HMSA Signs Multi-Year MR Purchasing Agreement with Novation.

TWINSBURG, Ohio -- Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. announces that Novation, the supply company of VHA Inc. and the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), has signed a three-year, multi-source MR purchasing agreement with Hitachi. The new agreement takes effect Sept. 1, 2005 and runs through August 2008. The contract covers the AIRIS(R) Elite and Altaire(R) Open MR systems.

"Novation has always had a tradition of offering high quality diagnostic imaging equipment to the VHA and UHC members, and we are pleased that our products have been included in that," said David Hartman, Corporate Accounts Manager, HMSA, "VHA and UHC members will continue to have access to Hitachi Open MR systems, which can provide clinical capabilities that rival those of many high-field closed type systems."

AIRIS Elite features Hitachi's Scalable DualQuad(R) RF system, higher-order active shim technology and high-performance gradients. These advanced subsystems, integrated with Hitachi's award-winning gantry design and vertical field permanent magnet technology, provide capabilities and sequences like RF Fat-Saturation, RAPID(TM) Parallel Imaging, Single Shot EPI-Diffusion-Weighted Imaging, advanced MRA techniques and more.

A seamless blending of high-field performance and the patient comfort of Open MR. Altaire employs a unique blend of innovative Hitachi features called VOSI(TM) technology, optimizing each sub-system's performance in concert with the other sub-systems. In this way, Altaire is able to shatter old performance barriers while still delivering all of the benefits of Open MR.

In addition to Open MR, Hitachi also supplies high-resolution ultrasound systems to VHA and UHC members through Novation agreements.

Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc. markets premium and high performance magnetic resonance imaging systems of Hitachi Medical Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. These include the AIRIS(R) Elite advanced mid-field open MR system, the Altaire(R) high-field performance MR system and the AIRIS(R) II MR system. The company has nearly 1,500 Open Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems installed throughout the United States and over 3,100 Open MRI systems installed worldwide. HMSA first established a leadership position in the medical industry with Open MRI systems and has expanded their modality offerings to include computed tomography, ultrasound, PET/CT, optical tomography, and 3D dental imaging.

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 347,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2004 (ended March 31, 2005) consolidated sales totaled 9,027.0 billion yen ($84.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, medical imaging equipment, consumer products, materials and financial services.

Based in Irving, Texas, Novation was established in January 1998 through a combination of the supply programs of VHA and UHC, two national health care alliances. Novation serves the purchasing needs of more than 2,500 members and affiliates of VHA and UHC. These organizations used Novation contracts to purchase more than $23 billion in supplies in 2004.

For more information, go to www.novationco.com.

For more information please contact:
David Hartman
Hitachi Medical Systems America, Inc.
1959 Summit Commerce Park
Twinsburg, Ohio 44087
800.800.3106 or 330.425.1313 Ext. 4535
330.425.1410 Fax
[e-mail]
www.hitachimed.com