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DIGITAL RADIOGRAPHY 101

DR or CR?

There are basically two branches of "Digital Radiology". There is Direct Radiography (DR), where an image is digitized in real time with a sensor that replaces the film cassette.  DR can either be "flat panel" or CCD, ( "charge coupled devices")DR offers:

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Fast digital imaging...6- 8 seconds

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Greater financial risk

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Higher radiation doses

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May or may not use your existing x-ray, depending on system

We have sell Flat Panel DR systems, or CCD DR systems.

CR has been around for a number of years and is rock solid technology.  And that is the reason you need to consider CR;  economical and dependable performance.  CR offers:

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Most economical...typically tens of thousands of dollars less

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CR can generally be used with any x-ray system

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CR offers the best value in digital radiography

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Higher image quality

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Use your existing x-ray machine

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Typically half the dose as DR

When the CR cassette is "read" in the reader, the cassette is erased and returned ready to use again.  CR is slower than DR, but still typically provides a 14 x 17 image in less than one minute.  CR will work with most x-ray machines without modification, however a 178 line grid may be a desirable upgrade.

Fuji CR systems provide very high quality images with more algorithms then their competition.  Soft tissue or bone detail can be optimized from the same exposure.  Because they are equivalent to a 400 speed film based system in technique, x-ray tube life is significantly extended and scatter radiation is significantly reduced.  Harborview Hospital, Seattle; Group Health of Washington, and The Mayo Clinic, all use Fuji CR.  We have installed over 40 throughout the Northwest in the past couple of years.

All of our digital systems include workstations with the necessary hardware and software to perform digital radiology.  A high resolution monitor is included with the workstation.  Higher quality monitors are available; however the cost may not be justified.  You will be amazed at the image quality available on the workstation.  The packages we are offering include complete workstations, with PCs and software included.  All have CD/DVD burners for archiving or providing to clients or referring physicians.  Systems are generally set up to send images over the internet to radiologists or education centers.  Some form of PACS (Pictorial Archiving & Computing) is required to distribute images.  We have a broad variety of PACS available from web based to conventional server based.

 —Roy Duncan  2/11/10

Last Updated 1/30/2012

Copyright 1999