For nearly 20 years, Toshiba America Medical Systems has been a vanguard-level sponsor of the RSNA’s Research and Education Foundation, which funds grants for young researchers in the imaging field. Since its inception 26 years ago, the foundation has provided more than $25 million in grants to 630 radiology investigators and educators. “These grants align with Toshiba’s focus on education and research,” Cathy Wolfe, director of marketing services for Toshiba, explains.

Toshiba’s education-focused collaboration with professional associations has expanded in the past few years to include the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) and AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management. The company sponsors the AHRA’s Putting Patients First Program, and has completed its second round of grant giving.  The program seeks to improve the safety and quality of care in imaging both pediatric and adult patients. Putting Patients First provides six grants of up to $7,500 per year to hospitals and imaging centers to help fund programs, training, or seminars focused in this area.

In 2008, one such project involved developing a patient-handoff system to facilitate transferring patients from the hospital to the imaging department. Another looked at creating a bar-code system for identifying patients with allergies to contrast media. All grant recipients agree to share their results with others so that facilities around the country have the ability to implement similar systems, according to Ed Cronin, executive director of AHRA. Cronin notes that one of the 2008 recipients developed a seminar to present to other hospitals in the region; others wrote articles on their results for the AHRA’s journal, Radiology Management.

A similar partnership with ACHE gives a boost to midlevel managers who aspire to be leaders in the radiology field. Beginning this year, Toshiba will sponsor scholarships for 60 executives to attend a series of three leadership seminars throughout 2010, 2011 and 2012. “This is a program we developed several years ago to help middle managers move into roles in the C-suite,” Peggy Gordon, vice president of development at ACHE, explains. “It’s very intensive. The seminars happen three times a year, for three days at a time and are given by a very distinguished roster of faculty teaching management and leadership.”

The first 2010 seminar occurs in June and focuses on establishing leadership; the second takes place in August and looks at innovation and overcoming the financial challenges facing the health care industry; and the third, themed Manage for the Future, is slated for October. “Part of the reason for participating in the ACHE program is helping to strengthen health care leadership through quality education,” Wolfe says. “ACHE is an impressive organization in terms of its mission and vision, and of its focus on integrity, which we thought was a good fit with Toshiba.”

Through a fourth, emerging partnership with the Society for Pediatric Radiology, Toshiba has helped the organization develop a survey to address the concerns of pediatric radiologists. “We try to look at ways to collaborate that are more unique, that provide new benefits to the organization and an opportunity for differentiation,” Wolfe says. “We believe in investing in the industry in which we work, and one of the best ways to do that is to help ensure ongoing education of the membership.”

Finally, Toshiba is continuing its support of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography’s (SCCT) Young Investigator Awards.  The SCCT is the leading international professional society dedicated to research, education and clinical excellence in cardiovascular computed tomography (CT), and is now accepting submissions for the fourth annual awards program. Sponsored by Toshiba, the unrestricted educational grants will be awarded to two residents or fellows in either radiology or cardiology for their patient care research in the categories of technical and clinical advancement of cardiovascular CT.  The deadline for submissions is April 2, 2010.   Abstracts are being accepted in two categories – Technology of Cardiovascular CT, or Clinical Applications of Cardiovascular CT.  Applicants may enter by submitting an abstract through the SCCT Web site.

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Today’s economic environment makes it increasingly challenging for physicians and technologists to travel to educational events. Robb Young, senior manager in the CT Business Unit for Toshiba, explains that this obstacle inspired the company to begin sponsoring webinars on applications for its imaging technology. “Webinars are easier for people to access,” he says. “We can do them during the day, and we can make the expertise of a particular speaker available to a broader audience. A webinar can also be saved online, so if people missed it, they can easily access the information later.”

