SCAR Announces Inaugural TRIP™ Corporate Partners 

Contact:
Anna Marie Mason
703-757-0054
TRIP@scarnet.org

November 10, 2004

GREAT FALLS, VA – The Society for Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR) has announced the successful launch of a unique cooperative effort with industry to identify and pursue solutions to one of the most challenging issues confronting medical imaging: the extraordinary increase in and accelerating volume of imaging datasets that specialists now must routinely interpret. This effort began in 2003 with SCAR’s widely praised Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process (TRIP™) initiative designed to focus academic, government, private practice, and industry expertise on the coming crisis in imaging overload.

FUJIFILM Medical Systems USA and TeraRecon, Inc., SCAR corporate members, pledged their support as founding partners in September. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by Emageon; Stentor, Inc.; and Siemens Medical Solutions, Inc., also SCAR corporate members.

“We are pleased that these companies have chosen to lead the way in partnering in this SCAR-led endeavor,” said J. Anthony Seibert, PhD, SCAR Chair. “Together, we will confront the most pressing issues in medical imaging and be at the forefront of the effort to identify innovative solutions.”

TRIP™ corporate partnerships will provide ongoing support for activities such as annual research conferences/workshops, quality research by young scholars through the SCAR informatics grant program, and forums in which industry, government, and academia can come together to interact and share results

“The TRIP™ initiative will be the ideal white space where all the players in the radiology community can meet and develop new viewing solutions for tomorrow in a spirit of true collaboration and academic excellence,” said Henri “Rik” Primo, Director of Marketing and Strategic Relationships at Siemens.

“We are pleased to support SCAR in this important endeavor and believe that by bringing industry together we can collectively develop effective strategies for and make monumental strides toward alleviating the challenges of information overload,” said Clayton Larson, vice president of marketing and network development for FUJIFILM.
            
SCAR is devoted to the advancement of computer applications and information technology in medical imaging through education and research. The first SCAR TRIP™ Conference and Workshop, “Transforming Medical Imaging,” will be held January 31–February 1, 2005, at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, MD. With partial financial support  from the National Institutes of Health, this scientific meeting will focus on research, education, and discovery of innovative solutions to the problem of health care information and image data overload. Abstract submissions are being accepted through the SCAR website until December 15. For more information about the TRIP™ initiative or to register for the meeting, visit the SCAR TRIP™ website at www.scarnet.net/trip.