Local biz stretches to Seattle

SARASOTA — CAE Healthcare, the local division of a Canadian-based aviation simulation and training conglomerate, bought Blue Phantom, a Seattle-based medical ultrasound imaging simulation business.

Terms of the deal, announced last week, weren't released. Executives at CAE Healthcare, formerly Medical Education Technologies Inc., or METI, say Blue Phantom's low-fidelity simulators will enable the firm to expand its health care simulation business, where it's already a global market leader. CAE Healthcare President Michael Bernstein, in a release, says Blue Phantom's technology will become a cornerstone of future development for CAE Healthcare.
 
“We are excited to have Blue Phantom become part of CAE Healthcare,” Bernstein says in the release. “We have identified the booming market for handheld ultrasound devices as one of the most promising for simulation-based training.”

CAE Healthcare is a subsidiary of Montreal based CAE, a $1.82 billion publicly traded firm. CAE bought METI, which had been one of the largest privately owned companies in the Sarasota-Bradenton region, in August 2011. CAE paid $130 million for METI, a market leader in the lifelike human patient medical simulator business for the past 15 years. For more on the deal, click here.