August 28, 2009 -- Registration for New E-Learning Sessions Started

Started as an innovation in the Medis training program earlier this year, the e-learning sessions have proven to be a valuable educational tool. E-learning is here to stay and registration for the new season has started.

E-learning sessions consist of a 30 minute training, followed by a 10-15 minute question round. The training only requires an internet connection and a standard web browser. No additional software needs to be installed.

Currently, sessions provide a functionality overview of one of the Medis applications QAngio XA, QMass MR or QPlaque MR. Sessions focusing on new releases and specialized sessions will be scheduled in the future.

View the e-learning schedule >>

Medis Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary

LEIDEN, the Netherlands -- April 10, 2009 -- Medis, a leading provider of software for measuring in medical images, is celebrating its 20th anniversary as an innovator in quantification software. The company was founded on April 11, 1989, and has since developed into a global enterprise, with more than 4000 installations worldwide and offices in Leiden, the Netherlands and Raleigh, NC, USA.

Read more >>

December 5, 2008 -- Working Faster and More Intuitively with QFlow® 5.1

Version 5.1 of Medis QFlow®, which was released today, provides medical specialists and technicians with an even faster and more intuitive workflow.

Among the new version's features are: faster detection of a number of regions of interest, editing innovations that make for faster and more intuitive editing, and simultaneous viewing of phase and color-coded images.

October 29, 2008 -- QMass® MR 7.1: Introducing RV Contour Detection

Today, Medis released version 7.1 of its cardiac MR quantification software, QMass® MR. This release features new functionality that further improves user-friendliness of the software and speeds up analysis of cardiac MR.

QMass MR 7.1 introduces automatic right ventricular contour detection, enabling fast quantification of the right ventricle.

Other features contributing to fast, reliable and easy quantification are guided workflows for volumes and scar analyses, automatic exclusion of slices that are irrelevant for volume quantification, and a range of editing innovations.

All in all, QMass MR 7.1 brings comprehensive, reliable and easy-to-use cardiac MR quantification to clinicians, while offering detailed reporting and configurability to researchers.

April 18, 2008 -- Medis SCMR Self-Assessment Test Available at EuroCMR 2008

This year's edition of the self-assessment test, which is developed in joint collaboration by Medis and SCMR, will also be available to visitors of EuroCMR 2008, after its featuring at SCMR 2008 in Los Angeles last February.

The test enables cardiologists to assess their skills in reading cardiac MR studies. It consists of eight sets of questions, contributed by peers from the field who have selected their most interesting cases. Participants are shown their score for each set of questions that they complete.

Registration is not required for the Medis SCMR self-assessment test: it will be available to the public on a workstation next to the Medis presentation outside the EuroCMR conference hall. EuroCMR 2008 will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, from May 22 through May 24.

April 9, 2008 -- ECR 2008 Best Scientific Paper Award for Medis Research Partner

Medis' research partner in vessel wall imaging, the Division of Image Processing (LKEB) at the Leiden University Medical Center's Radiology Department, has been awarded the ECR 2008 first prize for Best Scientific Paper in the category "Computer Applications".

The paper, titled "Automatic detection of atherosclerotic carotid plaque from combined magnetic resonance angiography and vessel wall images", was presented by Ronald van 't Klooster, MSc. It was chosen by the ECR committee for Scientific Papers because of its scientific content, the quality of the images, and the quality of the presentation.

Read more about Medis' QPlaque® MR

April 7, 2009 -- QAngio® CT Version 1.1 Released

Today, Medis released version 1.1 of its software solution for the analysis of stenoses in CTA studies, QAngio CT.

The new version features improvements based on customer feedback. Enhancements include improved segmentation and detection, improved performance, more versatile viewing, and additional reporting.

Read more about QAngio® CT

March 7, 2008 -- Medis Presents New Developments in Quantification at ECR IMAGINE 2008

The 2008 edition of the European Congress of Radiology's IMAGINE exhibit will feature a presentation of current research projects at Medis and its research partner LKEB (Division of Image Processing, Leiden University Medical Center).

