“Brava Medical is proud to present an exclusive interview with Dr. Alice Chiang.”

Alice M. Chiang, Ph.D., President of Teratech, President and founder of Terason.

In the 22 years prior to founding Teratech, Dr. Chiang has held research and development leadership positions in commercial and defense industry settings. Among the emerging technology products developed under her guidance are a room-temperature IR camera, a UV Star Tracker, Collision Avoidance Radar and a Neural Network-based Image Recognition System.   Dr. Chiang has 24 patents and holds a Ph.D. in physics from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

With key patents protecting the integrated circuit technology she developed at MIT, Dr. Chiang formed the Terason division in 1996 and successfully developed, manufactured and marketed the first “true” miniaturized ultrasound system powered by an off the shelf commercial PC

BravaMedical:  Twelve years ago, your company was the first company to successfully develop, manufacture and market a miniaturized ultrasound system without jeopardizing system capability or image quality.  Since that time, other companies like GE and SonoSite have followed with their own miniaturized versions.   In your opinion, over the last five years, what have the biggest leaps in Ultrasound technology?

Dr. Chiang:  I think we have only begun the scratch the surface of what is possible by creating a high quality imaging system without the bulk and expense of these huge cart-based machines.  I think this advancement will continually enable people in the medical profession to think about new uses for ultrasound.

Brava Medical:  How does Terason figure into that future?

Dr. Chiang:  Being the innovator in miniaturized ultrasound systems we intend to continue to be one of the leaders in the ultrasound and broader imaging marketplace. We believe our current products have key differentiators that will appeal to a broad array of end users.  We expect future product enhancements will continue to differentiate us in the eyes of our customers. 

Brava Medical:  In your role as founder and CEO of  Terason what are some of the biggest challenges you’re facing over the next 24 months?

Dr. Chiang:  Product development and incorporating technological improvements in a cost-effective manner will always be a challenge. However, for us, we need to do a better job demonstrating how our products can enhance patient care.  In the end, raising the level of surgical success or improving patient diagnoses is the unifying objective for all of us who participate in the medical marketplace.

Brava Medical: What is going on in the medical imaging industry that is causing more and more organizations to face up to change?

Dr. Chiang:  One thing we are seeing more of is integration of other medical technologies with ultrasound, as well as multimodality imaging. This will expand the application of ultrasound from a diagnostic imaging tool to new applications such as image-guided biopsy, image-guided surgery, image-guided therapeutic procedures, image-fusing for brain surgery, etc.

Brava Medical:  Do you see progress being made in the area of diversity relative to women, and if so, why do you feel this is an easier issue to solve today than ten years ago?

Dr. Chiang:  Overall, yes. I think societal expectations and ideas of what women can, or cannot do, have changed for the better, and we owe a great debt to those women before us who were able to demonstrate that they could achieve at a high level despite the obstacles facing them.

Brava Medical:  You are known as a pragmatic, hard-driving leader. And yet, you are also known as a leader with values which might be considered "softer." What do you expect from your own leaders within your organization?

Dr. Chiang:  I expect all my people to be co-owners.  I expect them to use all their skills to participate in creating the vision and objectives for our organization; to understand their role in achieving those objectives; and to work professionally and passionately to achieve those objectives.  I also expect them to be great representatives of Terason wherever they go. Finally, nurturing and developing new talent has always been a personal passion, this was true back in my days as a researcher and graduate thesis advisor at MIT, and continues to be now. I expect my team leaders to share and work towards this goal, not only to benefit Terason, but the medical and scientific community as a whole.

Brava Medical:  With the lack of job security in today’s work environment, what helps people move forward?

Dr. Chiang:  I am a believer in the concept of continuous improvement.  If people are alert to opportunities and spend time trying to be better today than they were yesterday, they will move forward.  Lifetime employment is no longer guaranteed anywhere.  We all must understand the realities of competition - world wide.

Brava Medical:  You founded Terason in 1996.  If you could sum up Terason’s corporate culture,  what would it be?

Dr. Chiang:  I would say we have had a culture of technological superiority through innovation, and that was an important ingredient to getting us this far.  Our challenge is to maintain that aspect of who we are, while embracing other values that will take us to the next level.  I am personally spending a lot of time on this.

Brava Medical:  As a company, how do you strategize against so many distributors selling ultrasound as well as physicians simply purchasing equipment from the Internet?

Dr. Chiang:  We sell our products through a variety of distribution methods.  We sell directly in the U.S.  We use distributors overseas.  We have several important private labeling relationships that we have cultivated.  With ultrasound, we have found that customers are concerned about many things beside price.  Training is very important.  Problem solving for the customer is important.  Getting image data stored and reported in an efficient manner is important.  I’m not sure our customers will be happy if we cannot deliver on these aspects of our product offering.

Brava Medical:  Are you seeing a diminishing of customer loyalty to your products?  Do you find physicians are buying mainly due to price?

Dr. Chiang:  We understand that we need to continually earn customer loyalty.  However, based on my previous comments regarding our commitment to superior training, customer service, and quality product, I don’t believe price is the single deciding factor for customers.

Brava Medical:  Has Ultrasound technology peaked and  has it been difficult keeping up with or ahead of technology?

Dr. Chiang:    Not at all.  Terason transformed the Ultrasound industry with the first miniaturized ultrasound system and there is much more excitement to come   We are working on more improvements and have periodic breakthroughs that I get very excited about.  In the next couple of years, I see us doing several things to continue to transform the ultrasound industry.  This has been my life’s passion.  I like the challenge.

Brava Medical:  What’s the last thing you didn’t understand?

Dr. Chiang:    Making a good product is a “necessary but not sufficient condition” for a good business. 

Brava Medical:  Thank you for honoring us with this time, Dr. Chiang.  

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