The majority of the facilities that have really caught on and embraced DR are the university and large teaching institutions with the patient volumes to warrant the investment. Mike Foley is director of radiology for Tufts Medical Center, a 450-bed academic teaching hospital in downtown Boston responsible for about 186,000 X-ray exams per year. He recently converted one of his analog X-ray rooms to a wireless DR system using the DRX-1 technology. This particular part of the hospital system images about 120 to 140 patients in a compressed six-hour day.

"It was an area that was extremely busy," says Foley. "I was faced with the idea of potentially having to build a third X-ray room out, but we thought that if we worked on efficiencies and put the DR system in there we may not have to and it worked out really well. The technologists grabbed onto it really quickly, the image quality is fantastic and our radiation dose, as compared to CR, has been cut in half."


Conversions like this one can save practices upwards of $1 million in construction and capital costs, and going for a retrofit is about 20 percent of the cost for a new fixed unit.
Many manufacturers offer any number of upgrade packages. Philips, for instance, offers 150 different options, including the company's high-end DigitalDiagnost flat panel system with optional wireless detectors.

"Clearly in this economic environment more and more people are trying to stretch their dollars and they are in many cases looking at upgrades, whereas normally hospitals would use their systems for 10 to 15 years and then replace them," says Burkhart. "New digital technologies are so much faster and better, but if you don't have the money to expend $300,000 to 500,000 on a system.... you can get a least a half step into digital, either CR or low-end DR, and a lot of people are looking at that."

Choosing what's best

The choice between CR and DR appears to be a balancing act between two equally valuable technologies, and there are plenty of differing opinions. One thing is for certain - analog is fading fast from the modern hospital.

"Film is less than 10 percent of the market; the real battle is between CR and DR," says Burkhart. "Each one has their tradeoffs and advantages, but I would say both are alive and well in the market. If people have the volume, DR is clearly the better choice because of image quality, dose, throughput, efficiency and payback. CR, on the other hand, is a highly flexible technology that will give you an acceptable image and it will do it much more economically."

More Industry Reports