X-Ray

Most of the general x-ray equipment currently being used in European hospitals is digital, according to a survey by InMedica, the medical branch of market research firm IMS Research.

The 10,000th Kodak Point-of-Care computed radiography system has shipped.

A portable digital x-ray system from Fujifilm Medical Systems USA made a cameo appearance Oct. 6 in an episode of the CBS series NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service).

A next generation computed radiography (CR) system and two digital radiography (DR) systems will debut in the Agfa Healthcare booth during RSNA 2009.

Queensland Health provides public health servicesacross a highly decentralized population base in thestate of Queensland.

X-ray, the past and current workhorse in radiology,still garners the majority of all imagingstudies.

Breaking with its past dependence on phosphor-based computed radiography plates, Fujifilm featured a flat-panel digital radiography system at the RSNA 2008 meeting.

Digital radiography specialist IMIX Americas introduced at RSNA 2008 two DR systems and software for processing radiographs. Designed for smaller facilities, the compact SomaRad DR system can be installed in rooms with ceilings only eight feet high. The ChiroRad DR system is tailored to fit chiropractic offices. IMIX workstation software, with an enhanced user interface, allows the seamless integration of digital and computed radiography components and improves workflow.

If digital radiography beckons but funds are a problem, Viztek may have the answer. The company introduced at RSNA 2008 a turnkey CR/PACS. Its new Opal-MD combines enterprise-level Opal-RAD PACS with Kodak’s Point-of-Care CR. The value-priced package is designed specifically for private practice physicians, yet it will deliver a range of advanced features. These include digital image viewing in multiple exam rooms, image autorouting, CD burning, and film printing.

Since full-field mammographystarted going digital eight yearsago, systems based on flat-panelarrays have dominated. But computedradiography has begun seeping intothat market and, if the FDA allowsCR companies to apply for streamlined510(k) approval of mammographyupgrades, the trickle of CR productscould turn into a flood.

A 75-year-old man was referred for presurgical MDCT evaluation of a known abdominal aortic aneurysm that had been detected on screening abdominal ultrasound. A contrast enhanced CTA scan of the abdomen was performed.

Buyers pull in their horns, and future portends mix of DR, computed radiography, and traditional film

Most U.S. healthcare facilities have digital imaging technology in the form of either CR or DR. The decision is not when to go digital, but which technology is the most appropriate for each location.

Managing CR and DR implementations is a carefully orchestrated effort at Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, SC. Our healthcare system includes two hospitals in Charleston (Bon Secours St. Francis and Roper Hospital) that represent almost 600 beds, a day hospital, a hospital soon to begin construction in Mt. Pleasant, and eight outpatient facilities with imaging services in the midcoastal area of the state.

Philips Medical Systems plans to be on the U.S. market with a computed radiography system for mammography in the second half of 2008 and with a flat panel mammography system in the first half of 2009. When approved by the FDA, they will be available as part of a digital platform that can support CR and DR, the first such hybrid ever.

Two new computed radiography systems and a digital radiography unit debut this week at the Caresteam Health booth at the RSNA meeting. The CRs, dubbed the Classic and Elite, are accompanied by IT products already introduced:

Demand for digital x-ray is soaring, about 10 years later than most industry insiders predicted. Better late than never, for sure, but the reasons behind the rise of this class of products are as much economic as technological. Volume sales are bringing down the price of digital x-ray systems, just as the adoption of PACS is making digital radiography more a need than a want. Vendors are responding with more powerful equipment bearing attractive prices.

When PACS were first introduced, the vendor supplied the whole system, from the back-end servers to the front-end diagnostic workstations. Over time, the buyers of these systems realized that none of these PACS vendors actually manufactured the computers and monitors; they just resold them, often at huge markups.

One of the world's major suppliers of flat-panel x-ray detectors will boost its manufacturing capacity 40% this year. By the end of the decade, Trixell-the French joint venture among Siemens, Philips, and Thales-expects to double its current capacity.

A newly constituted company drawn from the remnants of a past innovator in digital imaging aims to put a CT-like twist on general radiography. Fischer Medical Technologies plans to update the general radiography platforms that were once the foundation of its predecessor, Fischer Imaging, with novel digital detectors, inexpensive processors, and conebeam rendering software. Its top executive hopes the products it creates will change the way surgeons operate.

Demand for digital and computed radiography has boomed of late, and there’s no sign of pulling back among U.S. hospitals.

CR vendor Radlink debuted at the 2006 RSNA meeting a value-priced system designed to help physician offices convert from film to digital radiography. The Pro Imaging will leverage the company’s existing lines, which include the CR Pro computed radiography system, hardware to digitize existing x-ray films, and software for managing practice workflow and data.

Innovative x-ray technologies bolster early detection and shorten gap between DR and CT

The inherent advantages of digital radiography make it a growing favorite among radiology and other departments that use x-rays for diagnostic purposes. Speed, convenience, and quick review of images give DR an edge over rival computed radiography. Yet CR can perform some exams that are still beyond the scope of DR. This give and take is apparent in the orthopedics outpatient clinic at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY, which manages between 250 and 300 patients per day using three DR and five CR systems.

The pending FDA approval of FujiFilm’s computed radiography-based mammography system will radically change how the company approaches the U.S. market not only in CR but in PACS. Company strategists plan to position two CR products -- the single-plate reader ClearView-1m (mammography) and the multicasssette reader ClearView-CSm -- as dual-purpose devices capable of converting analog mammography systems to digital, while amplifying the capacity of and backing up already installed CR devices. Fuji will simultaneously market a mini-PACS for mammography that can be integrated with currently installed PACS, increase the capabilities of these PACS, and eventually replace them.

When digital radiography began to take hold, it seemed computed radiography -- the phosphor-based means to a digital end -- would be dropped by the wayside. Conventional wisdom held that it would be only a matter of time. But nothing like that has happened.

Low-dose CT appears well-suited to the task of diagnosing lung cancer at an early stage. But it faces challenges regarding small nodule detection, and it may not be as widely available for screening. Several research groups suggest that digital radiography-further enhanced by computer-aided detection and digital subtraction techniques-could overcome CT's shortcomings in this setting.

As manufacturers continue to vie for position in the digital imaging marketplace, they are reluctant to give competitors an edge. Consequently, computed radiography vendors are beefing up their technology to rival digital radiography in image quality and productivity, while digital radiography suppliers develop smaller, more compact products to challenge CR in affordability and flexibility.

Computed radiography’s new needle-like phosphor imaging plate technology provides comparable diagnostic performance with only half the radiation exposure required by its predecessor, according to a study presented Sunday. Findings suggest the gap between CR and digital radiography is shrinking as well.