Flu vaccine drives can prevent potentially deadly influenza outbreaks in nursing homes but only if both residents and staff are immunized, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.

Vaccinating elderly residents alone did not decrease the number of flu outbreaks, nor did vaccinating staff alone, the study by the nonprofit Rand Corporation found.

But if more than 55 percent of the staff and more than 89 percent of the residents were vaccinated for influenza, outbreaks of influenza-like-illness were reduced by 60 percent, the study said.

North American Scientific Inc., a leading manufacturer of brachytherapy sources, announced that the Company has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the high-dose rate radiation treatment design of ClearPath, its breast brachytherapy product designed to enhance current accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) treatment options.

UltraRAD Corp. and Nightshift Radiology have entered a partnership agreement to supply high-quality, on-call radiology services. The two companies have been working together over the last 12 months to replace Nightshift’s previous PACS system with an UltraRAD solution.
The solution utilizes UltraRAD’s advanced DICOM UltraGATEWAY, which supplies advanced JPEG2000 compression and optional encryption to route and manage the data flow from the customer site(s) to the multiple data centers and the information to the remote reading physicians.

InStar Systems International Inc., announced that the company has recently installed its state-of-the-art radiology information system (RIS) at several imaging facilities throughout the country. The company has entered into agreements with a range of diagnostic imaging center operators to help improve workflow and enhance their imaging practices.

A Purchasing Service for excess medical equipment launched by Med-XS solutions will allow both healthcare facilities and medical equipment distributors the opportunity to bundle and sell medical equipment in one straightforward transaction. The Purchasing Service creates an alternative to the Rescue and Resale Product that was launched in July 2006.