BOSTON, April 12, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AG Mednet, the world's largest medical image collection and delivery service, announced today the release of its exclusive pixel de-identification capability. The new plugin, which can be configured to be used on new and existing clinical trials, enables investigator sites to fully and properly redact patient identifying information that has been "burned" into the pixels of image exams, thus meeting the most stringent requirements around patient confidentiality and informed consent. Patient identifying information is typically included in the pixel data of modalities such as ultrasound, echo, angiography and intra-vascular ultrasound (IVUS), and can often occur in DEXA or non-DICOM exams in other image formats such as JPEG. This new plugin will be useful in trials in a variety of therapeutic areas including cardiovascular, rheumatoid arthritis and oncology (safety).
"The ability to remove every bit of personally identifying information from medical images at investigator sites, prior to their submission, has been an important obstacle that prevented participating sites from being fully compliant with IRBs and national regulations," said Abraham Gutman, President & CEO of AG Mednet. "Our network, together with our patented and patent-pending technologies, are the foundation allowing us to offer this type of functionality to our clients. Adding this capability to our growing number of data quality enhancement plugins continues to enable our sponsors and partner imaging core laboratories to go beyond basic electronic transfer, and significantly reduce site query rates and data quality degradation. The pixel de-identification plugin is a result of the intense focus AG Mednet places on the secure and reliable collection and transfer of protocol compliant medical images and ancillary data for clinical trials. Numerous sponsors and partner core imaging laboratories have already requested the addition of this capability to their existing and forthcoming trials on AG Mednet."
AG Mednet, which provides the largest HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 / GxP compliant image collection, de-identification and delivery service, routes a broad range of medical imaging modalities, including CT, MRI, ultrasound, PET, IVUS and digital x-ray. The automated system, which enables the de-identification and secure, seamless electronic transfer of study data from sites to trial image repositories, enhances site protocol compliance while providing detailed reporting for regulatory requirements.
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