Some argue that the productivity gains from DR can offset its higher cost.

"Obviously, if you just look at the work flow aspect, volume is necessary to drive return on X-ray equipment," says Dave Widmann, Global General Manager-Rad/R&F for GE Healthcare. "Technologists no longer have to handle this cassette and move it around. DR gives you instantaneous images within 2-3 seconds of taking the shot. You see the image come up on the screen. Retakes go away. You don't have to bring the patient back in."


With CR, you might have the patient off the table before you realize you didn't get the shot you wanted, which Widmann says makes CR an obsolete technology.

"CR cassettes leave you very little opportunity to use digital data in different ways for further diagnosis," he adds. "With DR technologies, we can manipulate data we got through dual energy subtraction."

For those choosing to go all DR, they may have to face the issue of reliability. If you have two or three CR readers, you have automatic redundancy because you can just use another reader if something goes wrong. But if the DR detector fails, that room is closed off and you have to wait until service comes before using again.

"The concern of DR has always been expense and a lot of money is invested in one plate and if anything would happen to that room, which could see 60-120 patients a day - that will cause big scheduling and admission issues at the hospital. You need it to be working all the time," says Burkhart.

Case for CR

For a facility implementing digital technology for the first time, many may opt for a cassette-based digital X-ray solution because of the lower cost. This alone will vastly improve the workflow over the current film-screen process with a minimum financial investment while preserving existing X-ray equipment. CR still offers excellent speed and workflow to help boost technologist and radiologist efficiency, as well as flexibility in the unit placement within the facility for optimal utilization.

"The advantage of CR is that it's very much like film in that it's very flexible and very mobile and a wireless technology so to speak," says Burkhart. "It's cheap in terms of an initial investment and highly flexible. The disadvantages are the image quality isn't as good as DR and it's not nearly as fast. You don't get the productivity you get out of a DR system."

CR Readers can be used in conjunction with general X-ray equipment already in place, which makes them also in demand. Storage Phosphor IPs replace X-ray film so that remote equipment can still be utilized. CR Readers are durable, can be centrally located for increased access and can cover a broad range of applications.

More Industry Reports