DOTmed Industry Sector Report: DR & CR Sales & Service Companies

by Barbara Kram, Editor | March 03, 2008

Many smaller manufacturers offer a number of niche products to meet nearly any budget or application.

Fujifilm's FCR Go
portable digital x-ray
system integrates a
CR reader

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One example is Alara, Inc., which makes CR systems. Their T-Series is a drum-based, compact tabletop CR. "It's inexpensive, rugged, and easy to use. We sell a lot in veterinary and in human health care applications, particularly in the podiatry and chiropractic markets," says Kuldip Ahluwalia, V.P., Sales and Marketing, Alara, Inc., Fremont, CA. "The beautiful thing about CR over DR is it's a stand-alone device. It's easily upgraded from your standard X-ray scanner. There is no workflow difference and it's an inexpensive way to move into the digital world."

Another niche company is Torrance, CA-based iCRco, Inc., which offers a CR technology that also promises to tamp down the cost of ownership of digital X-ray while overcoming some inherent CR design challenges. The company's True Flat Scan Path technology ensures that nothing ever comes in contact with the active area of the costly phosphor plates, producing 500,000 or more artifact-free images for the end-user with no degradation in image quality, according to the company. "True Flat Scan Path is the first thing an end-user should look at when transitioning to the digital environment," suggests President and CEO Stephen Neushul. (The company also has a DR offering.)
Independent service providers sell and service systems made by the smaller OEMs, an arrangement that can save significant costs.

Sal Aidone, Vice President, Deccaid Services, Deer Park, NY, sells CR systems made by iCRco, Radlink, and Konica Minolta, as well as OREX. "Independent companies like us and the smaller suppliers can drive down costs as long as the customers don't have the mindset that they have to buy from the large OEMs. They need to look for quality instead of just a name," Aidone says.

The costs for new CR systems depend on the manufacturer and features and range from about $40,000 to $60,000 for a small system for an imaging center, up to $90,000 to $120,000 for large, high-end, multi-slot, hospital-grade CR. DR requires a more significant investment starting in the six figures. Entry-level DR can go for $200,000.