The ECR high-tech specialty exhibit highlights the latest technological developments from ten European research institutes, university groups and research departments of industrial companies. It gives radiologists the opportunity to see and discuss the potential of new techniques.

Medis and LKEB will present ongoing research in two areas of interest: the quantification of brain MRI and the quantification of the vessel wall in multi-spectral MR studies of carotid arteries.

March 6, 2008 -- Medis Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance for QPlaque® MR

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has provided market clearance for QPlaque MR, Medis' software solution for the analysis of the vessel wall in multi-spectral MR studies of the carotid arteries.

This clearance of Medis' latest solution for vascular analysis means that clinicians and researchers can now obtain reliable quantitative data to support the assessment of vessel wall condition in patients with atherosclerosis.

Read more about Medis' QPlaque® MR

November 24, 2007 -- RSNA 2007: New QPlaque MR Quantification Software Analyzes Vessel Wall in Atherosclerotic Carotid Arteries

With growing numbers of atherosclerosis patients, the timely assessment of vessel wall remodeling and plaque composition has become ever more important.

Medis’ new quantification software QPlaque® MR can help give insight into the overall vessel wall condition of atherosclerosis patients. It enables cardiologists and radiologists to measure thickness, area and volume of the diseased vessel walls and vessel wall components, such as plaques. These results can aid medical specialists in determining whether a patient's condition is stable or unstable, and enable them to treat patients in time.

Read the press release >>

August 27, 2007 -- Perfusion CMR Proves Promising Noninvase Approach to Detect CAD

Researchers from the University of Florida Shands Jacksonville have investigated the ability of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) to assess the physiologic significance of coronary artery disease (CAD). Their study was the first to compare quantitative perfusion CMR with two well-established invasive techniques: quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and fractional flow reserve (FFR).

In an article published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology earlier this month, the researchers present the results of their study.

The outcome suggests that CMR through the use of quantitative myocardial perfusion reserve can be used as an alternative screening tool to both exclude and localize hemodynamically significant CAD.

In the study, Medis QMass MR was used for SI time curve editing of the MRI images. According to the researchers, QMass MR allows objective and automated assessment of myocardial SI time curves to derive myocardial blood flow data with minimal interference by the analyst.

For more details, refer to the article:

Costa MA, Shoemaker S, Futamatsu H, et al
Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Perfusion Imaging Detects Anatomic and Physiologic Coronary Artery Disease as Measured by Coronary Angiography and Fractional Flow Reserve.
Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2007; 50 (6):514-522.

June 5, 2007 -- Medis QMass® MR 7.0 Provides Maximum Support for Clinical Workflow

Fast reporting, smooth integration with DICOM-compliant systems, and various levels of detail in global LV function analysis: the new version of QMass MR, Medis' software solution for the analysis of cardiac MR studies, offers a maximum of support for the clinical workflow.

With Medis QMass MR 7.0, integrating quantification into the daily workflow is easy and, above all, flexible. QMass MR offers three different levels of global function analysis. This enables users to choose the type of analysis that best suits their needs: fast analysis that provides LV diameters and wall thickness, volume analysis for more accurate results, and detailed analysis that offers all results needed in clinical trials. Intuitive wizards make it easy to perform analyses.

Other features that support the clinical workflow, are faster reporting, importing of flow results into QMass reports, and DICOM connectivity that enables querying, retrieving and storing of results and reports from and to DICOM storage systems.

QMass MR 7.0 also provides advanced segmentation and quantification of scar tissue, and support for visual scoring of function, time-intensity and delayed signal-intensity studies.

June 5, 2007 -- Automatically Calculating Valve Leakage with Medis QFlow® 5.0

With version 5.0 of its software solution for the quantification of velocity-encoded MR studies, Medis now offers cardiologists and radiologists automatic calculation of regurgitant fraction, saving valuable time.

QFlow 5.0 also comes with a more intuitive interface, color-coding to help visualize velocities, export of results to QMass MR and DICOM query/retrieve as well as DICOM store.

February 7, 2007 -- Medis Releases Software for Vessel Stenosis Analysis in CTA Studies

Today, Medis releases its new software solution for the analysis of stenoses in CTA studies, QAngio® CT.

