OEC Medical Systems Inc., the third largest medical X-ray equipment company in the country, has established its headquarters in Salt Lake City.
The company develops, manufactures and distributes high-performance, mobile, digital X-ray C-arm imaging systems worldwide. The company has annual sales of about $100 million and employs more than 300 people locally.The company's mobile C-arm products are used by surgeons as real-time imaging devices during a number of surgical procedures. The systems' mobility enables doctors to move the equipment rather than the patient.
David Rose, company president and chief executive officer, said OEC Medical has a 50 percent share of the domestic market in the medical imaging business, competing against General Electric, Philips and Toshiba.
"We're now looking heavily to take our technology overseas," Rose said.
The company also has made inroads in international markets.
Larry Harrawood, vice president of marketing, said OEC's imaging equipment is computerized and provides instant feedback while the patient is on the operating table.
Compared to conventional X-ray equipment, OEC's equipment is easier to use, exposes patients to less radiation and is particularly helpful in laparoscopic procedures such as appendectomies, removal of gall bladders, orthopedic surgeries or gynecological procedures.
The equipment is used locally by a number of hospitals, including University Hospital, Holy Cross Hospital, LDS Hospital and HCA St. Mark's Hospital.
Harrawood said local surgeons have assisted with the evaluation and development of the equipment, which costs from $100,000 to $200,000 each.
In 1988, the company introduced a new application of its X-ray expertise - urology tables. OEC's are the only urological X-ray tables with integrated digital image processing that provide digitally enhanced, high-quality, real-time images.
The company employs 330 people at its Salt Lake facility, located in the International Center. Rose said the company chose Salt Lake City as its headquarters because of costs, worker efficiency and access to a large pool of technically trained employees.
OEC's Medical Systems Inc.'s stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol OXE.
OEC opened in Utah in 1978. It was previously known as OEC-Diasonics and was part of Diasonics Inc., headquartered in Milpitas, Calif.
On Sept. 17, of Diasonics Inc. shareholders approved a major corporate restructuring into three separate publicly traded companies: Diasonics Ultrasound Inc. and Focal Surgery Inc. were spun out to company stockholders, and OEC-Diasonics merged into the parent company and was renamed OEC Medical Systems.