"The business of the mini C-arm is healthy because there's a big demand and need for it," Keil says. "We are a price-sensitive market and we have to stay far enough below the cost of big C-arms to make us attractive to the extremity surgeons at surgery centers and hospitals."

Since the release of their top-selling digital mini C-arm a few years ago, Hologic has continued to update their software and make modifications to their equipment. For an extremity surgeon who wants to do a foot, hand or ankle surgery, the perfect solution has been this lower cost, lower dose, mini C-arm.


"We just came out with 3.0 software in the fall and have made some modifications. It's nothing major, but we have been trying to streamline it and make the C-arm a little deeper to accommodate all kinds of different hand tables that are in surgery departments," Keil says. "We made them a little more flexible, easier to handle. There was nothing dramatic done, but small incremental improvements in hardware and software have made it more user-friendly and easier for the doctors to use."

The advantages of a mini C-arm are that there is no need for an X-ray tech to operate them, and it offers a lower dose system overall. Physicians can also get immediate results.

"We have added in some nice programmable features for the physicians so they can customize their images on our system to give them the look they like," Keil says. "It gives them preferences they can program into the system."

Currently, the mini C-arms aren't utilizing flat panel detectors, but Keil expects that to change in the not-so-distant future.

"With all C-arm products, the leap is obviously in flat detectors and we are already seeing that in the large C-arms," he says. "I don't see that hitting the mini C-arm market until the price of those come down and that's probably still a few years away from what I can tell. We will continue to make the system more compact and easy to use for the physician and end user."

Radiation Worries

Speaking of radiation doses, another big issue surrounding C-arms in 2009 that garnered a lot of attention dealt with radiation exposure and the amount of dose that patients sometimes receive. It's a big issue in Washington D.C., and many expect to hear more about it in the year ahead.

"I think there is an increased focus on dose and that's important to take a look at," Manum says. "Customers should ask, 'How does this equipment help me mange dose and give me ways to easily track dose?' 'What is the ability to operate the system in lower dose modes, so if I choose to operate on the lowest mode, I have that within my power?' 'How does it perform and can I receive images on those lower doses?'"

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