The software features viewing functionality as well as manual and automatic determination of stenosis and reference vessels. This first release also offers PACS connectivity and supports an array of export and conversion formats, including PDF, DICOM SR, DICOM SC, XML, SQL, CVS, and HTML.

November 30, 2006 -- Nordic Bifurcation Study Uses QAngio® XA for Quantitative Coronary Angiography

Last month, the first results of the Nordic Bifurcation Study, which has received support in a number of ways from Medis, were published in an article in Circulation. The trial has been set up to investigate the optimal stenting strategy in coronary artery bifurcation lesions.

This first part of the trial compared a simple stenting strategy with a complex one. The simple strategy involved stenting the main vessel only, with optional stenting of the side branch. The complex strategy involved stenting both the main vessel and the side branch.

A total of 413 patients participated in this nonblinded, randomized, multicenter trial, which was conducted at 28 cardiology centers in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Latvia.

Medis delivered the software dedicated to bifurcation analysis to analyze the coronary angiograms (QAngio XA), and Medis trained the operators of the core laboratories of the Skejby Hospital in Aarhus, Denmark and Paul Stradins Clinical Hospital in Riga, Latvia, in using QAngio XA. A standard operating procedure was developed in collaboration with Medis.

The outcome of the first part of the Nordic Bifurcation Study leads the researchers to recommend simple stenting as the routine bifurcation stenting technique. In both treatment groups the procedural success rates were high, and the rates of major adverse cardiovascular events and the angiographic restenosis rate were low. The simple stenting strategy, however, was associated with reduced procedure and fluoroscopy time and a significantly reduced risk of procedure-related biomarker elevation.

For more details, refer to the article:

Steigen TK, Maeng M, Wiseth R, et al
Randomized Study on Simple Versus Complex Stenting of Coronary Artery Bifurcation Lesions. The Nordic Bifurcation Study.
Circulation 2006; 114: 1955-61.

November 25, 2006 -- New QAngio® CT Quantification Software Helps Detect Vessel Abnormalities in CTA Studies

Computed Tomography Angiography presents radiologists and cardiologists with data sets that contain valuable information on vessel abnormalities. To post-process the large quantity of data offered by CTA and quickly detect vessel abnormalities, Medis presents its new software solution QAngio CT.

Read the press release >>

October 17, 2006 -- Intermediate Results of Nordic Bifurcation Trial To Be Presented at TCT

Medis supports initiatives toward a standardized protocol for the assessment of lesions in bifurcations. One of these initiatives is the Nordic Bifurcation Trial, which researches how to use drug eluting stents in bifurcation lesions. The intermediate results of this trial, which uses QAngio XA for quantification, will be presented by dr. Andrejs Englis in a plenary session at the TCT in Washington, DC.

QAngio XA is the successor of QCA-CMS™, QVA-CMS™, and QLV-CMS™. It has a flexible modular structure, which makes it possible to add any combination of functionality to the basic modules for coronary or for peripheral vessel analysis. This enables customization of the software solution, so that it is tailored to suit specific clinical or research needs. The QAngio XA module used in the Nordic Bifurcation Trial is the bifurcation module.

Session details: TCT Main Arena, Monday, October 23, 2006

Plenary Session 4: Late Breaking Clinical Trials I
Moderators: David J. Cohen and Gregg W. Stone

11:40 am
NORDIC BIFURCATION—A Prospective, Multicenter, Large-Scale, Randomized Trial of Single vs Multiple Drug-Eluting Stents in Bifurcation Lesions: Eight-Month Angiographic and One-Year Clinical Results
dr. Andrejs Englis

October 5, 2006 -- QAngio® CT Obtains Market Clearance

QAngio CT, Medis' new software solution for the quantification of cardiac and peripheral vessels in CTA studies, has been granted market clearance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

QAngio CT enables radiologists and cardiologists to quickly detect vessel abnormalities and gather quantitative data to support their assessment. QAngio CT minimizes the time medical specialists need to spend on interpreting CTA studies.

