Lahman: Carestream our best kept secret

You can't buy their products at Wegmans or Target, and seven years after they were spun off from Kodak, their name is one that many Rochesterians might not recognize.

But in that time, Carestream Health has quietly established itself as a cornerstone of the Rochester business community.

It's not just a leader in the growing field of medical imaging, but it's also home to one of the most productive and prolific research labs in the Rochester region.

In 2014, Carestream researchers received 66 U.S. patents, the most of any local company outside of giants Kodak and Xerox. In 2013, they ranked fifth among Rochester area companies in the number of patents received.

The new patents Carestream received in 2014 reflect the breadth and depth of the technologies in which the company is excelling.

One example is the work Carestream engineers have done to develop innovative cone beam computed tomography (CT) systems for orthopedic extremity imaging.

The company also received patents for advances in dental imaging and radiology systems, as well as media that makes high-quality low-cost prints of digital X-rays on medical film and paper.

More interesting to me are their advances in areas that are new frontiers, at least new for us as medical consumers.

Carestream received several patents in the area of electronic medical records, healthcare IT systems that help manage, store and share patient data and medical imaging exams. Advances in these fields have been driven in part by new government regulations, but they can do so much to improve care and decrease bureaucracy.

The other area that I'm excited about is wearable technology, medical devices and monitors that can be worn or attached directly to your body. It's my belief that these devices will radically transform medical treatment in the near future. We're already seeing interesting applications for managing diabetes and asthma, or simply for tracking an individual's fitness activity.

Carestreams's Advanced Materials group received patents for advancements in developing transparent conductive films. These will be used in flexible touch panel displays for such products as digital wrist devices, but could also play a role in next generation smartphones, digital tablets, laptops and electronic displays. Whether or not Carestream gets into the wearables business, their work here can make an important impact.

It's all part of a strategy to keep pushing the cutting edge forward.

"These patents represent our ongoing investment in intellectual property to protect and advance the innovative technologies and systems developed by our technical and research experts," said Susan Parulski, Chief Patent Counsel for Carestream.

It's that kind of investment that helps a company grow and expand, and to become a cornerstone of the local economy.

Sean Lahman's column appears in print on Sundays.