MEDRAD addressed these issues with the release of its Stellant CT injection system, which was designed to meet customer needs.

"We made the unique decision when we came out with Stellant, to come out with a platform. Instead of making you go out and buy a new injector every three or four years, we're going to allow you to add the latest and greatest onto your existing injector," Farrell says.


Bob Williams, vice president of business development for ACIST, believes that things are changing for the better as we enter the end of 2009.

"We had in essence a double-hit with the DRA arriving in 2007 on the capital equipment side and obviously the credit crunch didn't help matters. We followed a similar decline in sales patterns to CT and MRI, however we see things starting to stabilize and people are starting to get back into purchasing mode," he says.

While the OEMs do what they can to improve their businesses, many third-party operators are taking advantage of the fact that people are more price-conscious and looking for different solutions.

"There is little doubt that the state of our economy and, more importantly, the future of health care, are playing a role in the way clients maintain their equipment," says Scott Scofield, CEO of VIVID Imaging, which specializes in the service, distribution, and sale of power injectors, contrast media pharmaceuticals, and injector syringes and related disposables. "We see more cancelled orders as health care providers are looking to extend the life of existing equipment. Clients who typically only consider the OEM for service are looking to quality independent service companies for their support in an effort to reduce cost without reducing customer service and quality."

Two Heads Are Better than One

One of the biggest advancements in injectors has come about in the past five years with the introduction of two-headed contrast injection technology called duel head injectors. One head still injects the contrast medium while a second one injects a saline pre-flush that opens veins so that much less contrast dye is used.




"It was first introduced outside of the U.S. and we saw the advantages and we invested to bring it to the U.S. as quickly as possible. It's now the gold standard for doing cardiac imaging," says MEDRAD's Farrell. "What was interesting about dual flow is that when we introduced it, there was a lot of skepticism. We provided it to leading institutions and they quickly found a much more consistent imaging over time."

More Industry Reports