Medical-Image Retrieval Via Web Brings Amicas $9MMedical-Image Retrieval Via Web Brings Amicas $9M

One of the biggest trends in health care over the past year has been to make medical records available online, so physicians can easily retrieve patient data whenever they need it. Image-management software provider Amicas benefited from that trend last week when it secured $9 million in a third round of funding led by Canaan Partners.

The Newton, Mass., vendor's offerings make medical images such as X-rays available via the Web. CEO Hamid Tabatabaie says this approach addresses logistical concerns caused by more than 400 million imaging procedures performed each year. "A CT scan or an MRI can produce as many as 1,500 images," he says. "It's literally impossible to read or print all those." The Amicas software suite takes data directly from the scanning device and puts it on the Web.

Amicas' software stands out against products from competitors such as Fuji, General Electric, and Kodak, Tabatabaie says, because Amicas' system makes images available anytime in any department or location. The other products aren't Web-based, he explains, and are tied to single departments of hospitals. "But a few years ago, the industry decided 'it's the [whole] enterprise, stupid.'''