Carestream Health, San Diego, Calif, is currently partnering with UBMD Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine to conduct ongoing clinical studies on a new 3D imaging system at Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in Buffalo, NY. The company’s new cone beam CT (CBCT) medical imaging system is still investigational and not yet available for commercial sale, but will eventually capture images of patient extremities, including knees, legs, feet, arms, and hands for treatment of injuries in orthopedic and sports medicine.
The clinical studies will help guide Carestream’s development of the new CBCT system, with the goal of providing improved visualization of bone and soft tissue; capturing weight-bearing images of knees, legs, and feet; and using less radiation than traditional CT. The company also plans to design a system that is compact and affordable and appropriate for use in a wide range of facilities. The two organizations reportedly plan to broaden their collaboration at a later date to study the advantages of digital imaging technology in treating other extremity conditions.
According to Carestream, the system could potentially be used in a stadium or locker room to immediately evaluate injured players and determine whether they should return to a game or practice session or be referred for further medical treatment. As part of the development effort, the company plans to continue its partnership with the Buffalo Bills football team to better understand the role medical imaging plays in early detection and monitoring of player injuries.
For more information about the company’s ongoing clinical studies on cone beam CT, see Carestream’s news release. For information about the company’s imaging systems available for commercial use, visit the Carestream Health website.