Tag: M2S

Concord, NH Dec 4, 2011 — “Innovation Rocks!” is an initiative sponsored by the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development’s Business Resource Center in coordination with Rock 101 (WGIR-FM) to celebrate the creativity and ingenuity of New Hampshire innovators.
We are honored to receive this innovation award, and are excited to continue our momentum for innovation into 2012!
You can view the press release from NHEconomy.com for the full story.
There was a time when a vascular surgeon only had flat, two-dimensional CT or MRI scans of a patient to refer to when considering what will be the best approach to surgery. Now, thanks to a West Lebanon-based biotech company, that surgeon can utilize three-dimensional models, created from patient scans, for pre-op planning.
In recognition of this and other innovative technology it has pioneered, M2S has won the Innovation Rocks! Award from the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development’s Business Resource Center and Rock 101 (WGIR-FM).
Founded in 1997, M2S specializes in HIPPA- compliant medical image and data management services for clinical data registries, advanced radiographic image analysis and aortic disease device clinical trials. The goal: to improve patient outcomes.
According M2S President and COO, Greg Lange, “We provide three-dimensional medical imaging to physicians and hospitals all over the U.S. Using digital scans they provide, we create 2D and 3D models, complete with measurement tools that can be used for optimal pre-op planning. For example, our advanced imaging software has been used widely in vascular surgery planning for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) and thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA).” By also using M2S’s web-based database system, the physician can track patients over time to determine and refine treatment strategies and achieve better outcomes.”
Customized registries that collect long-term data are another M2S product. One example is the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), established by the Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) in partnership with M2S. VQI provides a a common platform for participating institutions and physicians to analyze outcomes of nine procedures, reinforce best practices, and share quality improvement efforts. More than 85 institutions are taking part in VQI, entering data on an average of 300 procedures a week. Another aspect of the initiative is regional collaboration of program participants. Under the auspices of the SVS Patient Safety Organization, regional quality groups share and analyze data through anonymous, benchmarked reports to initiate quality-improvement projects. There are regional groups all over the U.S., including New England, that meet twice each year.
“M2S has been committed to improving vascular patient outcomes for over ten years with our advanced 3D modeling technology. We believe that the addition of the Vascular Quality Initiative to our scope of services, combined with our standardized pre- and post-operative imaging, will significantly improve patient care,” explains Lang.
“M2S is an example of a biotech start-up with roots in academia—in this case, Dartmouth—that has evolved to become an innovation leader in its industry,” said New Hampshire Division of Economic Development Interim Director Chris Way in making the announcement that M2S was chosen as the December 2011 Innovation Rocks! winner. “We anticipate they’ll grow their business in other specialty areas in the future while continuing to develop their technology in-house, right here in New Hampshire.”
For more information about M2S, visit www.m2s.com.
“Innovation Rocks!” is an initiative sponsored by the New Hampshire Division of Economic Development’s Business Resource Center in coordination with Rock 101 (WGIR-FM) to celebrate the creativity and ingenuity of New Hampshire innovators.

West Lebanon, NH Sep 8, 2011 — M2S, Inc., a leading provider of patient management and clinical data analysis services today announced the release of version 3.3.0 of its Preview^® Treatment Planning software. This latest release of Preview adds the Endologix AFX^™ Endovascular AAA System and the Gore^® Excluder^® AAA Endoprosthesis, featuring C3 Delivery System. Preview 3.3.0 also includes updates to all main body stent graft parts, giving the software a total of eighteen virtual stent grafts. Users can interactively plan endovascular procedures with the simulation of these manufacturer-specific virtual grafts prior to surgery through the company’s patented Virtual Graft™ technology in the Preview software. Other features of the release were user interface enhancements, such as improving the view of measurements on the 3D model.
As the pioneer in advanced vascular 3D imaging and with a commitment to improving vascular patient outcomes, M2S has set the standard for endovascular patient management services for abdominal and thoracic aortic aneurysms with its Preview software and PEMS^® (Patient Evaluation & Management System) registry. M2S’s Preview software provides accurate and efficient pre-operative treatment planning and post-operative surveillance through a 3D model and measurement tools. The software tools aid users with the visualization of treatment strategies and achieving optimal surgical outcomes.

