The debates among vendors as to the benefits of digital radiography (DR) vs. computed radiography (CR) or even analog vs. digital are not as prevalent as they have been in RSNAs past.
If anything, a peaceful coexistence has taken over, as radiographic equipment designers and manufacturers have come to the conclusion that each technology — regardless of the age — can find its market niche somewhere in the world.
Swissray International Inc. (New York) hopes to surprise some people by showing digital fluoroscopy capabilities on its ddR detector. Swissray says the company is less than a year away from a digital fluoro product that will allow all existing Swissray ddR customers to upgrade to fluoroscopic capabilities.
Swissray also will unveil a new, low-end addition to its ddR product line, the ddR Formula. The new product targets a lower price point by using manual controls instead of automatic movement. Other than that feature, the ddR Formula has the same capabilities as other Swissray ddR products. A list price was not available at press time, but company officials say it would list lower than any current ddR products.
Swissray also will release two new tables, including a pedestal-based tilting table and a mobile table that has a four-way floating top. Both products will be available in summer of 2001.
GE Medical Systems (GEMS of Waukesha, Wis.) will focus on clinical results and advanced applications of its digital X-ray product line at RSNA. Frederic Pla, Ph.D., manager of global X-ray research and advanced development programs at GEMS, says there should be a number of presentations at RSNA on the GEMS’ digital product lines, including the Revolution XQ/i digital chest system and the Senographe 2000D full-field digital mammography system.
“By the end of this year, we should have 250 installations of digital radiography and mammography systems worldwide,” Pla estimates.
While details were limited at press time, attendees can expect to hear about the advanced applications planned for GEMS’ digital X-ray line, most likely tomosynthesis and dual-energy imaging.
Toshiba America Medical Systems (TAMS of Tustin, Calif.) is releasing its Ultimax multipurpose X-ray system. Allan Berthe, X-ray product manager at TAMS, says the Ultimax is designed for use in general diagnostic, R/F, interventional and angiographic studies.
The Ultimax is FDA-cleared and should have several clinical sites up and running by the time of its formal launch at RSNA. The Ultimax uses the same digital processor as Toshiba’s Efficiency R&F line.
“We feel the processor on this system is one of the most powerful in this industry,” Berthe says. “We are going to improve its processing speed, increase its hard disk capacity and the general user interface will provide a more operator-friendly environment.”
The Ultimax will be available in six different standard configurations, ranging in price range from $800,000 to $950,000.
Control-X Medical Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) will feature its Perform-X radiographic advanced diagnostic system, which provides streamlined patient throughput. The other major product for Control-X will be the Phoenix elevator table, which has a four-way floating top with a lift capacity of 500 pounds.
Shown as a works-in-progress last year, InfiMed Inc.’s (Liverpool, N.Y.) flat-panel imaging project called Stingray DR has received FDA approval. The first units were scheduled to be installed in October. It has a replacement unit that can be retrofitted into existing radiography rooms. The unit sells for approximately $200,000 for a single panel retrofit. InfiMed will have clinical images from these first installations at RSNA.
The company’s Gold One system for digital spot filming has new software — Version 4.09 — that will lead to multiple applications in urology, DSA and cardiology, to name a few. The software has an auto-optimization feature, which provides the best possible image quality immediately after acquisition, says Tim Stevener, vice president of global radiology sales and marketing. The software also features an optional enhanced DICOM package that has the modality worklist class added to the existing storage and print classes. Version 4.09 sells for $7,500.
A new FDA-approved feature on the cardiac workstation CWS 5000 and software-only viewers CV 1000 and CV 100 is the ability to digitize cardiac images, transfer them to a workstation, and archived on CD.
Philips Medical Systems North America (Shelton, Conn.) offers additions to its radiography product line. Philips will target a low-end price point with its new Bucky TS analog radiography system. The list price of less than $50,000 targets hospitals with less than 250 beds, a market Philips admittedly has had difficulty tapping into in the past. The new Bucky TS will be available at the show.
Philips also will have a new feature on the Bucky TH product. Philips is adding an automatic cassette loader on the unit to increase the throughput of the system.
“The system automatically centers and accepts the cassette and discharges it, improving the workflow and reliability of the system,” says Thomas Giordano, Philips’ director of business unit radiography. Giordano adds that Philips is pushing the upgradeability of the Bucky TH to digital with Philips’ flat-panel digital detector.
Also new to the Philips radiography line will be the Bucky Diagnost VR. With this product, Philips has taken the Bucky TH, eliminated the table and used the same electronics in a wall stand.
