ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ — Acuo Technologies, developers of high-performance software for intelligent medical image management, data migration tools and services, today announced that its DICOM Services Grid(TM) is being used in the distribution of timely information monitoring the impact of malaria in Malawi, Africa by Michigan State University. Due to the fact that the vast majority of malaria patients are children, it is critical to use new technologies to quickly assess the damage malaria does to a child. Physicians now can diagnose and study the affect the disease has on an infected child’s brain, something that previously could only be done in an autopsy.
The plight of Malawi’s unfortunate children changed when General Electric’s new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) unit was installed at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi’s largest city. The MRI Scanner captured images and Acuo’s DICOM Services Grid rapidly transmitted them to Doctors at MSU over secure connections. The combined technology will let physicians assess the mystery of malaria and effectively deal with a wide range of illnesses before they are untreatable and affect the local population.
The Acuo DICOM Services Grid plays an important roll in receiving the images from the MRI by storing and rapidly sending them to the physicians across the Atlantic. Once received, radiologists evaluate images and provide critical input to the treating physicians. The DICOM Services Grid builds the foundation for a vendor neutral medical imaging grid environment allowing sharing and collaboration regardless of the proprietary systems producing, storing or viewing the images. Michigan State University will also be using the Acuo DICOM Assisted Migration (ADAM) to move and virtualize data between their existing proprietary archive with their new GE 3.0 Medical Imaging Environment. This new environment employs mirrored EMC CX-340 CLARiiONS providing an automated solution for business continuity.
The deployment of this new and exciting technology helps to attract and retain doctors in Malawi. Dr. Sam Kampondeni is a success story, trained as a guest radiologist in the MSU Department of Radiology in 2007, he returned to Malawi to treat patients. Dr. Kampondeni now sends images to MSU to have fellow radiologists provide valuable and timely assistance seamlessly as if they were in the same hospital. “With these new systems we will be able to serve dozens more patients each day,” said Dr. Sam Kampondeni.
“This will help in so many ways,” Dr. Terrie Taylor said — University Distinguished Professor of internal medicine and an osteopathic physician with Michigan State. “We will use it for the research we do, we’ll be able to use it for everyday patients that come through the hospital, and it will help to attract and retain more doctors to Malawi.” Dr.Taylor spends the rainy season — January through June — working at the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, treating malaria patients and conducting research on a disease that kills as many as 2 million children in sub-Saharan Africa every year.
This success was possible through the efforts of James Potchen, an MSU University Distinguished Professor of radiology and chairperson of the department. MSU is looking at expanding the project to other parts of the world.
About Acuo Technologies
Acuo Technologies was founded in 2000 with the objective of developing the first enterprise-wide vendor neutral solution for medical DICOM images residing in a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS). Over 240 implementations around the world have deployed AcuoMed(TM) and AcuoStore(TM) software solutions. For more information, visit http://www.acuotech.com/.
Acuo Technologies
CONTACT: Michael Simon, VP, Business Development – Sales of AcuoTechnologies, +1-651-730-4110, [email protected]
Web site: http://www.acuotech.com/
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