West Lebanon, NH Jul 26, 2011 — M2S, Inc., a leading provider of medical image and clinical data analysis services, announces the release of version 1.11 of its Clinical Data Pathways web-based registry. Clinical Data Pathways, utilized by the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) is a secure, web-based data collection and analysis system that provides real-time benchmarked reports and facilitates local, regional, national, and international data collaboration.
With version 1.11, hemodialysis access procedure and follow-up forms have been added to the Pathways quality improvement database, enabling the Vascular Quality Initiative to now collect perioperative and one-year follow-up data on nine vascular procedures – carotid endarterectomy, carotid artery stent, open and endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms, infra-inguinal and supra-inguinal bypass, peripheral vascular intervention, thoracic and complex endovascular aortic repair, and hemodialysis access. VQI currently includes 90 participating centers spread across the United States and Canada. In total, the Initiative has collected data on more than 27,500 procedures. These institutions also participate in regional quality groups through the Society for Vascular® Surgery Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO), for the sharing and analysis of data through anonymous, benchmarked reports to initiate quality improvement projects in an effort to improve patient care and the quality of vascular health care.
With the latest release of Clinical Data Pathways, M2S has also expanded the Carotid Artery Stent (CAS) procedure form to include the collection of isolated and proximal common carotid stents, giving participating centers the ability to collect data on all CAS procedures in order to meet the requirements of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Carotid Artery Stent Facility Recertification.
Future updates to Pathways include the addition of an amputation procedure module and integration of M2S’s 3D imaging measurement data into VQI to provide customers with a comprehensive patient management system.

West Lebanon, NH Apr 21, 2011 — M2S, Inc., a leading provider of medical image and clinical data analysis services, has added the thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) procedure form to its Clinical Data Pathways vascular quality improvement database, with the release of version 1.10 of the system. The Clinical Data Pathways database is the registry platform utilized by the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI), and now collects data on eight vascular procedures – carotid endarterectomy, carotid artery stent, open and endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms, infra-inguinal and supra-inguinal bypass, peripheral vascular intervention, and TEVAR.
Clinical Data Pathways is a secure, web-based system for data entry and real-time benchmarked report generation. Pathways provides a common platform for VQI participating centers and physicians to collect data on pre-operative risk factors, intra-procedural variables, post-procedural outcomes, and one year follow-up data. Under the auspices of the Society for Vascular Surgery® Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO), participants can analyze outcomes and processes of care, reinforce best practices, and share quality improvement efforts regionally, nationally, and internationally. Centers participating in VQI can also satisfy the requirements for Part IV of the Maintenance of Certification of the American Board of Surgery, collect the necessary data to meet CMS’ Carotid Artery Stent Facility Recertification, and participate in PQRS (Physician Quality Reporting System).
A key component of VQI is the formation of regional vascular quality improvement groups within the SVS PSO for the sharing of data to initiate quality improvement projects in an effort to improve patient care. The real-time, benchmarked reports generated through the Pathways system allows regional groups and participating centers to continuously assess themselves compared to an anonymous group of peers on key performance measures. Currently, regional quality groups are organized or organizing in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the Carolinas, Florida, Texas, Southern California, Virginia, Michigan, and Ontario, Canada. The continued formation and expansion of regional quality groups will create a greater value for benchmarking clinical data among hospitals, as well as the rapid accumulation of data that can leverage quality improvement initiatives for detecting root causes of outcomes and improving long-term patient surveillance.

