The companies that make them don’t sell them — at least not directly.
The customers who buy them don’t ask for them — at least not directly.
What kind of equipment are customers not asking for that manufacturers are not selling yet healthcare providers are using on a regular basis?
Film digitizers.
As radiology goes the way of digital capture, display and storage with PACS and remote diagnosis via teleradiology, departments continue to deal with film — whether creating new images or referring to old studies on file in the film library. And as long as there is hard copy, there will be the desire to duplicate it, to move it somewhere. That’s where the film digitizer comes in: It’s a relatively inexpensive, unobtrusive piece of equipment designed for the sole purpose of converting analog X-rays into digital images.
Please refer to the March 2001 issue for the complete story. For information on article reprints, contact Martin St. Denis
