by
Joanna Padovano, Reporter | January 17, 2012
From the January 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Meanwhile, Agfa Healthcare launched the DX-D 100 Wireless, a mobile digital X-ray unit with a wireless detector. Using the manufacturer’s MUSICA² imaging processing software and NX workstation, the DX-D 100 Wireless can be used with several types of general radiography X-ray studies and is said to enhance patient safety, comfort and positioning for bedside mobile imaging.
Carestream DRX-Revolution
According to Carestream’s Titus, the company showed off their DRX-Revolution, a work-in-progress mobile X-ray unit powered by the wireless DRX detector. “This is a DR system complete from the ground up,” she says, mentioning that it has a collapsible column, “so when the tech is driving in those tight hallways, they have a clear view, and then when they get to the room, they can extend the column up.” The DRX-Revolution, Carestream’s first portable X-ray system, is pending FDA clearance. The company expects to begin selling the unit by the middle of this year.
GE Healthcare recently released its new line of portable X-ray systems, including the Optima XR220amx, a digital unit that features 15kW and 30kW generator options and uses a wireless digital detector called FlashPad. “It really represents everything about the AMX product line, known for its durability, reliability and user-friendliness,” says Dave Widmann, the OEM’s general manager of Rad/R&F.
Sales in the sector
Due in part to the introduction of the MobileDiagnost wDR, the portable sales for Philips Healthcare have been strong. “We’ve had very strong sales in the first three months of selling the unit this year,” Neukirch reports.
Westin describes the sales for Siemens’ portable units as being “steady,” and Titus says that Carestream’s portable business has been “very good.”
Greg Cefalo, Agfa Healthcare’s U.S. imaging business unit manager, has noticed that the company’s sales for tethered portable units have been slow. “The market really wants the wireless, that message is loud and clear,” he says. “We stopped shipping the tethered units probably in May or June . . . the wireless units are huge.”
“Our portable units have been doing quite well,” says Widmann, on behalf of GE Healthcare. He adds that the company has seen “some very nice growth for the business.”
