Pune, 2nd February 2008: OPTRA Systems, a leading Lifescience and healthcare imaging informatics company announced its partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading IT services, business solutions and outsourcing firm, to jointly design and implement complete Imaging software solution for the Life Science and Healthcare industry.

With this partnership the TCS’ Co-Innovation Network (COIN)TM, an ecosystem that promotes technology innovation, will expand its portfolio to include the healthcare industry.

Imaging applications and multiplexing will continue to grow, and extracting information from these complex data sets and protocols, is a key facet of imaging technology. The U.S. market for medical imaging is valued at a little more than $4.9 billion in 2006 and is expected to grow at an average annual growth rate of 11.9% to reach over $8.4 billion in 2011. The US market for diagnostic imaging systems was valued at over $6 billion in 2006.

Dr. M. Vidyasagar, Executive Vice President for Advanced Technology, TCS said, “I am very excited about this partnership. TCS has a very successful R&D program in the life sciences that has lead to high-value projects with clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. This partnership helps complement and extend our internal capabilities in developing integrated in-silico platforms for drug discovery and development.”

Abhi Gholap, President & CEO, Optra Systems said, “Software leadership of India is synonymous to TCS, and Optra is excited to be a part of TCS’ Co-Innovation Network (COIN)TM. We will leverage the ecosystem capabilities to together aim to create knowledge, generate Intellectual Property and serve leading biotech / pharmaceutical companies as well healthcare institutions across the world for their BioMedical Imaging needs. This association with TCS will provide us a right container to our knowledge and expertise in this niche area, thus making available a complete solution for the benefits of these industries and thus humankind as a whole”.

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TCS Co Innovation Network (COIN)™

TCS’ Co-Innovation Network (COIN)™ is a rich and diverse network that enables its customers stay ahead of the curve in an emerging model of collaborative innovation. Casting off rigid engagement models of the past and working with IP management and partnering strategies (COIN)™ drives innovation in an environment of open communities and solution brokers. With delivery of innovative solutions sourced globally, faster development of new solutions, and risk mitigation in working with new ideas, TCS leverages (COIN)™ to make richer customer experience a certainty. A part of the Tata Group, India’s largest industrial conglomerate, TCS has over 89,000 of the world's best trained IT consultants in 47 countries. The company generated consolidated revenues of US $4.3 billion for fiscal year ended 31 March 2007 and is listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay Stock Exchange in India. For more information, visit us at www.tcs.com.

biomedical

Biomedical engineering (BME) is the application of engineering principles and techniques to the medical field. It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with the medical and biological science to help improve patient health care and the quality of life of healthy individuals.

As a relatively new discipline, much of the work in biomedical engineering consists of research and development, covering an array of fields: bioinformatics, medical imaging, image processing, physiological signal processing, biomechanics, biomaterials and bioengineering, systems analysis, 3-D modeling, etc. Examples of concrete applications of biomedical engineering are the development and manufacture of biocompatible prostheses, medical devices, diagnostic devices and imaging equipment such as MRIs and EEGs, and pharmaceutical drugs.