Preview: SIRM 2012 Congress in Torino
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Editor’s Note: Italy’s largest gathering of radiology professionals, the SIRM 2012 Congress , begins today, June 1 in Torino, and runs through June 5. Carestream’s Italian Marketing Manager, Lucilla Mariani, offers a preview of the event.
Lucilla Mariani, Marketing Manager, Carestream Italy
Q: What emerging technologies do you expect to see at this year’s SIRM? How will this show differ from previous years?
SIRM is Italy’s premier radiology congress and takes place every two years. Quite a bit has happened since SIRM 2010, one of the biggest developments being that medical technology has advanced rapidly. In fact, at this year’s show, we’ll see many solutions unimaginable just two years ago. Consider, for example, the success of flat panel DR technology. Our DRX-1 System was a breakthrough at the time of SIRM 2010, but almost all competitors have since followed our path. Indeed, we’ll see DR detectors from many vendors this year!
The impacts of the broad economic issues that currently overwhelm Italy will also be apparent at SIRM 2012. Healthcare capital budgets have tightened significantly, and customers will come to the show searching for solutions that offer a clear return on their investment. As far as orchestrating their presence at SIRM 2012, vendors are also paying strict attention to costs and waste. Some expensive activities (parties usually hosted by vendors, for example) won’t take place this year.
Q: Carestream is hosting a symposium at SIRM about cone-beam CT technology. What can attendees expect to hear?
On Monday, June 4, Carestream will host a symposium that will feature Prof. Gino Ghigi, a luminary in dental technology. Prof. Ghigi, who has conducted a six-month trial with our CS 9300 volumetric CT scanner, will share his experience with this cone-beam CT unit and also present and comment on various images taken with the scanner.
Q: You’ve been in the healthcare industry for a number of years and are a veteran of SIRM. What advice would you give to someone attending for the first time?
The congress offers a unique opportunity to meet a broad cross-section of radiology professionals, including clinicians and technologists. The expo area itself has almost 90 different booths that range from small (16 sqm) to very large exhibits. Pharma companies consist of at least 30% of the space. It’s very interesting to keep an eye on the smaller booths in the expo area. They have a feeling of entrepreneurship that exemplifies our market.
Also, don’t forget to browse among the many lectures that are delivered. You can often find original contributions dealing with new testing areas, sometimes also from the technology point of view. There are also sessions on general/management topics, such as structured reporting (a hot topic in Italy), outsourcing radiology (perfect for cloud services) and use of tablets, such as iPads, in radiology – just to mention a few.
Will you be at SIRM this year? If so, what are you expecting to gain from the experience?
