CHICAGO — Hitachi unveiled several innovations at RSNA 2017, including a new, economical, non-cardiac 64-slice CT scanner and a new capacitive micro-machined ultrasound transducer (CMUT) probe unlike any other in the sector, according to a Hitachi source.

“Our CMUT probe is unique,” Sheldon Schaffer, vice president and general manager, Magnetic Resonance/Computed Tomography at Hitachi told HCB News. “It is a broadband detector system probe for broad image use, versus having to use individual probes.”

The probe just recently received 501(k) FDA clearance. According to Hitachi, the CMUT design allows the single probe to address multiple clinical needs, and to adapt to a wide variety of body contours. The CMUT design was first developed in the semiconductor industry.

According to Schaffer, Hitachi had to overcome major engineering challenges to introduce a commercially viable version of the probe. Conventional probes use crystals to transmit images. Hitachi demonstrated the CMUT probe at RSNA using its Arietta 850 Premium Ultrasound System.

Schaffer also said the company rolled out a new 64-slice, non-cardiac, compact CT scanner aimed at the outpatient and small hospital market. The Supria True64 CT, which also just received FDA 510(k) clearance, is offered at a lower price point. The unit is designed to reduce power usage by 55 percent during idle periods.