Toshiba Supports New Cardiac Imaging Fellowship at Shands Hospital, University of Florida; New Program Uses World's Most Advanced 64-Slice CT System to Educate Physicians about ACC and ACR Guidelines.

TUSTIN, Calif. -- Reinforcing its position as a leader in cardiac CT education, Toshiba America Medical Systems Inc. today announced support of a new visiting fellowship program at Shands Hospital at the University of Florida (UF) in conjunction with the 33rd annual meeting of the North American Society for Cardiac Imaging's (NASCI), Oct. 8-11 in Amelia Island, Fla. The fellowship, which is open to cardiologists, radiologists and technicians, is designed to provide clinicians with practical experience using the latest 64-slice CT technology, including Toshiba's Aquilion(TM) 64 CFX system, to educate clinicians interested in cardiac CT.

According to Dr. Anthony Mancuso, professor and chairman, Department of Radiology at Shands and UF, radiologists and cardiologists collaborated to develop a fellowship that would meet the most stringent requirements of organized radiology and cardiology. "CT acquires a lot of data and it is important to learn how to interpret that data to provide the best patient care possible. Our institution emphasizes multidisciplinary educational programs, so it makes sense for Shands to offer a fellowship focused on this breakthrough technology that crosses specialty lines and is significantly changing the clinical environment."

The program curriculum was developed based on guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Radiology to meet the needs of both specialties.

Curriculum content consists of several key elements, including hands-on manipulation and reading of cardiac CT images, daily clinical read out sessions, online testing applications and continuing medical education opportunities.

The fellowship, which begins in early 2006, accommodates two to four students at a time and lasts from one week to three months, depending on the level of physician training and individual goals.

"We are privileged to be working with Shands and look forward to broadening the educational body of knowledge surrounding cardiac CT through the visiting fellowship program," said Doug Ryan, director, CT Business Unit, Toshiba. "This is a very important endeavor in today's market and we look forward to its success."

Shands UF is sponsoring CME sessions at NASCI and Toshiba contributed an unrestricted educational grant in support of Cardiovascular Imaging 2005.

The Aquilion 64 CFX allows physicians to easily capture precise, motion-free images of the heart and coronary arteries to identify soft plaque or measure coronary blockage, and detect signs of disease at its earliest stages. In addition, the superb image quality provided by the Aquilion 64 CFX provides consistent, high-quality images that can be used for instructional purposes, which is essential as much of the program relies on the manipulation of data to create the images needed to diagnose various heart conditions.

The Aquilion 64 CFX features the industry's most advanced multi-detector CT imaging technology available and utilizes Toshiba's unique 64-row Quantum detector, which enables the system to deliver high-speed, high-resolution cardiovascular imaging with the lowest noise and most anatomical coverage. The system's Quantum detector enables the Aquilion to acquire 64 simultaneous slices of 0.5 mm with each 400-millisecond gantry revolution. The result is the most precise isotropic imaging of the heart, or any region of the body, during a breath-hold under 10 seconds.

The system also features Toshiba's proprietary SUREPlaque(TM) cardiac visualization software developed to automate complex diagnostic cardiac examinations to offer faster, more accurate diagnostic capabilities.

About Shands at the University of Florida 

Shands at the University of Florida is a 618-bed private, not-for-profit hospital and one of the most comprehensive in the Southeast, specializing in tertiary and quaternary care for critically ill patients. Shands is one of the leading referral medical centers in the southeastern United States and continually receives recognition as one of the best hospitals in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. This recognition was achieved by making patient care, education and research our priorities. Shands at UF is the primary teaching hospital for the UF College of Medicine. More than 500 physicians representing 110 medical specialties work with a team of health care professionals to provide quality care for patients. The faculty from the UF College of Medicine includes nationally and internationally recognized physicians whose expertise is supported by intensive research activities. Because of Shands' affiliation with the UF Health Science Center, our patients benefit from the latest medical knowledge and technology. For more information visit www.shands.org.

About Toshiba

With headquarters in Tustin, 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 Corp., an independent group company of Toshiba Corp., 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 Corp. is a leader in information and communications systems, electronic components, consumer products, and power systems. Toshiba has approximately 162,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of $55 billion. For more information about Toshiba visit www.medical.toshiba.com.

Aquilion(TM) and SUREPlaque(TM) are trademarks of Toshiba Medical Systems Corp.