TUSTIN, Calif., November 11, 2004 – Staying at the forefront of computed tomography (CT) technology, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. (TAMS) today announced the completion of its first Aquilion^TM 64-detector CT installation in the United States at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston.  A major teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, BIDMC is one of Toshiba’s luminary partners working to expand the development of multi-detector CT technology.

“Toshiba continues to set new standards in CT with the Aquilion 64’s superior image quality.  The Aquilion 64 has validated its clinical effectiveness at leading medical institutions worldwide,” said Doug Ryan, director, CT Business Unit, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.  “With the installation at BIDMC, the Toshiba Aquilion 64 will provide advanced volumetric CT to the U.S. community, which takes advantage of the industry’s best isotropic resolution of 350 micron for true volumetric radiology studies.”

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is renowned for excellence in patient care, biomedical research, teaching, and community service.  Located in the heart of Boston’s medical community, it hosts nearly three quarters of a million patient visits annually in and around Boston.

"We have been exploring a wide range of clinical applications in the field of CT angiography using Toshiba’s previous CT technology, but the Aquilion 64 promises to deliver new heights in imaging quality, acquisition time and diagnostic capabilities," said Vassilios Raptopoulos, M.D., Department of Radiology, BIDMC.  "Already, we have applied the Aquilion 64 to improve body angiography techniques for pre-operative planning of complex liver and pancreatic transplants.  Our preliminary impression is that this scanner will simplify and combine the capabilities of various scanning protocols by providing more inclusive and versatile studies.  We will continue to use the new technology to further advance clinical research at our facility for the delivery of noninvasive diagnosis."

Additional areas of research at BIDMC include thoracic, abdominal and cardiac CT clinical applications using the Aquilion 64.  Specific clinical research will address CT urography, interventional multislice fluoroscopy, and CT coronary angiography.

Most Advanced 64-Slice CT System
Featuring the most advanced multi-detector CT technologies available, the Aquilion 64-detector CT is built on the same platform as the Aquilion 32, utilizing Toshiba’s unique 64-row Quantum detector, the most sophisticated CT detector that enables high-speed, high-resolution imaging with the lowest noise and superior anatomical coverage.

The Quantum detector enables the Aquilion CT scanner to acquire 64 simultaneous slices of 0.5 mm with each 400-millisecond gantry revolution.  The result is precise isotropic imaging of any region of the body during a breath-hold under ten seconds.

For more information about the Aquilion 64-slice CT with the Quantum detector, TAMS and its wide range of medical imaging products, please visit www.medical.toshiba.com.

About Toshiba
With headquarters in Tustin, Calif., Toshiba America Medical Systems markets, sells, distributes and services diagnostic imaging systems, and coordinates clinical diagnostic imaging research for all modalities in the United States.  Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, an independent group company of Toshiba Corporation, is a global leading provider of diagnostic medical imaging systems and comprehensive medical solutions, such as CT, X-ray, Ultrasound, Nuclear Medicine, MRI and information systems.  Toshiba Corporation is a leader in information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer products, and power systems.  Toshiba has approximately 161,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of $53 billion.

Aquilion^TM is a trademark of Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation.