X-Ray

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.

Moving from film-based radiography to digital x-ray imaging typically involves a choice between two quite different technologies, computed versus digital radiography. Now Agfa is offering an alternative halfway between the two.

Eastman Kodak will unveil a top-of-the-line, multicassette computed radiography system at this week’s meeting of the American Healthcare Radiology Administrators in San Antonio. Earlier this summer, the company unveiled a value-oriented single-cassette CR reader designed for budget-strapped hospitals, imaging centers, and physician practices.

Computed radiography has long had a financial edge over its flat-panel competitor, digital radiography. Radiography departments can convert to digital with the introduction of a single high-performance CR reader, as opposed to swapping film-based units for those with DR plates.

Fujifilm Medical Systems has combined its customizable Flex UI digital x-ray software application with the convenience of PDAs to introduce the FCR Pocket ID at the RSNA meeting. With the Pocket ID, patient data can be accessed quickly and verified at the patient's bedside, permitting caregivers to increase efficiency while reducing the potential for medical errors, according to the company.

Digital radiography has more than arrived. It is overwhelming film-based systems. And GE Healthcare has the proof, announcing at the RSNA meeting the 4000th shipment of its Revolution digital x-ray detector-based system.

Fujifilm Medical Systems has combined its customizable Flex UI digital x-ray software application with the convenience of PDAs to introduce the FCR Pocket ID at the RSNA meeting. With the Pocket ID, patient data can be accessed quickly and verified at the patient’s bedside, permitting caregivers to increase efficiency while reducing the potential for medical errors, according to the company.

Radiologists can spend less time manipulating computed/digital radiography (CR/DR) images with a new scheme developed by researchers at the University of Washington and Mayo Clinic Rochester to facilitate real-time radiology. The use of high-performance processors dramatically speeds up image processing.

Radiology has rarely faced a problem for which technology did not offer an acceptable, if not complete, solution. It hasn't done badly in putting technology to work even when problems were only imaginary, as with whole-body CT scanning. Imaging

Company offers low-cost DR alternatives to CRTwo years after launching its first CCD-based digital radiography product, Imaging Dynamics is enjoying the fruits of a market that is shifting gradually away from computed radiography

Struggle between CR and DR continuesNew offerings in digital radiography at McCormick Center will emphasize higher productivity and intuitive user interfacing. The objective will be to demonstrate improved workflow.During the RSNA

Computed radiography has been around for two decades, but it is far from obsolete. CR has stayed current by evolving new technologies and expanding into new clinical applications. But the factor that makes CR competitive with digital radiography involves

Success depends on putting past behindA year after a series of corporate missteps came to a head, Del Global Technologies may have turned a corner. Its launch of a digital x-ray system in mid-May and expected profitability during

The continued shift toward digital imaging, coupled with demands for better image quality and dose-efficient technology, is generating sustained interest in alternative methods of digitizing radiography. But the choice between computed radiography (CR)

Indianola, PA-based Medrad is changing its Brazilian office to a direct sales and service operation. This will give Brazilian hospitals and medical imaging centers direct access to Medrad sales, service, and product application specialists. The office

Vendors streamline processing, improve imagesManufacturers are revitalizing computed radiography product lines to become more competitive with digital radiography. They are focusing particularly on ways to decrease the time needed

The imaging community could soon have a powerful friend at the National Institutes of Health. The White House formally nominated Dr. Elias Zerhouni March 26 to direct the Institutes, which together fund some 43,000 biomedical projects with about $27

Turnkey product offers DR-like productivityWith the release of SpeedSuite, Fujifilm has upped the ante in its battle with digital radiography (DR). The turnkey product, which integrates computed radiography technology with an x-ray

OEM and installed base sales anchor strategyEdge Medical Devices hopes to convince customers that flat panels don’t require fat wallets. The company, which launched its Quix line of low-cost digital radiography systems at the

Some developers of digital x-ray equipment are playing for time outside medical markets, hoping that revenue streams from applications such as nondestructive testing will help underwrite the costs of evolving and manufacturing radiology-quality

Hologic has expanded its existing contract with Consorta, Catholic Resource Partners, to cover the sale of digital radiography products. Consorta and Hologic originally entered into a two-year contract in October 2000 covering Hologic’s

Like Mark Twain’s famously false obituary, rumors of computed radiography’s imminent demise have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, CR is defying expectations that it would fade away once digital radiography emerged from research and

As June drew to a close, Swissray International announced that Marconi Health Care Products (HCP) would market and service Swissray’s line of direct digital radiography (ddR) systems in the U.S., supplementing an existing distribution agreement

Swissray International plans to offer new enhancements that will improve the detection efficiency of its ddR direct digital radiography systems while reducing radiation dosage, according to the firm.Swissray will use Kodak’s Blue Plus CCD

Agfa passed up the opportunity to take a chance on digital radiography a year ago, but now the Belgium-based manufacturer of analog film, PACS, and CR will add Canon’s DR thorax system to its family of products.The company is hoping to please