Toshiba’s first webinar in 2010 featured S. Bruce Greenberg, MD, professor of radiology and pediatrics at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, presenting on how radiology professionals and clinicians can leverage 320-detector row CT to reduce sedation needs and radiation exposure for patients while providing them with high-quality diagnostic images.  This webinar was so well received, that Dr. Greenberg conducted a second session in late February.  “We’re focusing on the needs in the market that drove the development of this technology,” Young says. “In pediatrics, obviously, that’s being able to image patients quickly at a low dose.”  This CME-accredited webinar will be available online in April.  At that time, please visit the following site to view the webinar and receive educational credits http://www.ceconcepts.net/CT/ .

Webinars planned for later in the year include sessions on using 320-detector row CT for cardiac care and stroke triage and diagnosis, as well as on applications and technology for non-contrast MRI. The webinars are each an hour long, are free to all attendees, and are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Each is worth one CME credit.

“We find these events are particularly beneficial for those who are looking at new applications of a technology, or who want to understand a technology better—especially because they get to hear about it from a user,” Young says. “The webinar format allows us to get the information out to those who need it more quickly and easily.”

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What do an organic vegetable garden, a Great Lakes water-quality analysis, and the DNA mapping of fruit have in common? They’re all science projects funded by the Toshiba America Foundation (TAF), which offers science and math teachers across the United States grants to underwrite hands-on education. Founded in 1990 through an endowment created by Toshiba, TAF provides around 150 educational grants every year, in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.

“The method we use is unique in that TAF gives grants directly to individual classroom teachers to help them with their wish lists for instructional equipment and to support projects to make the classroom more exciting for students,” Laura Cronin, director of TAF, explains. “Once the students start doing real science and get a sense of how it’s connected to their everyday lives, it becomes fun and exciting.”

Cronin explains that the foundation’s goals are aligned with Toshiba’s desire to contribute in a meaningful way to the community. “Education is always at the top of the list in terms of U.S. charitable concerns,” she notes. “Science and technology are disciplines in which Toshiba has expertise, and so through these grants we can help prepare the next generation.”

A partnership between TAF and Toshiba also led to a second educational endeavor called ExploraVision, which is a nationwide science contest co-sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). “ExploraVision invites students from throughout the United States and Canada to explore solutions for contemporary problems by imagining future technologies,” Cronin explains. “The students think about something that’s happening today that’s important to them, and then they imagine the technology 20 years into the future and invent a solution.”

ExploraVision entries are judged by the NSTA, and finalists are judged by experts from NASA, the National Institutes of Health and other prestigious institutions. “The ideas are extraordinary,” Cronin says. “The children are amazingly imaginative, and their wonderful teachers coach participating students to help bring their ideas to life.”

Cronin emphasizes the importance of working directly with teachers to create innovative new educational opportunities for students. “The teachers are the experts,” she says. “Toshiba America Foundation has a direct impact based on their expertise, and on their passions and interests, and that’s why the foundation supports projects designed by teachers in individual classrooms all over the country.”

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A study spotlighting the opinions and concerns of chief executive officers, financial officers, and operating officers (C-suite) of U.S. hospitals reveals their top initiatives for 2009. Commissioned by Toshiba and conducted by an independent research company, the survey includes interviews with 60 leading executives throughout the country.

Patient care and safety, improving patient satisfaction and recruiting and retaining leading physicians are the group’s top three concerns today. Another top concern is accessing capital funds to invest in facilities and equipment, not surprising in today’s economic environment.

Carrying on with the theme of improving patient care, most of the institutions surveyed have or will expand or modify their patient safety and quality programs and they have or are increasing administrative time to educate their staff on compliance with safety measures.

When it comes to diagnostic imaging, the C-suite views having state-of-the-art imaging equipment as an important component of their ability to recruit physicians and technical staff and very important to their overall success. They also believe these technologies have improved the speed of diagnoses for heart attacks and stroke.

Other topics addressed in the study include issues related to reimbursement. For instance, have they seen a drop in reimbursement due to the implementation of Medical Severity Diagnostic Related Groups (MS-DRGS)? Nearly 80% said “No.” Or do they plan to increase their percentage of on-staff physicians if MedPAC’s (Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) recommendation regarding restructuring hospital payments based on “Episode of Care” is implemented? (Episode of Care would provide one fixed payment for the treatment of a specific illness and combines the technical fee with the professional fee.) Fifty-seven percent said “Yes, they would consider hiring more staff physicians.”

