Fujifilm Medical Systems USA Inc. launched a new smartphone app Monday that lets doctors remotely view images from their PACS server, and also announced the U.S. release of the Fazone CB, its laptop-sized portable ultrasound unit.

The Stamford, Conn.-based subsidiary of the Japanese film and device giant made the announcements at the annual AHRA meeting, which kicked off Sunday in Grapevine, Texas.

The mobile app, dubbed Synapse Mobility, works with the iPad, iPhone and Android phones. With it, providers can use a Web browser to remotely view interactive 3-D medical images from the company's Synapse PACS or RIS systems. However, the Synapse Mobility has not been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for diagnostic use.
Fujifilm said the ultrasound unit, the Fazone CB, was its entry into the U.S. point-of-care sonography market. The device sports a 12-inch LCD monitor, large buttons and a touch panel. It also features Zone Sonography data acquisition technology, developed by Zonare Inc., which allows for up to 10 times faster image capture.

The unit, meant for work at the bedside or in ambulances, weighs about 9 pounds. Last year, it picked up a Good Design Gold Award -- or, a G-Mark -- from the Japan Institute of Design Promotion. In a statement, the 54-year-old design group praised the Fazone CB for "expanding the venues for ultrasonic examination from the examination room to other places" and for achieving "intuitive operability."

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