July 27, 2006 -- Medis Releases Power Solution QAngio® XA

Today Medis releases its new quantification software solution QAngio® XA. It combines the former Medis products QCA-CMS™ and QVA-CMS™, with the QLV-CMS™ functionality as an optional module. The result is a power solution for the analysis of both coronary and peripheral angiograms.

QAngio XA features quantification of obstructed and dilated areas, annotations and measurements, new calibration methods, and a wider range of export options and formats. It also offers support for combined reporting using third-party software and XML and DICOM conversion for data analysis.

Already packed with functionality as a basic application, QAngio XA can be extended even further to include specialized functionality, such as bifurcation analysis, Digital Subtraction Angiography, and drug-eluting stent analysis. In other words, QAngio XA can be customized to fit every specific clinical or research need.

March 6, 2006 -- Medis' QLV Software To Support Pioneering Trial

Medis' QLV™ software for the quantification of left ventricular angiograms will be used in a proof-of-concept study that will determine the feasibility of a ground-breaking therapy for regenerating infarcted myocardium.

The REPAIR-AMI trial, the design of which was published in an article in Nature this month, has been initiated by professor Volker Schächinger of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt, in Germany. Its aim is to investigate if cardiac function in patients who have suffered myocardial infarction improves after infusion of bone-marrow-derived progenitor cells. Improved cardiac function would reduce the development of postinfarction heart failure.

The trial is a double-blind, randomized, multicenter clinical trial, in which 16 medical centers in Germany and one in Switzerland will participate. It will involve a total number of 200 patients.

Medis' QLV software, a module in the QAngio® XA solution, will be used to measure global LV ejection fraction. "QLV is essential to analyze and process the data of left ventricular function obtained by angiography, the primary endpoint of the REPAIR-AMI trial. We are very glad to have this easy-to-use and established software solution available and are impressed with the support we received from Medis", said professor Schächinger.

February 27, 2006 -- Medis To Demonstrate Interoperability of Its Quantification Software at ACC 2006

At the ACC 2006, Medis will take part in the IHE Interoperability Showcase for Evidence Documents.

Medis will demonstrate the interoperability of its cath lab quantification software solution QAngio® XA with image management and display systems. QAngio XA is the only quantification software solution participating in the IHE Interoperability Showcase that has implemented the Cath Evidence option.

Read the press release >>

More about QAngio XA >>

February 3, 2006 -- Medis To Present Power Solution for Quantification of Angiograms at ACC 2006

At the ACC 2006, quantification software supplier Medis will introduce its new power solution for the quantification of angiograms, QAngio® XA.

QAngio® XA 7.0 merges the former Medis products QCA-CMS™, the worldwide standard in automatic quantification for cardiac catheterization laboratories, QVA-CMS™, the software solution for peripheral angiograms and, as an additional option, QLV-CMS™, the quantification software for the analysis of left ventricular images. Combined, they create the most powerful solution for the quantitative analysis of angiograms available on the market.

Read the press release >>

January 23, 2006 -- 6th Edition of Medis SCMR Self Assessment Test Proves Successful

This year's SCMR saw the 6th edition of the Medis SCMR self-assessment test. With a steady stream of SCMR visitors taking this interactive test in the assessment of cardiac MR images, the event again proved successful.

The Medis SCMR self-assessment test obviously meets a demand for quickly acquiring and testing knowledge. As Dr. Eike Nagel, chairman of the education committee of the SCMR, said: "Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance is a knowledge-intensive field. The SCMR aims to develop professional education in CMR, and the interactive Medis SCMR self-assessment test has proven to be an excellent way for SCMR members to test and update their knowledge of CMR."

November 28, 2005 -- Medis Launches Q Product Portfolio at RSNA

At the RSNA 2005, Medis relaunches its entire product portfolio to emphasize the importance it places on providing quality in quantification. The Q product range encompasses brandnew solutions, such as QAngio® XA, and features new versions of leading solutions, such as QMass® MR.

