Cedara Software to Introduce C4 Integration Platform and New Medical Imaging Technologies at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR)

TORONTO, Feb. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Cedara Software, a Merge Healthcare company (Nasdaq: MRGE; TSX: MRG) and a leading independent developer of medical software technologies for the global healthcare market, today announced plans to introduce its powerful C4 Integration platform and a host of new medical imaging technologies at the 2007 ECR Conference held March 9-13 in Vienna, Austria.


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With the increasing prevalence of multiple PACS installations, clinical applications and information systems used at a single healthcare institution, the need for integration has never been greater. At ECR 2007, Cedara Software will showcase a variety of new technologies for OEM/VARs designed to further unite image and information management in the healthcare industry. In this rapidly changing landscape, Cedara’s solutions provide a fast, efficient and cost effective means to introduce new technology to the marketplace.


At the forefront of Cedara’s approach to image and information management is a new integration platform, named C4 (Cedara Clinical Control Center(TM)*). C4 is an innovative middleware solution that allows clinical applications and plug-ins to be integrated into a single workstation. Operating through the patient study list of any host application, C4 permits clinical plug-ins to be launched manually or automatically based on user preferences. C4 can be used to quickly integrate clinical applications into any information system. It will be demonstrated at ECR with Cedara’s web enabled PACS system Cedara I- Reach(TM), a diagnostic information system Cedara aXigate(TM), and in a standalone capacity.


Clinical functionality initially slated to be available through C4 includes support for breast imaging, PET/CT imaging and orthopaedic planning. These capabilities are supported by Cedara’s clinical applications Cedara I- ReadMammo(TM), Cedara PET/CT Workstation and Cedara OrthoWorks ProPlanner(TM)*. In the future, it is anticipated that additional clinical applications will be available through C4 such as virtual colonoscopy, calcium scoring, oncology therapy response, lung nodule analysis and other third-party solutions.


“Many vendors feel pressure from their customers to offer an increasingly wide range of clinical functionality,” said Loris Sartor, President of Cedara Software. “For many organizations, developing these capabilities in-house is not cost effective. Outsourcing each solution conversely presents the challenge of managing multiple integration efforts throughout the lifespan of each product. Because of this, our customers are very pleased by the value proposition of C4 — limitless clinical functionality available through a single integration effort. This allows vendors to service a wider selection of their customers’ needs. I think that a variety of PACS, RIS and EMR companies will be very interested in this solution.”


Outside of C4, Cedara will showcase a variety of additional leading edge solutions, including a powerful new Merge Box(TM) that brings PACS connectivity to non-DICOM modalities*, image enhancement software for modality manufacturers, a rapid application development platform, segmentation technologies, DICOM/HL7 toolkits, ultrasound cardiovascular screening tools* and a wide selection of advanced diagnostic tools.


Cedara’s services provide an innovative means for companies to accelerate their time-to-market, access new revenue streams and reduce development costs. From engineering services to development platforms, software developers’ toolkits, and private labeled applications, Cedara’s solutions encompass one of the most comprehensive technology portfolios in the medical imaging industry.


Cedara Software will be located with Merge Healthcare at booth #23 in Extension Expo A.


*Some of the capabilities mentioned above represent Works in Progress or technology development. Cedara Software is not legally obligated to develop described “future” software with the features and functionality described.


Cedara Software is a Merge Healthcare company focused on the development of customized software solutions and development tools for the medical imaging OEM market. Cedara’s solutions enable OEM companies to accelerate their time- to-market, reduce development costs and access new streams of revenue. Cedara’s software is deployed in hospitals and clinics worldwide and is licensed by many of the world’s leading medical device and healthcare information technology companies. Cedara’s technologies and engineering services span all the major digital imaging modalities and a wide variety of clinical specialties including radiology, orthopaedics, women’s health, oncology, cardiac imaging, clinical trials, imaging for the veterinarian market and more. For additional information, visit our website at http://www.cedara.com/ .


Merge Healthcare is a market leader in the development and delivery of medical imaging and information management software and services. Our innovative software solutions use leading-edge imaging software technologies that accelerate market delivery for our OEM customers, while our end-user solutions improve our customers’ productivity and enhance the quality of patient care they provide. For additional information, visit Merge Healthcare’s website at http://www.merge.com/ .


All trademarks appearing in this release are the property of Cedara Software Corp. and/or Merge Healthcare.


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