Industry Interview: Mid-Atlantic Telerad, Inc.
MMT 2008 Volume: 12 Issue: 4 (June/July)
Interview with
James Whittaker
President
Mid-Atlantic Telerad, Inc.
James Whittaker received a Bachelor of Science in marketing management from George Mason University in 1980. He has been in the radiology business since 1983. During this time, Whittaker has marketed everything from basic radiographic equipment to CT and MRI systems. He began his own business in 1986. Mid-Atlantic Telerad, Inc. currently sells and supports digital X-ray systems throughout the world.
Q: Have there been any substantial enhancements in teleradiology or X-ray technologies in the last year?
A: Absolutely. The price of digital radiography panels, computed radiography systems and teleradiology servers have come down, while the bandwidth for transmitting image data continues to grow.
Mid-Atlantic Telerad has just recently released a new product called Dicom Mail. This product allows high-resolution Dicom-compliant images to be sent out via e-mail. Transmission is fast and images are sent using military-grade data encryption. Once the images have been received and viewed, they can be expanded back out to a full 2,000 x 2,500 pixel Dicom image file. The government, especially the military, is anxious to move to this new technology that was not available previously.
Q: With the current state of the art, is any innovation expected soon?
A: In addition to Dicom Mail, we expect to be offering digital radiography systems that run on a PDA in the near future. The system can operate solely on battery power. Devices like this, in conjunction with our handheld battery operated X-ray systems, will make it much easier to be used for both military and humanitarian relief because of its weight and cube.
Q: What have been your most successful projects within the military medical community?
A: The initial key project we developed for the United States Marine Corps was the first portable digital X-ray system ever deployed in theater. When the Army’s 82nd Airborne was ready to ship to Afghanistan in the aftermath of September 11, they contacted the Marine Corps and asked if they could borrow one of our portable prototype units. From that moment on, orders began to roll in from all branches of the military.
After this project, we designed and built digital dental systems for the military. These two projects combined allowed us to provide equipment later needed to support Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
Q: Do devices such as yours have a role in disaster relief and humanitarian mission?
A: Our systems help to quickly identify injuries for both people and animals in disaster relief. Mid-Atlantic Telerad supplied handheld, battery powered X-ray systems to help identify victims of the tsunami in Thailand in 2004.
Afterwards, we were contacted by FEMA when the hurricane hit Louisiana and Mississippi. Two of our systems were shipped to DMORT teams at St. Gabriel and the Gulf Port Airport. Two of our engineers drove down as well to train doctors and technicians on the use of our equipment. We provided both full body and digital dental systems for the relief efforts.
In addition to disaster relief, a number of our systems were just deployed with the hospital ships USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy. These ships travel throughout the world, providing health care for third-world nations. In addition, our engineers recently installed systems in The Gambia in Africa for the Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom. This organization provides medical care for the entire population of the country.
Q: Are there any programs or projects in the near-term that you can tell us about?
A: Mid-Atlantic Telerad is one of the founding members of MERF (Medical Emergency Response Facility), a system that delivers crucial resources to areas where they are needed. This system can be up and operational anywhere in the world in less than 24 hours. The MERF is a 10-bed facility that comes complete with all equipment needed to staff an operating room, ICU, and triage/treatment/holding center. Our MERF system is comparable to the Army’s combat support hospitals, Marine Corps FRSS, Air Force EMEDS and Navy fleet hospitals.
Along with MERF, we continue working with state public health departments in providing portable digital X-ray and teleradiology systems used to acquire and transmit images to qualified physicians.
Q: Any closing remarks?
A: Over the 20 years we have been in the digital imaging market, we have expanded from military field operations to use in the veterinary world, forensic science, as well as non-destructive testing and oncology.
We have over 400 systems currently in operation. Without the input of the military, we would never have achieved this success. Our accomplishments are completely attributed to the men of our armed forces. ♦