West Lebanon, NH Feb 17, 2011 – M2S, Inc., a medical image and clinical data management company, announced today that the company has been awarded a Granite State Technology Innovation Grant from the New Hampshire Innovation Research Center. Through this grant, M2S will increase the quality and efficiency of its proprietary 3D imaging technology process. The grant will enhance the technology’s ability to differentiate thrombus, bloodflow and calcification within a 3D model, a quality feature patented by M2S.
The award of this grant supports M2S’s commitment to the development of innovative technologies in the assessment of aortic disease. As the leader in vascular surgery pre-operative treatment planning, long-term patient surveillance, and outcome analysis, M2S is committed to partnering with the strongest minds in order to improve patient care. Through this grant M2S will have the honor to work in collaboration with Dr. Alex Hartov, Professor at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College, to develop a fully-automated solution for producing 3D models from CT data in order to deliver highly accurate, standardized anatomical analyses. The accuracy of the 3D model and measurements provided by M2S through its Preview® treatment planning service is crucial for optimal treatment planning and outcomes.
Benefits to the end-users from this project’s enhancements include a more cost-effective vascular procedure planning and patient management system. M2S is at a pivotal point in developing a unified system that will allow physicians to plan treatment, monitor outcomes and identify best practices. At the end of the day M2S is committed to providing quality systems that will improve patient care and reduce health care costs.
The project is set to begin in February 2011. It will utilize M2S’s large database of patient data and Dartmouth’s researchers’ extensive experience in anatomic segmentation and image guided surgery.

West Lebanon, NH Nov 12, 2010 – The Society for Vascular Surgery® (SVS) announced today that it will partner with M2S, Inc., a leading provider of medical image and clinical data analysis services, to launch the Vascular Quality Initiative. This initiative will employ a new methodology for vascular quality improvement by fostering the organization of regional study groups. The initiative is modeled after the highly successful Vascular Study Group of New England (VSGNE) that began in 2002 and expanded internationally in collaboration with M2S in 2009.
This partnership positions SVS and M2S as leaders in vascular outcomes tracking by providing a web-based data management platform for vascular surgeons to analyze outcomes, reinforce best practices and share quality improvement efforts locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. SVS oversees the Vascular Quality Initiative through the SVS Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO). Dr. Jack Cronenwett, of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and former SVS president, has been appointed Medical Director of the SVS PSO, and will be supported by an executive council comprised of SVS and regional group representatives. The SVS PSO will establish common data elements, define standardized reporting tools, and oversee comparative data analyses while encouraging regional group autonomy.
The Vascular Quality Initiative utilizes M2S’s secure, web-based Clinical Data Pathways system for data entry and report generation. Clinical Data Pathways allows participants to understand and improve patient outcomes by providing efficient data collection, aggregation and analysis of vascular procedure data and delivering real-time, anonymous, benchmarked reports of major outcomes and processes of care.
“We are excited to partner with SVS to provide the platform for the Vascular Quality Initiative. M2S has been committed to improving vascular patient outcomes for over ten years with our advanced imaging technology. We believe that the Vascular Quality Initiative combined with standardized pre-operative and post-operative imaging will significantly improve patient care,” said Greg Lange, President and Chief Operating Officer of M2S.
The SVS PSO has collected peri-operative data on over 17,500 procedures entered from 33 centers across 11 states and Canada. Regional groups have formed in New England, the Carolinas, Texas, Southern California, the Mid-Atlantic and Toronto, Canada. Additional groups are forming in Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, Georgia and Michigan.

West Lebanon, NH Oct 20, 2010 — M2S, Inc., a leading provider of medical image and clinical data analysis services has released version 1.7 of its Clinical Data Pathways vascular quality improvement database. Pathways is a secure, web-based data collection and analysis system that provides real-time benchmarked reports and facilitates local, regional and national data collaboration, while providing the customer with complete control of their data. This release provides new procedure forms and fields, as well as user interface enhancements in response to customer feedback.
With this latest release of Clinical Data Pathways, participating centers can now collect all required data for Carotid Artery Stent Facility Recertification through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Another feature of the release is the splitting of the previous Lower Extremity Bypass procedure form into Infra-Inguinal Bypass and Supra-Inguinal Bypass procedure forms, added to improve the clarity and quality of the data being collected. Upcoming releases to Clinical Data Pathways will include additional procedure forms – Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair, Dialysis Access and Amputation, as well as a new module to capture Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) data.