CT Research Center for Heart Disease

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine (USA), through its division of cardiology, has announced a joint agreement to collaborate on the development of the UCI/Toshiba Computed Tomography (CT) Education and Research Center.

In September 2005 the center installed Toshiba America Medical Systems' (Tustin, CA, USA; www.medical.toshiba.com) multislice CT cardiac imaging technology, the Aquilion 64 CFX system, to improve the detection and treatment of heart disease. UCI also plans to install several Toshiba Vital Images workstations, which will allow students and faculty to view, manipulate, and store various data sets acquired by the system.

"Our goal is to develop a cardiovascular center at UCI that rivals the world's best,” stated Dr. Jagat Narula, chief of cardiology at UCI Medical Center. "We need state-of-the-art technology to complement our advanced research and training programs.” The 64-slice CT system will allow UCI to provide in-depth training and education, particularly in noninvasive coronary imaging.

As part of the agreement, UCI will develop a continuing medical education curriculum for cardiac CT imaging technologies using the Aquilion 64 CFX. Toshiba, in turn, will send a minimum of 34 physicians per year to UCI for training for each of the three years of the agreement. UCI will provide its views on future product developments through Toshiba's "Voice of the Customer” feedback program and will serve as part of Toshiba's clinical advisory panel.

"We are thrilled to partner with UCI to bring this innovative research and training program to one of the foremost medical centers in California,” said Doug Ryan, director of the CT business unit at Toshiba. "Science and medicine have benefited greatly from collaborations such as this, and we're proud to work with the great minds at UCI to advance imaging technologies for cardiology and other specialties.”




Related Links:
Toshiba America Medical Systems