QAngio XA merges the functionality of the former QCA-CMS™, QVA-CMS™, and QLV-CMS™ products, which makes it the power solution for the analysis of angiograms. It is characterized by a flexible structure, offering modules for drug-eluting stent analysis, bifurcation analysis, ostial segment analysis, subsegment analysis, and analysis of left-ventricular angiograms.

Medis will also present the latest versions of its software solutions at the RSNA, including the latest releases of QMass® MR, QMass® CT, and QFlow® with their state-of-the-art automated contour detection.

October 17, 2005 -- Vital Images Signs Agreement to Distribute Medis' QMass® MR Quantification Software

Vital Images, Inc. (NASDAQ: VTAL), a leading provider of enterprise-wide advanced visualization and analysis solutions, has signed an agreement with Medis. Vital Images will distribute Medis' QMass® MR product integrated with Vitrea®, Vital Images' flagship software solution. QMass® MR is Medis' all-in-one solution for the quantification of cardiac magnetic resonance images.

Read the press release >>

October 12, 2005 -- QCMR Course at NASCI Proves Successful

This year's NASCI saw a special edition of the QCMR training course on Quantitative Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. The joint Leiden University - University of Florida initiative, which was sponsored by TeraRecon and Medis, proved a successful introduction to quantification in cardiac MR.

"Participants were so eager to learn the ins and outs of quantification in MR that they continued to practice using the software until half an hour after the course had actually ended", said Medis' Alexandra Hochmuth. Alexandra was one of the trainers, together with Rob van der Geest, Associate Professor at the Leiden University Medical Center, and Michael Jerosch-Herold, Associate Professor at the Oregon Health & Science University.

The course offered discussions of MR techniques and practical tips for scanning by leading experts, such as Dr. Norbert Wilke and Prof. Hans Reiber, and provided practical hands-on training.

August 26, 2005 -- Medis Presents Optimized  Contour Detection at ESC 2005

At the ESC 2005, which will be held in Stockholm from September 3 until September 7, Medis will present the  optimized contour detection in the latest versions of QMass® MR and QMass® CT, its quantification software for the analysis of cardiac MR and CT studies.

Other software solutions for cardiologists that Medis will demonstrate at its booth (C18:51), will be:

• QFlow® for the quantification of vascular flow in MR studies
  
  
• QIvus® Clinical Edition for the quantification of intravascular ultrasound studies
  
  
• QAngio® XA for the quantitative analysis of coronaries and peripheral vessels in XA angiographic studies, with its special bifurcation analysis functionality

July 13, 2005 --  Medis QMass® CT 6.1.5 Introduces Optimized Contour Detection

Medis today released version 6.1.5 of QMass® CT, its software solution for the quantification of cardiac CT images. 

QMass CT, which was formerly known as CT-MASS™, features optimized contour detection, which makes the results of automated contour detection more accurate, reducing the amount of time cardiologists and radiologists need to spend on reviewing contours. 

Other improvements in this new version of QMass CT include:
- enhanced XML reports
- export of contour files in DICOM format
- configurable menu structure

July 8, 2005 -- Medis Launches QMass® MR 6.1.5 and QFlow® 4.1.5  

Medis launches new versions of its quantification solutions for cardiac MR images, QMass® MR and QFlow®. 

QFlow 4.1.5 offers support for non-parallel imaging planes and improved handling of non-square matrixes. The product, which was known as FLOW® prior to this release, has been renamed as part of the company's new global marketing strategy that emphasizes quality in quantification.

QMass MR 6.1.5 and QMass Clinical Edition 6.1.5, named MASS® and MASS® Clinical Edition in previous releases, both feature optimized contour detection.

May 19, 2005 -- Medis Introduces MRA-CMS™ 1.1 to European Cardiologists at EuroCMR

At the EuroCMR, which will take place in Zurich, Switzerland, from May 26 until May 28, Medis will introduce the latest version of its software for the analysis of peripheral vascular morphology in 3D MRA data sets.

MRA-CMS™ enables the analysis of Time of Flight data sets and can be integrated seamlessly into third-party systems. It offers manual reference positioning, distance measurements in the CMPR view, and a redesigned interface. Visit the Medis booth to find out how MRA-CMS can help you analyze MR angiographs. 

