STOCKHOLM, September 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
The medical imaging company SyntheticMR AB, a subsidiary to Accelerator Nordic AB, has secured an order for their magnetic resonance imaging software from Umeå University Hospital through their partner Sectra. The software will be used in clinical practice to monitor the treatment efficacy of multiple sclerosis (MS).
The software, SyMRI Diagnostics, includes tools to automatically estimate a measure for brain atrophy and, with minor manual interaction, retrieve the volume of local brain structures and lesions. “SyMRI enables us to retrieve accurate values on the patients status that we could not get before”, says Dr Richard Birgander, Neuroradiologist at Umeå University Hospital. “We have analyzed the software’s functionality and the results look very good, which has led to a decision to introduce it in regular clinical procedures.”
“Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) generally has been about looking at pictures and trying to interpret them. SyMRI finally provides us with objective numbers,” says Dr Anders Svenningsson, Neurologist at Umeå University Hosptial. “My goal is to integrate the SyMRI approach into the Swedish MS register to have more accurate follow-up possibilities for these patients.” The Swedish MS register is a nation-wide database that strives to improve care and convey knowledge of Multiple Sclerosis.
The software will be seamlessly integrated in the hospital’s radiology IT solutions from Sectra. “Offering third-party clinical innovations like SyMRI Diagnostics tightly integrated in our own IT solutions is an important part of our mission to offer our customers ways to improve their efficiency and the quality of care for their patients,” says Dr Torbjörn Kronander, President of Sectra’s medical operations.
SyntheticMR has a long standing relationship with Umeå University Hospital, where the SyMRI Diagnostics product has been evaluated on site since 2009 in order to better understand how the software can be used in clinical practice.
Accelerator Nordic AB is a group of Life Science companies focused on pharmaceutical drug development and medical devices. Accelerator’s subsidiaries have exposure towards large growth markets such as cancer therapy, medical imaging and orthopedics. The business model is centered on partnering or out-licensing. Accelerator Nordic is publicly traded on the Aktietorget exchange in Stockholm, Sweden. For more information please visit, http://www.acceleratorab.se.
SyntheticMR AB, a subsidiary to Accelerator Nordic AB, has developed SyMRI Diagnostics, software for more effective Magnetic Resonance Imaging. SyMRI Diagnostics uses a rapid MRI scan that provides a measure for patient tissue properties. Using these properties conventional MRI images and tissue images can be generated. In this way examination time is reduced for the patient and the decision support is improved for the radiologist. For more information, please visit http://www.syntheticmr.se.
Sectra develops and sells IT systems and products for radiology, mammography and orthopaedics. More than 1,100 hospitals, clinics and imaging centers worldwide use the systems daily, together performing over 55 million radiology examinations annually. This makes Sectra one of the world- leading companies within systems for handling digital radiology images. In Scandinavia, Sectra is the market leader with more than 50% of all film-free installations. Sectra’s systems have been installed in North America, Scandinavia and most major countries in Europe and the Far East. Sectra was founded in 1978 and has its roots in Linköping University in Sweden. The company’s business operation includes cutting-edge products and services within the niche segments of medical systems and secure communication systems. Sectra has offices in 12 countries and operates through partners worldwide. Sales in the 2010/2011 fiscal year totaled SEK 911 million. The Sectra share is quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm AB exchange. For more information, visit http://www.sectra.com.
SOURCE Accelerator Nordic AB and SyntheticMR AB
