Agfa and Siemens establish a bilateral agreement in digital radiography

The agreement comprises multiple areas. One, on a non-exclusive basis, Agfa will globally distribute Siemens Direct Radiography (DR) MAMMOMAT Novation digital mammography system. Two, Agfa will source other components from Siemens to support the development of its digital radiography portfolio. Three, Siemens will further expand its offering of Agfa's Computed Radiography (CR) systems complementing existing agreements with Agfa.

 

There is an increasing awareness of breast cancer resulting in the growth of national screening programs. Due to this trend there is a strong interest in the analog to digital transition. While breast cancer screening is still primarily film-based, digital mammography is expected to play a central role in improving the efficiency and coverage of these programs.

Combining Siemens' MAMMOMAT Novation digital mammography system with

Agfa's know-how in image processing and RIS/PACS workflow integration will reinforce Agfa's capability to deliver tailor-made solutions to address different national needs, and will complement Agfa's existing mammography portfolio. SIEMENS' intention is to widen its distribution capabilities of MAMMOMAT Novation.

 

"This long-term agreement with Siemens builds upon our complementary competence in digital radiography, a field in rapid expansion," said Philippe Houssiau, President of Agfa's HealthCare Business Group, "As a leader in radiology, we are dedicated to assisting our customers in the transition from analog to digital. Such an agreement contributes to the transition to the digitized hospital leading to more efficient and effective healthcare."

Computed Radiography (CR) is a cassette-based digital radiography system that can be used for all general radiography diagnostic applications. CR provides a cost-effective transition from traditional film to digital radiography by using existing X-ray equipment.  CR is suited for centralized environments, serving multiple X-ray rooms, whereby cassettes are brought to a centralized, multi-plate digitizer.  CR is also suited for decentralized, in-room solutions with single-plate CR systems.

Direct Radiography (DR) is a cassette-less image acquisition solution that is ideal for applications where speed and/or image quality are paramount. Images are captured and are directly displayed digitally at a workstation for immediate evaluation.

 

The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world's leading imaging and information technology companies. Agfa develops, manufactures and markets analog and digital systems for the graphic industry and for healthcare.

Agfa's headquarters are in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is active in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries throughout the world. Together they achieved a turnover of 3,762 million Euros (or US$ 4,677 million*) in 2004.

 

Agfa's HealthCare business group 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 the imaging workflow into the overall hospital operations across departmental disciplines.

In addition, Agfa 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, with improved patient outcomes.

For more information on Agfa, visit www.agfa.com.

* 1US$ = 0.804281 Euro