The Imagerie Avenir Marseille (IAM, French for: Imaging Future Marseilles) project has put France’s second largest city in the spotlight of European healthcare, with the deployment of 111 new radiology machines at Marseilles’ public hospitals over the next 12 years. Canon Medical has been a key support to the plan, providing the facilities with a completely new ultrasound fleet and dedicated training. Two years into the project, users spoke to VISIONS about their successful cooperation with Canon Medical and ultrasound’s increasing role in radiology.

Canon Medical offered ‘important advances in probe and high frequency technology, which enables us to claim a technological breakthrough and capitalize on these innovations for our medical needs,’ she said. ‘Canon’s answer to our needs was decisive. They listened carefully and had a great knowledge of the expertise, even hyper-expertise of our practitioners. They made us an offer that was almost tailor-made,’ she added. Ultrasound technology has made great strides and become central to modern radiology practice, according to Jean-Michel Bartoli, Professor of Radiology and Head of the Medical Imaging Department at AP-HM, who initiated the project.

‘We’re seeing the development of ultrasound fields in which few imaging systems were able to answer our questions, in particular liver and peripheral nerve exploration and pediatric radiology, in which ultrasound plays an important role,’ he said. ‘We now have an ultrasound of expertise, for which we need to train our residents and fellows.’

So far 17 ultrasound scanners have been installed at the facilities, with dedicated training delivered by Canon Medical. The imaging fleet will be completely renewed within the next six years. ‘For the next 12 years, we will be very attractive for physicians in terms of equipment quality. As a university hospital, the value of our partnerships is also very important. In the last two years 2 scientific presentations have already been made, 3 scientific articles submitted, and several webinars and training organized’ Professor Bartoli said.

Renewing an entire imaging fleet also means beginning new clinical partnerships with the AP-HM university hospitals. Work has started in that sense soon after the implementation of the devices, François Vorms, Managing Director of Canon Medical France, explained.

‘We’ve developed a strategy of collaborative imaging, which is to provide our partners with a set of services. It’s part of our approach of being a solution provider,’ he said.

Working within the IAM project enables to control and improve the ultrasound segment in close cooperation with Canon Medical, according to Marie-Hélène Fortin.

‘We work in an ecosystem where we can monitor the segment’s life with Canon and our own experts, whether it's regarding the equipment, probe, hand-washing liquid that may have fallen into the keyboard, or the webinar to be prepared,’ she said. ‘We learn along the way how to get the best out of everything.’

Partnering with Canon Medical has given the team the chance to work with modern ultrasound devices and the latest technological innovations, according to Thomas Le Corroller, Professor of Anatomy at Aix Marseille University and Head of the Ultrasound unit in the IAM project, in which he has been involved for the past three years.

‘The deal has allowed us to harmonize our interfaces and share a common ergonomics between our facilities, which is very important for physicians who work at different sites during the week, but also for residents and fellows, who are trained on several ultrasound scanners at different hospitals,’ he said.

Anaïs Grob is a radiologist in charge of the Women's Imaging unit at La Timone Hospital. Working with the new Canon Medical equipment has expanded the possibilities for her and her team to care for patients, she explained.

‘Since the beginning of the installation, about two years ago, we’ve had initial and ongoing training to help us obtain high quality images, both in breast ultrasound and pelvic ultrasound, and also interventional procedures. Many breast biopsies are performed in our department,’ she said.

Ultrasound is very agile compared to other modalities and reflects Canon Medical’s approach to the project, Marie-Hélène Fortin believes.

‘Ultrasound is a very emblematic segment, with a short circuit since the physician is also the manipulator of the equipment when taking a test. We’re in a segment where the dynamics are the strongest, the implementation is the fastest, and the agility to find a solution is very easy. It seems that this DNA is also carried by Canon. Their agility has made all the difference,’ she concluded.

Find out more about Canon Medical's Ultrasound systems :

You can also download this article as PDF