“We had a lot of our customers asking for a conventional wall stand that can operate by itself in analog fashion and be upgradeable to full digital,” Giordano says. “At RSNA, we’ll show the VR in its digital form, but right now it will only be available as an analog product. The digital version will be available in the middle of 2001.”
Philips also plans to debut a new Integris interventional product for vascular interventional radiology and neuroradiology. John Steidley, Philips’ vascular business unit director, says the new Integris aims to improve both outcomes and workflow. The system is designed for improved 3D reconstruction and is available as an upgrade for the 3,500 current Integris installations.
On the RF side, Philips will show the DSI-Pro, which was released in July. Philips says the DSI-Pro combines the need for increased processing capability with current RF technology. The DSI-Pro is based on the Multi-Diagnost family of tilt C-arms, but adds Bolus Chase subtraction capabilities. Optional software packages include vascular post-processing, automated scoliosis analysis and large field-of-view. Shipments are expected to begin by RSNA.
Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, N.Y.) began selling its new digital radiography systems in late September.
The new offerings are the product of several supply agreements that Kodak detailed at RSNA ’99. The amorphous selenium-based, flat-panel detectors are provided by Hologic Inc.’s Direct Radiography Corp. (Newark, Del.) subsidiary. Fischer Imaging Corp. (Denver) is supplying X-ray and hardware components, while Analogic Corp. (Peabody, Mass.) is spearheading the assembly and integration work under its newly created digital X-ray division.
The DirectView DR 9000 is designed for general radiography with a versatile rotating U-arm to perform head, chest, skeletal, extremity and trauma exams. It offers a choice of three patient support tables. The list price on the DR 9000 is $435,000 and it is available today.
The DirectView DR 5000 is optimized for chest and upright exams and uses a digital bucky linked to a floor-mounted tube stand. Company officials said it carries a list price of $375,000. Kodak also is developing a digital retrofit offering, the DR 7000.
RSNA will see the first active marketing effort from Wuestec Inc. (Mobile, Ala.) for its DX2000 and DX2001 digital X-ray radiography systems.
Designed for general radiological applications, the DX2000 and the DX2001 employ charged-couple device (CCD) technology. Each comes complete with an image receptor, workstations, an X-ray generator, PACS viewing software, radiographic stand, table, telemedicine expandability and remote diagnosis capability.
Both DX systems are currently available. Delivery time is eight weeks from time of order.
Speaking of Hologic’s DRC, the subsidiary will show an inverse topography technology that is designed to optimize the appearance of both soft tissue and bone in the same image. DRC also will have a new TFT array to show in Chicago.
Other radiography offerings from Hologic will include the Classic X-ray table, which is a digital system for both tomographic and standard imaging. Also, the company will highlight an R/F table with a new user interface, as well as a new mobile X-ray system. Additional details on these products will be available at the show.
Hologic’s other subsidiary — FluoroScan Imaging Systems Inc. (Northbrook, Ill.) — will expand its offerings beyond its traditional mini C-arm line and introduce the Profile, a new 9-inch C-arm for pain management, orthopedics and general surgery.
Hologic also will stay true to its roots with several new bone densitometry offerings this year. The Delphi’s capabilities will expand to include supine lateral BMD (bone mineral density) assessment of the spine in patients where artifacts in conventional views may mask low bone density. The next generation of Delphi’s Instant Vertebral Assessment (IVA) capability will be unwrapped at RSNA, as well as several new reporting tools, including a combined IVA/BMD report, e-mail capability of patient reports and an IVA toolbox for enhanced annotation.
GE Lunar (Madison, Wis.) will launch two new products and one new feature at RSNA 2000.
The top product is the Prodigy Oracle, a fan-beam densitometer equipped with several options, including lateral vertebral assessment (LVA), DICOM and teledensitometry technologies. LVA — which also makes its debut on GE Lunar products at the show — combines bone mineral density and qualitative imaging of the lateral spine in one sequence. Clinical studies have shown that the identification of vertebral fractures is another key element in assessing a patient’s fracture risk. All the features on the Prodigy Oracle are FDA-cleared and the product is ready to ship.
GE Lunar also will unveil its new Prodigy Pro, which combines spine-femur bone mineral density into a fan-beam configuration. The densitometer is designed for healthcare providers who may not need all the features available on the Oracle. With the Pro, the customer can select only the options he or she needs. Software upgrade are available to bring the Pro to the Oracle level. The primary market would be private radiology clinics.
GE Lunar also will show its new Composer, an automated report generator, which combines a patient’s age, bone mineral density and other risk factors to automatically generate a report to referral physicians. Reports can be customized to the patient and the institution. Composer is available on all Lunar densitometers.
