Many people are unfamiliar with how Ricoh’s expertise is at work in the
healthcare arena, but it is a great illustration of what we do best: listen to our customers and find the innovative solutions that enable their success.
The technology that built MEG started with asking doctors, researchers, and hospital administrators how we could help them help their patients most effectively. They told our researchers and engineers that they needed more intuitive software, greater data gathering and analysis, better presentation of the data, and more efficient workflows. Thus began our MEG journey of discovery and innovation.
At the core of our solution is data: we have increased the measuring capabilities of the Ricoh MEG by increasing the number of sensors and by also finely tuning their sensitivity. By doing so, we gather more data, AND better data.
Our research with the medical community also inspired our team to optimize how information is presented, a key element to being able to use the data most effectively. We determined that delivering the data on a single screen in an intuitive sequence coupled with a scientifically based interface design was the right answer. It is displayed in a natural order that aligns with clinician analysis and decision making, allowing medical professionals to view the right data more easily at the right time.
Another area where we worked with researchers and bio-medical engineers to optimize MEG was through data integration, enabling doctors to look at MEG data alongside that of other important diagnostic tools such as PET, EEG and MRI scans.
With that goal in mind, Ricoh developed software and integrated algorithms that present this data holistically, which has led to a reduction in data analysis time by nearly 50 percent. This allows doctors to get to the core of their work – designing the right path for their patients – and not be slowed by underperforming technology that is not working at an optimal pace.