Wuestec restructures Samsung relationship

Wuestec restructures Samsung relationship

As Wuestec Medical gears up for commercialization of its new low-cost digital x-ray system, the U.S. x-ray company has restructured its relationship with Korean partner Samsung. Wuestec has taken over full control of Samsung’s interest in DigiX, a Canadian digital development joint venture formed to develop a CCD-based digital x-ray system. Wuestec will operate the venture as an internal R&D arm.

The joint venture’s work had paired Samsung’s expertise in CCD technology with Wuestec’s capabilities in developing conventional x-ray units. Wuestec had displayed the product of DigiX’s work, DX-1480, at the 1998 RSNA meeting.

Wuestec made the decision to buy out Samsung to assume more control over its supply of digital x-ray components, according to COO Martin Porter. The company purchased Samsung’s interest in DigiX using cash, notes payable, and an equity stake in privately held Wuestec. Wuestec declined to comment on the price or what percentage of the Mobile, AL-based firm Samsung now owns.

DX-1480 is priced at $197,500, a level significantly below the $350,000 to $400,000 price range cited for other digital radiography (DR) systems. Wuestec officials have positioned DX-1480 to compete head-on with standard analog x-ray systems.

The company has lined up 70 x-ray dealerships in the U.S. to handle DX-1480 and hopes to begin installations of the new system this month. The firm’s own sales staff will handle national accounts. Internationally, Wuestec has formed distributor relationships in Europe, Asia/Pacific, and the Middle East. The company has begun installing the first production unit of DX-1480 at its clinical site at the University of South Alabama, also in Mobile, AL.

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