Barco and ATI join forces to bring high performance 3D imaging solutions to the healthcare market
RSNA, CHICAGO, IL, USA, 27 November 2005 - Global visualization specialist Barco and ATI Technologies Inc, a leader in professional workstation graphics accelerators, announced a technology cooperation that will bring high-performance 3D-enabled imaging solutions to the healthcare market.
Barco's proven display system technology for medical imaging, combined with ATI's industry leading FireGLTM graphics acceleration technology, provides an exceptional solution for the latest Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) and modality applications. Under the terms of the agreement, ATI will provide Barco with access to ATI's award winning FireGL hardware and software graphics technology. The agreement will enable Barco to optimize ATI's graphics processors (GPUs) to meet the specific needs of medical imaging applications."Medical imaging is an important market that has substantial growth potential. As a proven market leader with extensive expertise in medical visualization, Barco will enable ATI to expand its presence in the healthcare industry," says Dinesh Sharma, Director of ATI's Workstation Products Group. "We are excited to be working with Barco, an industry leader in the PACS and medical imaging market. The superior quality and performance of ATI's FireGL professional workstation graphics accelerators provide Barco with a cost-effective platform to implement powerful, advanced 2D & 3D medical imaging systems".
Paul Matthijs, Vice President of Barco's Medical Imaging Systems business unit, continues: "In their design of 2D and 3D enabled applications, our PACS vendors and integrators increasingly rely on acceleration offered by GPUs, programmed using standard interfaces like OpenGL® or DirectX®. With access to ATI's industry-leading technology, Barco will have the ability to optimize the performance of ATI's graphics accelerators for medical imaging applications. As a result, Barco will be able to serve the medical imaging market with dedicated driver solutions and will make medical applications run more efficiently and faster on our display solutions."
Barco will complement the technology with dedicated support services to assure that customers fully benefit from the access to ATI's hardware and software technology for medical imaging applications.
"Barco has established a dedicated Partner Support team to provide PACS partners and application writers with design-in support, legacy compatibility solutions and assistance to guarantee seamless integration of the technology into their 3D-enabled medical applications," concludes Kevin Clarke, Site Manager for Barco's medical graphics development center in Beaverton, Oregon.
About ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. is a world leader in the supply of graphics, video and multimedia products for desktop, workstation and notebook PCs, digital televisions, cell phones and game consoles. A pioneer, innovator and market leader in the graphics industry, ATI has more than 3,400 employees across its headquarters in Markham, Ontario, and offices in the Americas, Europe and Asia. ATI has research and development facilities in California, Florida, Massachusetts, Ontario and Pennsylvania and manufactures its products in Canada and Taiwan. In its fiscal year 2005, ATI recorded revenues of approximately US $2.2 billion. Member of the NASDAQ 100, ATI common shares trade on NASDAQ (ATYT) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (ATY).
About Barco
Barco, an international company headquartered in Kortrijk, Belgium, provides visualization and display solutions for professional markets. Barco designs and develops solutions for large screen visualization, display solutions for life-critical applications, and systems for visual inspection. Barco is active worldwide and has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Barco is quoted on Euronext Brussels and is a BEL 20 and a Next 150 company (Euronext: BAR; Reuters: BARBt.BR; Bloomberg: BAR BB).
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ATI Technologies Inc. and FireGL are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ATI Technologies Inc. All other company and/or product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
