to access medical images and information concurrently and digitally, at any workstation connected to a network or via web access. For Keeneland, Cedara and Eklin developed a unique image review system based on technology found in one of the world’s most popular radiology applications, eFilm Workstation. With customized capabilities specifically designed for Keeneland, this technology brings tailored digital review to the world’s most renowned equine auction facility.
"I believe the transition to digital review at Keeneland will revolutionize the way we conduct pre-sale exams and analyses," said William A. Rood, DVM, JD, founder of Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington. "The ease of recalling 32 digital images at your fingertips and ability to electronically store complete exams is a major breakthrough. In fact, it could have a substantial impact on sharing and reviewing pre-sale exams on a global basis."
Similar to the way that digital cameras have made photography more efficient and immediate by eliminating film, Digital Radiography (DR) systems provide veterinarians with a radiographic image that can be viewed immediately on monitors without need for film processing. Software tools for DR systems also offer sophisticated image processing capabilities, providing veterinarians with the opportunity to enlarge, manipulate and transform images when examining potential areas of concern. Images can be burned to a CD, or stored and archived for future evaluation using a PACS (Picture Archiving and Communications System).
Keeneland is the first Thoroughbred auction facility in the world to use digital image management for pre-sale exam reviews. As digital solutions expand throughout the veterinary care industry, similar benefits originally realized in the human healthcare market are materializing.
"With digital solutions, cost and time savings increase dramatically plus hazardous waste from film developing and disposal is eliminated," said Gary R. Cantu, President and CEO for Eklin. "Most importantly, however, digital technology provides superb images. This results in better patient outcomes and more accurate diagnoses. In the end, everyone – seller, buyer and horse – wins."
"The introduction of digital image review at Keeneland has been extremely well received by veterinarians, as well as the buyers and sellers of Thoroughbreds," said Loris Sartor, President of Cedara Software. “We are pleased that our partnership with Eklin has resulted in bringing state-of-the-art image review from the human world to this world class auction facility, and look forward to expanding our presence in this dynamic new market."
SATELLITE FEED:
Tuesday, December 5, 2006
1:30PM-1:45PM Eastern
C-Band/IA-6, Transponder C9
Downlink Frequency 3880 MHz (V), Audio 6.2 & 6.8
Additional coverage of this story is available on the Pathfire DMG under video news feeds at Medialink, Story Number 12SF06-0056, Story Slug: World’s First Horse Radiography System.
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Eklin Medical Systems Inc.
With hundreds of systems installed in private practices and universities around the globe, Eklin Medical Systems, Inc. is one of the world’s leading providers of veterinary PACS, practice management and digital radiography products. The company focuses on applications where speed, portability, and increased practice efficiency are critically important. Eklin is a privately-held company headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., and can be contacted at 800-819-5538 or visit www.eklin.com.
Cedara Software is a Merge Healthcare company focused on the development of custom engineered software applications and development tools for the medical imaging OEM and International markets. Cedara software is deployed in hospitals and clinics worldwide and is licensed by many of the world's leading medical device and healthcare information technology companies. Cedara technologies and expertise span all the major digital imaging modalities including computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), digital X-ray, mammography, ultrasound, echo-cardiology, angiography, nuclear medicine, positron emission tomography (PET) and fluoroscopy. Cedara medical imaging offerings are used in all aspects of clinical imaging workflow including the capture of a patient's digital image; the archiving, communication and manipulation of digital images; sophisticated clinical applications to analyze digital images; and the use of imaging in minimally-invasive surgery. For additional information, visit our website at www.cedara.com.
Merge Healthcare is a market leader in the development and delivery of medical imaging and information management software and services. With over twenty years of leadership in the medical imaging and healthcare information technology markets, Merge Healthcare provides innovative solutions for both OEM and the end-user healthcare markets. We custom engineer clinical and imaging applications and development tools that are on the forefront of medicine and its use of medical imaging for OEM and international customers. We develop innovative medical imaging software solutions that support end-to-end business and clinical workflow for radiology department and specialty practices, imaging centers and hospitals. Our innovative software solutions use leading-edge imaging software technologies that accelerate market delivery for our OEM customers, while our end-user solutions improve our customers' productivity and enhance the quality of patient care they provide. For additional information, visit our website at www.merge.com.
All trademarks appearing in this release are the property of Cedara Software Corp. and/or Merge Healthcare.
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Attn: Beth Frost-Johnson
Merge Healthcare
6737 West Washington St.
Suite 2250
Milwaukee, WI 53214
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| Except for the historical information herein, the matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words “will,” “believes,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “expects” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the uncertainty created by, the adverse impact on relationships with customers, potential customers, suppliers and investors potentially resulting from, and other risks associated with, the changes in the Company’s senior management; costs, risks and effects of the investigation by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors; the impact of the restatement of financial statements of the Company and other actions that may be taken or required as a result of such restatement; the Company's inability to timely file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission; risks associated with the Company's inability to meet the requirements of The NASDAQ Stock Market for continued listing, including possible delisting; costs, risks and effects of legal proceedings and investigations, including the informal, non-public inquiry being conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and class action, derivative, and other lawsuits; risks in product and technology development, market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, ability to integrate acquisitions, changing economic conditions, credit and payment risks associated with end-user sales, dependence on major customers, dependence on key personnel, and other risk factors detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events, developments, or changed circumstances, or for any other reason.
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