TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research Corporation Technologies (RCT) has granted Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation (Toshiba) a nonexclusive license to pioneering patents owned by RCT that broadly cover ultrasound tissue harmonic imaging (THI). Toshiba is a leader in diagnostic and medical imaging technology.
Tucson-based RCT manages the THI technology for its partner, the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York. Seminal work in the early 1990s by P. Ted Christopher, Ph.D., at the University’s Center for Biomedical Ultrasound resulted in a new mode of ultrasound imaging that has become an essential part of diagnostic ultrasound today. Christopher’s invention showed that the second and higher-order harmonic response of native tissue to a propagated ultrasound beam could be employed to produce a sharper, higher-contrast image than that of the fundamental emitted frequency.
RCT received U.S. Patent No. 7,104,956 in September 2006; U.S. Patent No. 7,004,905 in February 2006; and U.S. Patent No. 6,206,833 in March 2001. Two other U.S. patents are pending.
In addition to Toshiba, Acuson Corporation - a Siemens company, Royal Philips Electronics, General Electric and Biosound Esaote are licensees of the THI technology. RCT continues its efforts to license the technology broadly to the ultrasound industry. All licensing agreement terms are confidential.
“This license to Toshiba marks the sixth license under RCT’s program and confirms the importance of these patents and the value of THI,” said RCT President and CEO Shaun Kirkpatrick. “RCT looks forward to working with other manufacturers to grant nonexclusive access to this technology.”
The Rochester Center for Biomedical Ultrasound (www.ece.rochester.edu/projects/rcbu) unites the University’s medical and engineering communities. Center researchers investigate use of very high-frequency sound waves in medical diagnosis and treatment, and other medical imaging applications.
Contact:
Research Corporation Technologies Christopher P. Martin, Sr. Vice President and CFO 520-748-4465