Del Medical Systems Group (Franklin, Park, Ill.) waltzes into RSNA with RadView, a customized, integrated radiology system.
A RadView system offers customers a choice of high-frequency generators, ceiling, floor or specialized chest/
upright configurations, and accessories, including compression band, lateral cassette holder, shoulder/head restraints and an adjustable, top-mounted grip for the wall bucky.
Models are designed for long-term service with upgrade capability to digital flat- panel technology. The company says the system is user-friendly with a curved table front, slanted foot treadle design and one-hand operation of the table bucky, table controls and wall receptor.
DR vendor Imaging Dynamics Corp. (IDC of Calgary, Alberta, Canada) will make its sophomore trip to RSNA, spreading the word about its clinical installs for the Xplorer 1000 DR system. By RSNA, the company expects to have four Canadian sites and two U.S. sites up and running.
IDC officials are talking with dealers about setting up a distribution network in the U.S. for its product. “We’re hoping to close those deals by RSNA,” says Michael Baker, IDC’s the newly named president of the U.S. operations. “We’re waiting to validate the performance of the machine in the beta sites.”
On the computed radiography (CR) front, Philips has worked with its CR partner Fuji Medical Systems (Stamford, Conn.) to develop a low-end CR system called the Compact. Philips hopes to penetrate the lower-end market for clinics and hospitals of less than 250 beds.
Giordano estimates Philips has 750 CR systems installed worldwide.
Fuji, meanwhile, hopes to turn some heads on the show floor with its SmartCR technology. SmartCR is a single-plate device priced to attract digital X-ray facilities that may not be considering it.
The SmartCR reader is 45 percent smaller than the Fuji FCR5000 and the throughput is approximately 20 percent less. The footprint on the product is smaller than any CR on the market at three square feet. The entire package includes an image reader, integrated workstation and an assortment of imaging plates and cassettes.
With the SmartCR, Fuji is releasing the ST-VI, a new imaging plate designed specifically for the SmartCR, but also is “backwards” compatible to all Fuji readers to the AC3.
CR company Lumisys Inc. (Sunnyvale, Calif.) will have its newest product — the Lumiscan 40 2K laser film digitizer. The Lumiscan 40 — launched in August — uses the same desktop configuration and software and hardware as other devices in the Lumiscan line. The company will market the device as a replacement to existing CCD digitizers. The list price is $18,900. The Lumiscan 40 replaces the Lumiscan 20.
Agfa Corp. (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) will show DR in its booth, thanks to its agreement with Canon Medical Systems (Irvine, Calif.). In June, Agfa signed a deal to sell Canon DR systems in all worldwide markets, except Japan. The contract also calls for Agfa to label and sell the Canon systems as the Agfa DR-Thorax system.
The DR systems will be shown in an integrated format with Agfa’s Impax PACS components and in a stand-alone configuration. The Musica algorithm’s future development will be a topic of discussion at the booth.
Huestis Medical (Bristol, R.I.) will exhibit remanufactured medical imaging equipment at RSNA, including equipment from GE Medical Systems, such as an RFX table with digital imaging capabilities, an AMX portable X-ray unit, and a GE OEC 9000 Series C-arm. In addition, Heustic will have a urology table from Liebel-Flarsheim (Cincinnati), a subsidiary of Mallinckrodt Inc. (St. Louis).
Huestis’ new Selectable collimator is designed for pre-formatted sizing without the complexity of traditional positive beam limitation (PBL) systems. Company officials say it alleviates complex systems traditionally required to accept, size and feed information from the bucky to the collimator. Pre-formatted controls allow technicians to easily choose film size and source-to-image distance (SID) directly from the front panel of the collimator.
Cares Built Inc. (Keyport, N.J.) will show offerings in three product groups. Among them will be the Clarity 7000 direct digital radiography receptor. The detector area is 17 in. by 17 in. with a pixel resolution equivalent to seven line pairs per millimeter. Cares Built says the Clarity 7000 connects to the existing bucky of all X-ray makes and models for retrofits.
Cares Built also will have products from its Flex-Ray radiographic line. The roster includes the Theson multi-position X-ray unit, capable of imaging all parts of the body, and the Hercules 7000 and 7000+ mobile X-ray units.
Also at RSNA 2000 will be Cares Built’s Apollo mobile C-arm system, which includes rotating and fixed anode systems. Apollo has full fluoroscopic capabilities, including general surgery, orthopedic, pediatric, microsurgery and cardio applications. 
