Agfa HealthCare's latest solutions presented at ECR 2007

"In the volatile and rapidly-changing healthcare system of today, we're committed to maintaining the vision and foresight required to anticipate our customers' needs, continuing to provide innovative solutions that will take them to the next level," said Philippe Houssiau, President, Agfa HealthCare.

Fully-integrated, seamless workflow
For multi-site hospital Radiology departments, smaller single-site hospitals, private radiology practices and imaging centers, Agfa HealthCare is the partner of choice to help maximize efficiency across the organization, taking relevant patient information to the point of care.

"Our rich portfolio of solutions, from entry-level to those for large, multi-hospital facilities and networks, provides doctors and medical staff with relevant information at their fingertips, wherever they need it," said Philippe Houssiau.

In radiology, Agfa HealthCare is highlighting solutions that facilitate the diagnostic process and operational efficiency, including:

• IMPAX(TM) iPlan Scheduling: An easy-to-use, web-enabled appointment scheduling application that provides appointment information to radiological and clinical staff and physicians.
• IMPAX RIS: A central component of the award-winning IMPAX Enterprise Suite, the IMPAX RIS optimizes the entire clinical and administrative workflow in radiology, from order evaluation and patient registration to results distribution and management reporting.
• IMPAX 6: Integrated with IMPAX RIS, Clinical Specialty Applications and Decision Support, IMPAX 6 is the next generation in image, data and information management, a solution developed to streamline departmental and enterprise workflows and deliver increased efficiency and productivity to hospital institutions of all sizes. With its persona-based approach and inherent smart client design, IMPAX 6 greatly improves the collaboration of radiologists and clinicians.
• IMPAX Mobile: Extends IMPAX beyond the enterprise and distributes information and images to mobile devices, such as PDAs or notebook computers, taking PACS and 3D functionality to the point of care.
• IMPAX Data Center: Consolidates information in a clinical data structure and provides storage for multiple departments, addressing the need for clinical information convergence based on standards to support the Electronic Health Record.

New IMPAX modules for clinical areas
New IMPAX modules for specialized areas further extend the productivity and efficiency strengths of IMPAX PACS to clinicians. At ECR 2007, Agfa HealthCare will showcase these latest modules:

• IMPAX Nuclear Medicine review solution *: Includes integrated MPR/MIP (multi-planar reformatting/maximum intensity projection) functions for volumetric data, calculation of SUV (standardized uptake values) and region of interest tools, and displays clinically-relevant PET, CT, MR and SPECT DICOM image data.
• IMPAX Registration & Fusion*: Answering the need of reading radiologists to compare single modality as well as multi-modality images, IMPAX Registration & Fusion allows for multi-modality fusion of anatomical studies (CT/MR) or a combination of anatomical and physiological studies (tracers in PET images). The IMPAX Registration & Fusion solution is ideally suited for non-invasive diagnosis and surgical treatment planning.
• IMPAX Virtual Colonoscopy*: A non-invasive procedure for visualization of endoscopic views of the colon, and an extremely patient-friendly alternative to conventional endoscopy, as it does not require the use of a colonoscope. As part of IMPAX it offers workflow optimization, increased productivity and easy distribution throughout clinical enterprise.
• IMPAX Orthopaedic Suite: Features a new spine planning module for orthopaedic surgeons and an improved trauma planning module. Agfa HealthCare is also launching a new software tool to simplify complex orthopaedic measurements.

Cardiology PACS and IT solutions
Connecting cardiology with radiology, the two most image-intensive departments within hospitals and the larger enterprise, Agfa HealthCare's suite of Cardiovascular solutions promotes enhanced communication between medical professionals and improves patient care. Agfa HealthCare's Cardiovascular solution offers a fully web-based information system comprising image management, structured reporting, image viewing and ECG management. New enhancements on display at ECR 2007 include:

• Cardiology WorkStation: Provides multi-modality review, analysis and comparison tools for cardiology and vascular imaging exams, with programmable protocols to guide users through quantitative analysis and populate the associated report.

Strengthened focus on digital mammography
Combining its expertise in imaging and IT solutions, Agfa HealthCare presents a full range of solutions that facilitate the conversion from analog to digital mammography, including:

• Mammography image acquisition: Based on Agfa's CR (Computed Radiography) and DR (Direct Radiography) technologies, and enhanced with Agfa HealthCare's MUSICATM image processing software.
• IMPAX multi-modality mammography diagnostic workstations: provide modality-independent; dedicated breast imaging reporting functionality and are fully integrated in PACS workflows.
• IMPAX Digital Mammography screening, reporting and workflow solutions: Designed for the visualization, performance and workflow requirements of mammography screening programs, these solutions are fully customizable and can be integrated in local, country-specific screening information systems and workflows.

Continued innovation in general radiography
Other new solutions that improve image quality as well as cost-effectiveness that will be demonstrated at the Agfa HealthCare booth include:

• MUSICA 2 (TM) (Multi-Scale Image Contrast Amplification): Intelligent digital X-ray image processing software offers even better image visualization and greater autonomy and robustness than its predecessor.
• CR 30-X digitizer: A compact tabletop CR system combining high image quality with high throughput.
• DRYSTAR(TM) AXYS (TM): The first Direct Digital Imaging tabletop imager to print mammography images with the reliability and affordability of the DRYSTAR range, shown for the first time at ECR 2007 as a work in progress.

Further expansion into healthcare IT

• ORBIS(TM): The number-one Hospital Information System (HIS) in Europe, which offers specific patient-centered workflow solutions including administration, scheduling, medication, laboratory and nursing. Agfa HealthCare will present the international version of ORBIS at ECR 2007.

Agfa HealthCare Consulting
Healthcare professionals can rely on Agfa HealthCare to take them to the next level in their growth, with integrative expertise and the combined skills of imaging science and IT knowledge. "Our aim is to empower medical professionals, with solutions that enable them to make more informed decisions about patient diagnoses and treatment paths," said Philippe Houssiau. "As our extensive range of solutions shows, Agfa HealthCare is ideally positioned to provide complete access to clinical information in a relevant form, across systems, departments, regions and countries."

* These products are Works in Progress and are not yet commercially available.

About Agfa
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading imaging and information technology companies. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), the healthcare sector (Agfa HealthCare) and film related products and specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials). Agfa's headquarters are in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries throughout the world. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 3.401 million Euro in 2006.

Agfa HealthCare supplies hospitals and other healthcare centers with state-of-the-art systems for the capturing, processing and managing of diagnostic images and with IT solutions that integrate information and imaging workflows into the overall hospital operations across departmental disciplines. Agfa HealthCare is a leader in the fast growing market of IT systems that span the entire healthcare enterprise and through which healthcare facilities become more efficient and effective.

For more info on Agfa please visit: www.agfa.com