Toshiba executive provides imaging outlook

Edwin A. Lodgek, senior vice president and general manager, joined Toshiba America Medical Systems (TAMS) in 2001 in a newly created position of general manager. He is also a member of TAMS' Board of Directors. Before joining TAMS, Lodgek was with Marconi Medical Systems where he was vice president, North America, and spearheaded the effort that resulted in the company nearly doubling sales from 1997 to 2001. As TAMS' general manager, Lodgek leads the full-line sales, marketing and service teams, as well as the ultrasound business unit.

Frost & Sullivan spoke with Lodgek as part of its "Movers & Shakers" interview series, which is excerpted here.

Frost & Sullivan: Toshiba America Medical Systems (TAMS) is one of the well-known vendors in the diagnostic imaging sector. From the vantage point this provides, what do you see as the hottest growth markets and technologies for this sector?

Lodgek: The industry is always talking about exciting, breakthrough technologies like molecular imaging and super high-field MR [magnetic resonance]. However, we see the real value for healthcare in technologies that can be offered to the market on a large scale including even the local community hospital. The expanding benefits of diagnostic imaging are to help better assess disease, impact the changing treatments of disease and hopefully someday help provide a cure. If you look at the leading causes of death, cardiovascular disease is No. 1, followed by cancer and stroke. The goal of diagnostic imaging, and certainly Toshiba, is to help eliminate these diseases with better treatments and prevention, both achieved by efficiently integrating the strengths of each medical imaging modality to improve workflow, enhance patient outcomes and improve costs.

One of the hottest technologies playing into this paradigm is multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). The low contrast detectability of MDCT offers the promise of soft plaque characterization and excellent imaging of coronary arteries as well as 3D visualization that allows interventionalists better tools for treatment.

Also, new techniques in ultrasound Strain imaging allow EP physicians to dramatically reduce procedure time. Strain imaging (Toshiba's TDIQ software) allows clinicians to more accurately detect timing events inside of the heart. This is particularly helpful in the optimization of pacemaker timing. And, with CT and ultrasound together you can now accomplish an EP procedure--which used to take 3 to 4 hours--in 20 minutes.

New advances in MR imaging, particularly with regard to tissue viability, could allow MR to augment nuclear medicine for testing of functionality. The key benefit here is that if you have cardiovascular disease, you frequently have additional maladies. These tests can help physicians more easily identify and treat these associated illnesses.

How does Toshiba approach product development? Is there a set philosophy as to which product areas will be focused upon, or what product areas will be chosen?

Diagnostic imaging equipment represents a significant investment on the part of healthcare providers. Therefore Toshiba designs its mission critical technology to provide the best image quality and clinical features in a reliable, cost-effective design. Toshiba carefully develops clinical partnerships with healthcare providers with the objective of ensuring the rapid development of new, meaningful medical imaging equipment and applications. Clearly, research focused on the rapid development of new applications of advanced technology has the potential to generate substantial savings and improve outcomes.

As an example, physicians, technologists, and business leaders from various American healthcare institutions have participated in the development of Toshiba's Aquilion multislice CT scanner. As a direct result, Toshiba has become one of the fastest growing medical imaging companies in the United States.

Today, Toshiba partners closely with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for stroke, image guided intervention, and cardiac CT development, Research at Beth Israel Deaconess, a Harvard University teaching hospital, helps engineers understand the future needs of body imaging. Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, a major trauma hospital near Los Angeles, and Steinberg Diagnostic Medical Imaging, one of the busiest outpatient imaging centers in the world, offer the perspectives of very practical healthcare providers. By also including non-radiologists on the design team, development becomes particularly directed toward patient care.

What is unique about TAMS' value proposition for the medical imaging sector?

Toshiba is a boutique in an environment dominated by commodity warehouses. As a result we're uniquely positioned to listen to our customers and understand their issues and concerns. We develop customized solutions that help them achieve success in their specific environment. And we do not confuse our customers into purchasing one all-encompassing solution; but encourage them to purchase a best-in-class solution. We make that possible because we ensure that our equipment will effectively integrate with networks etc., by meeting industry designated standards.

What is your competitive landscape at this stage? How do you feel your products fare in the market?

We compete against three large competitors who all want to be everything to everybody. We understand who we are and what we do (our core strengths) and we develop and deliver the very best in diagnostic imaging technology, competing very successfully in our market segment. We're currently enjoying exceptional growth and achieving outstanding levels of customer satisfaction.

What do you envision for the future of the medical imaging industry? What role should we expect TAMS to play in shaping the future of this market?

Medical imaging is an essential element of quality healthcare. The industry is going to continue to grow due largely to the growth of the aging population. The industry will also continue to grow as the quality of the medical imaging information continues to improve. What I mean by that is, medical imaging is advancing in such a way that allows disease to be diagnosed and therefore treated earlier and thereby limiting earlier the negative impact of the disease on the patient. We believe medical imaging will continue to advance so that it does not just help in diagnosis of disease but in the detection of conditions which precede the disease, thereby assisting in disease prevention.

Frost & Sullivan is a San Antonio, TX-based growth, market and research consulting and training firm.

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