News Story

Kodak Introduces Software for Controlling Dose Creep

In the transition from traditional film-based radiology to digital, many steps of the process have been lost or altered. The exposure latitude that’s built into CR systems might help technologists achieve diagnostic quality in difficult exams; however, it also allows for the overexposure of patients.

“The natural tendency is that if you overexpose a little bit, the image not only doesn’t come out bad, it comes out better. The problem is that you can get in a habit of doing it, otherwise known as dose creep,” said Todd Minnigh, national director of marketing for the Americas at Eastman Kodak Co (Rochester, NY). The company has released new software for its CR 800 and 900 series systems that equips administrators with an easy way to monitor repeats and exposures for every exam and every radiographer in a department.

The detailed information from the software provides administrators with an overall picture of their departments. In turn, administrators can provide additional training to prevent the added radiation dose that can occur due to the exposure latitude provided by CR systems.

One of the problems behind the dose-creep habit stems from what initially seemed like a good thing—the impermanence of bad images. “One of the things we did when we came out with digital x-ray was eliminate the film and add a new feature: the delete button,” Minnigh said. “So if I made a picture I didn’t like, I could just delete it. It became a very bad thing, although it didn’t seem that way—it seemed like a digital camera.

“If you’re shooting over or under the range, the CR machine is keeping track—but usually only on a machine-by-machine basis,” he continued. “[With the software], Kodak provides the ability to aggregate all of the data across the department and give the manager, from his or her desktop, a review of the technologist’s performance, irrespective of the machine the tech used or what x-ray room he or she was exposing in. Now, the administrator receives an Excel file of not only the tech’s use of dose—or, in this case, exposure index—but also a report on the repeat analysis. Every time that someone does a repeat or deletes an image, the system will ask why, and then this new software will provide the administrator with an overview of all the repeats in the department and see exactly where the troubles are. That really helps to improve quality.”

Kodak expects to release the software for its CR systems in the near future, although no specific dates have been confirmed. Kodak is aiming to release the software for its DR systems in about 6 months.

“[Dose creep] is a common problem with all digital x-ray systems, and it’s very common in CR,” Minnigh said. “The only way to manage it is centrally by person, because the person is the one making the decision as to how much dose to use—particularly in portables or in places where the technologist has the option to use large-, small-, or medium-patient settings. If they’re always selecting to use a dose for a larger patient, they’re watching their dose creep up, just by the natural tendency to not want to make a mistake.”

—M. Said

Partnership Aims to Increase Detection Rate of Lung Lesions

Philips Medical Systems (Andover, Mass) has entered into a strategic partnership with EDDA Technology Inc (Princeton Junction, NJ) to provide advanced DR solutions to assist in the detection of lung lesions. According to the terms of the agreement, Philips Medical has licensed EDDA’s IQQA-Chest, which is designed to help clinicians identify, quantify, evaluate, and report pulmonary nodules.

By bridging the gap between the clinician’s interpretation based upon patient-specific knowledge and computer analysis of the information captured by the x-ray, IQQA-Chest helps clinicians increase their performance while improving the efficiency for the analysis of each image. In clinical environments, the solution has been shown to increase the discovery rates of small nodules up to 85% in comparison to detection without IQQA assistance, which varies between 35% and 65%.

IQQA-Chest will be available in combination with the entire Philips Medical DR portfolio, including DigitalDiagnost, the company’s direct DR solution. The product initially will be available in the United States and China, as it has received regulatory clearance in both countries, and will become available in additional countries starting in 2007.

“Through our partnership with EDDA Technology, we’re providing clinicians with a new set of tools to aid in their detection of lung lesions at an early stage,” said Peter Reimer, global marketing director of general x-ray for Philips Medical.