"There is no doubt that radiology and the diagnostic process continues to evolve," says Daniel H. Torborg, Product Manager, Printing Solutions for Carestream Health, Inc. "For many facilities, film continues to be a necessary link in the diagnostic chain. These facilities may not be in position (capital, personnel or technology) to move to digital diagnosis - yet are planning to do so over time. For these facilities, film remains a technology bridge that allows a facility to move to alternative technologies as budgets dictate."

Around the Industry


New laser cameras are still coming out as Konica, Carestream (formerly Kodak) and Fuji remain strong in the business. Even Sony has ventured into the market as of late.

"Over the years, the biggest challenges facing laser camera ISOs was competing with OEMs that would give the customer an imager in exchange for a multi-year film contract," says Dan Moretti, COO of Multi Imaging Systems. "The reduced initial outlay seems very attractive, however the customer may not realize they are not getting the film discounts and may be paying two or three times as much in the long run as they would have just purchasing or leasing the imager. They may also not realize that in the years to come, they will not use as much film and be stuck paying for film they won't use at a cost that is several times the cost of the imager."

Lately, some OEMs have stopped offering the free models or are only providing them to the larger hospitals.

"As a whole, there is obviously a decrease in the amount of film that is being printed but in terms of supporting users in the industry, that has not decreased. Customers still believe there is a need for laser printers but they are not using it as much," says Ed Ruth, a partner with Managed Medical Imaging. "OEMs are feeling that because initially they were offering the printers for free on the basis of how much film they were using, but now they are forced to sell them at a reduced price. We still continue to provide service and they are still hanging in there, even as we are seeing it going digital."

Still a Need

Those involved with laser cameras are still seeing some new opportunities in the field as old ones go away. Much of the business of laser cameras these days is coming from mammography and those are being bought new or refurbished and repaired.

The new CARESTREAM DryView 5850 tabletop laser imager is a direct response to customer needs for mammography.

"Customers have repeatedly told us that despite the method of diagnosis, when images are printed they must be of the highest possible quality and must have high maximum densities," says Torborg. "This new imager produces extremely high quality, true laser images with the density uniformity and the maximum densities (Dmax 4.0) that customers require. With a small form factor, this imager can be easily positioned "and moved" as customer needs and facilities change. In addition, this imager is not limited to just performing mammography imaging. Rather, a built-in DICOM interface enables a wide variety of modalities and workstations to leverage this single laser imager."

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