Truvel Gets Contract to Design X-Ray Workstation

Truvel Corp., a Chatsworth maker of computerized scanners, said it received a $750,000 contract to design a scanning workstation for use in analyzing mammograms, or breast X-rays.

The contract was awarded by Spectrum Ten, a group of California investors that includes some doctors, Truvel Chairman Richard Gerlach said. Truvel expects to have a prototype of the machine in about 7 months, he said.

Truvel’s workstation would be aimed at giving doctors and other medical professionals an electronic picture of a mammogram that could be stored in a computer. The machine would enable them to enlarge or otherwise enhance the mammogram’s data for more precise analysis, Gerlach said.

There already are other products that provide some of these features, but they cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, Gerlach said. Truvel wants to develop an advanced scanner “at an affordable price” that can be used throughout the medical profession, he said.

He declined to say how much Truvel’s machine might cost. Truvel’s line of scanners range in price from about $5,000 to $10,000.