Stefan Hellwig, technical director and senior consultant at the Germany-based IDTM GmbH, shares his insights about moving out of the pre-owned diagnostic imaging equipment business and into consulting for diagnostic imaging, mobile diagnostic imaging equipment and image guided therapies.

DMN: How did you get started in the industry?
SH: That's a little while ago. In 1993, I was working for a private research company, developing hard and software for real-time MRI image reconstruction. That's where I met Michael Friebe, who just moved back from the U.S. where he had been working as Project Manager / System engineer for Toshiba America Medical Systems. In 1994, Michael founded Neuromed and I was the first employee. Neuromed became Central Europe's largest provider of mobile imaging services. The company owned and operated more than 15 mobile MRI/CT, CATHLAB and PET systems and was a major seller and reseller of pre-owned diagnostic imaging equipment. After Neuromed was sold, I joined Tomovation. And after Tomovation was sold, I joined IDTM.

DMN: Is this a new role for you-- technical director and senior consultant?
SH: Being technical director has been my job since we started Neuromed in 1994, so that's not a new role for me at all. I have always been responsible for all technical aspects of our activities, such as project planning for MRI, CT and PET/CT installations, system and site surveys, project planning for mobile units, radiation protection, etc. The title senior consultant is new for me, but since I am involved in the technical parts of our consulting projects, the activities have been the same and I have a lot of experience in that field. That's probably where the senior in senior consultant comes from.

DMN: Tell us a little bit about IDTM GmbH, and how long they have been around?
SH: IDTM GmbH was founded in 2012. We are a dedicated consulting company for diagnostic imaging, mobile diagnostic imaging equipment and image guided therapies. We provide consulting for private practices and hospitals (radiology, cardiology, and nuclear medicine) for all aspects around purchasing, installation, operation, and evaluation of the capital equipment. With IDTM we are not in the pre-owned diagnostic imaging equipment business anymore and therefore have a complete independent position. In addition to the consulting work, we do high-quality system and site surveys for MRI, CT and PET/CT systems.

DMN: Why was the company created?
SH: We had the feeling that there was a lack of qualified consulting companies that have the experience and the contacts to do high-quality consulting not only for the financial but for the technical aspects too.

More Voices