GENEVA -― Europes largest specialist cancer treatment centre, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in the UK, has installed a digital radiography solution from Eastman Kodak Companys Health Group. The KODAK DIRECTVIEW DR 7500 is located in the X-ray department of the London site and is configured with both a wall stand and table to handle around 15,000 annual imaging studies from both in- and outpatients.

The overarching diagnostic imaging strategy of the Trust is to provide high definition images for our patients to enable rapid treatment and the best standard of care attainable. The acquisition of the latest DR technology fitted well with that strategy, said Shelagh Smith, Radiology Services Manager at the Trust. We evaluated similar equipment and finally chose the DR 7500 because it fully met our needs both in terms of practical use and image quality, particularly for chest imaging.

The DR 7500 is designed to deliver new levels in flexibility and versatility, enabling imaging departments to combine enhanced productivity with ease of use.


Shelagh added, Our radiologists and radiographers have been impressed with the image quality offered by the system, which produces sharp, high-resolution images that we believe are superior to that of CR. The range of movement offered by the wall stand offers a flexible approach for chest work, including chest imaging for wheelchair bound patients. The bucky extends outward from the stand to enable the wheelchair to be positioned correctly. We have also found it useful in the horizontal position for imaging the upper extremities, standing or seated.

Radiographic staff at the Royal Marsden have also found the fixed, elevating table equally versatile. The table is used for abdominal and spinal imaging including using the table detector for the upper extremity if preferred by the radiographer.

Complementing the systems flexibility, improvements to productivity have been achieved as a result of efficient workflow and innovative design. We find the auto-positioning, auto-tracking and auto-centering features extremely useful for pre-programmed examinations using either the wall stand or table as the tube automatically moves into alignment with the detector, said Shelagh. Productivity has improved where multiple imaging plates would have previously been required. It is now very easy to complete multiple exam imaging requests. The system is very intuitive to use and has been well accepted by our radiographic staff.

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