Merge announces sofware updates, upcoming acquisition

Milwaukee — Merge eFilm will acquire AccuImage Diagnostic Corp. to expand its health-care software line in a $6 million cash deal announced on Wednesday.

Merge eFilm, the business name of Merge Technologies Incorporated, expects to close the deal with the San Francisco-based company in first-quarter 2005.

AccuImage's software, used by radiologists and other specialty physicians, includes three-dimensional visualization tools that can be used for diagnostics of calcium, colon, lung, body fat and other issues. Merge will incorporate it into the Fusion line of software for picture archiving and communication systems, called PACS, and radiology information systems, or RIS.

A Merge statement said the company valued AccuImage's clinical experience and will boost its distribution into new markets with the acquisition.

The company announced separately on Friday that it has released version 2.0 of its Fusion eFilm and eFilm Workstation software, both diagnostic software products meant to aid physicians in viewing digital images.