The study was completed in December 2008. A copy of the complete results of the study are available for customers by contacting Mary Kienstra, senior research analyst, Toshiba, at mkienstra@tams.com.

This acquisition brings in-house critical core competencies — the development of 3D volume rendering and advanced visualization capabilities for all Toshiba modalities. In addition, Toshiba now is capable of conducting R&D twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, ensuring that the medical community gets the most advanced technologies possible.

“The formation of TMVS establishes a significant multi-modality research and development center in Europe,” said Kenichi Komatsu Ph. D., president and CEO, Toshiba Medical, “ensuring Toshiba’s unfettered access to leading-edge technology in an area of the world widely acknowledged for its innovations in medicine. This also demonstrates Toshiba’s strong commitment to our customers in Europe as well as the healthcare industry worldwide.”

Toshiba is patterning this acquisition after the 2006 acquisition which resulted in the creation of Toshiba Medical Research Institute USA, Inc. (TMRU), a wholly–owned subsidiary. TMRU is a significant research and development center of advanced imaging technologies and clinical applications in the U.S. Combined with Toshiba’s R&D capabilities in Japan, the company undertakes development efforts worldwide on a 24-hour basis.

Toshiba’s global research entities support clinical programs in partnership with luminary academic institutions worldwide to accelerate research and development of clinical applications using Toshiba’s advanced imaging systems.

This year Toshiba’s Ultrasound (UL) and Magnetic Resonance (MR) modalities introduced new techniques and equipment dedicated to improving women’s imaging. In conjunction, Toshiba sponsored an evening event where physicians shared how Toshiba’s technology is helping women.

Pamela M. Otto, M.D., professor and director of Breast Imaging & Intervention, Department of Radiology, UT Health Science Center & University Health System, San Antonio discussed her experiences with Toshiba’s newRadiance Plus Breast Imaging Coil, which optimizes Magnetic Resonance Mammography (MRM) on the Toshiba Vantage systems. In fact, this coil enabled Dr. Otto to conduct the first contrast-free breast MRA exams. Toshiba is a pioneer in contrast-free MRA techniques, and now plans to develop a sequence that will enable contrast-free breast MR exams.

Ellen B. Mendelson, M.D., F.A.C.R., Northwestern University and Thomas Fischer, M.D., Charite Hospital, University of Berlin presented their experiences with Toshiba’s ultrasound technology. Both discussedToshiba’s new and exclusive ultrasound technique — MicroPure™, which helps physicians detect breast lesions and micro-calcifications more clearly, as well the sonoelastography suite, ElastoQ (works-in-progress), a non-invasive medical imaging technique that evaluates tumors based on their stiffness (elasticity) compared to normal tissue. Both of these Toshiba collaborators presented cases that provided insight on ultrasound’s future as an effective tool for diagnosing breast disease.

At a CT event the same evening, Frank J. Rybicki, M.D., Ph.D., director, Cardiac CT & Vascular CT/MRI, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and William W. Orrison, M.D., MBA chief of neuroradiology, Nevada Imaging Centers shared their experiences with the Aquilion® ONE 320 detector row CT.

Dr. Rybicki provided insights into key research that has been completed on the Aquilion ONE over the last year. For the first time, CT can now visualize how the cardiac vessels curve and measure flow dynamically within the vessels. He also discussed Brigham and Women’s work on the recently announced CORE 320 worldwide multicenter trial that will compare dynamic volume CT to SPECT for evaluating myocardial perfusion.

Dr. Orrison has completed more than 3,500 patient studies on the Aquilion ONE and shared the way this technology is changing his practice. Not only did Dr. Orrison showcase his whole brain perfusion studies, but he also showed advanced dynamic motion studies of musculoskeletal anatomy, which were clinically used for surgery planning and follow up.