OrthoScan Now Part of German Investment Group

Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Executives at OrthoScan Inc. might want to learn such basic German phrases in light of the company’s recent purchase by ATON GmbH, a private investment group based in Hallbergmoos, a municipality in the Freising district of Bavaria, Germany. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

OrthoScan was bought earlier this fall by ATON.The company also owns Ziehm Imaging Group, a manufacturer of mobile C-arms headquartered in Nuremberg, Germany that is considered a “sister” firm to OrthoScan. The company has sales offices in China, Finland, Italy, Russia, Singapore and the United States (its American headquarters relocated earlier this year from Riverside, Calif., to Orlando, Fla). Its product lineup includes the Ziehm Vision R with a 20-watt generator and a hybrid edition of the Ziehm Vision RFD, an imaging device that features flat-panel technology and distortion-free images with more than 16,000 shades of gray and a resolution of 1.5k times 1.5k pixels. The RFD’s square display format creates a significantly larger visible area with up to 60 percent more information than conventional image intensifiers, according to the company. Ziehm was acquired by three companies over the last 11 years, first becoming part of Instrumentarium Corp. in 2000 and then GE Medical Systems when that healthcare conglomerate bought Instrumentarium in October 2003. GE, however, was required to divest its C-arm business, leaving Ziehm Imaging available for purchase by ATON GmbH in 2004.

Privately-held OrthoScan provides mini C-arms used for fluoroscopic imaging of the extremities in orthopedic surgery and for digital diagnostic imaging in the office. The 9-year-old company’s signature product is the OrthoScan HD with a flat detector, a device company bigwigs claim improves image quality and reduces radiation exposure for technicians. The product was released on the market in March 2010.

Ziehm Imaging bigwigs praised the OrthoScan acquisition, saying the two companies’ products are complimentary. Ziehm Imaging’s targeted markets include cardiology, interventional radiology, neurology and urology, according to its website. Founded in 1972 as a major OEM supplier for automatic exposure control devices and medical imaging systems, Ziehm Imaging in 1979 was the first company to install a hardcopy camera inside a monitor cart. The firm also introduced the market’s first compact C-arm in 1983.

“This acquisition is a clear statement of ATON’s commitment to the U.S. market and the understanding of the U.S. customer’s needs,” Ziehm Imaging Inc. CEO Nelson Mendes said in a news release.

Ziehm Imaging Group CEO Klaus Hoerndler said the purchase of OrthoScan would create further synergies for customers.