May 17, 2005 -- Win a Free One-Year QVA-CMS™ License at EuroPCR 2005

Next week at the EuroPCR 2005, in Paris, France, Medis will be demonstrating QCA-CMS™ and QVA-CMS™, its software solutions for the quantitative analysis of coronaries and peripheral vessels in XA angiographic studies.

Visit the Medis booth at the EuroPCR to see the new bifurcation analysis functionality and take the chance to win a one-year license for QVA-CMS, including  installation and on-site training.

May 2, 2005 -- Medis Launches MRA-CMS™ 1.1 at ISMRM 2005

Medis is proud to introduce the latest version of MRA-CMS™ at the ISMRM 2005 in Miami, Florida, later this week. MRA-CMS is Medis' quantitative software solution for the analysis of peripheral vessels in 3D MRA data sets. 

Version 1.1, which offers support for the analysis of Time of Flight data sets and for integration into third-party systems, features manual reference positioning, distance measurements in the CMPR view, and a more intuitive interface. Visit us at booth #124 to see MRA-CMS for yourself.

March 30, 2005 -- Medis Releases MRA-CMS™ 1.1 

Today, the new version of Medis' innovative software solution for the analysis of peripheral vessels in MR angiographs, was released. MRA-CMS™ 1.1 features:

• support for Time of Flight (ToF) data sets
• manual reference positioning
• distance measurements in CMPR view
• user interface redesign
• support for integration into third-party systems

March 15, 2005 -- Register Now for QCLA Training Course

The annual QCLA training course, which will cover the quantitative analysis of arteriograms, angiograms, and intravascular ultrasound images using Medis quantification software, will be held at the Leiden University Medical Center on April 28 and 29. 

This two-day course will provide intensive hands-on training as well as in-depth coverage of theoretical background by leading researchers in the field of image processing. 
You can register now at http://www.qcoursesleiden.org.

March 4, 2005 -- Radiologists Focus On Quantitative Interpretation at ECR 2005

In his opening lecture at the ECR 2005, Prof. Joe Ferrucci  foresaw the beginning of a new age in radiology, in which the focus will be on quantitative analysis of medical imaging, alongside traditional qualitative interpretation.

Quantitative approaches and methods will be discussed in various upcoming scientific sessions at the ECR, and quantitative solutions will be demonstrated in the exhibits area. Medis will be present at the ECR to demonstrate its range of software solutions for the quantification of medical images.

March 1, 2005 -- Medis Demonstrates Cardiovascular Solutions at ACC 2005

Medis will be present at the ACC 2005 in Orlando, Florida, March 6-9, to demonstrate its range of products for the quantitative analysis of cardiovascular images. Visit the Medis booth for a demo of:

- QVA-CMS™, the world's leading solution for the quantitative analysis of vascular morphology in peripheral vessels, now featuring fully automated bifurcation analyses and audit trailing to safeguard standard working procedures in clinical trials

- QCA-CMS™, the worldwide reference standard in the quantitative analysis of vascular morphology in coronary arteries, including subsegment analyses to complement the DESA and VBTA analyses

- QCU-CMS™ Clinical Edition, the smart software solution for the quantification of intravascular ultrasound studies of the coronary arteries, which offers automatic contour detection of lumen, vessel and stent, as well as fast frame-by-frame quantification over the entire pull-back run

- MRA-CMS™, the extremely accurate software solution for the quantification of peripheral vessels in 3D MRA data, which takes the entire segment into account, instead of only the minimum and maximum vessel area

January 14, 2005 -- Medis Present at SCMR 2005

Medis will be showing its latest software solutions for the quantitative analysis of cardiovascular MRI studies at the SCMR in San Francisco, California, from January 21-23. Visit us at booth #202 for demos of:

- MASS® Clinical Edition, the fast and intuitive solution for the quantification of cardiac MR studies, geared toward clinical practice

- MRA-CMS™, the extremely accurate software solution for the quantification of peripheral vessels in 3D MRA data, which takes the entire segment into account