Siemens Healthcare is launching a pair of new digital x-ray units at this week's European Congress of Radiology (ECR), including a new economical digital radiography (DR) system designed for emerging markets.
Digital radiography has made enormous strides in penetrating developed countries as hospitals convert their analog installed base to DR. But emerging markets have a need for a more economical DR option than the premium systems sold in developed countries, according to Bernd Ohnesorge, CEO of the x-ray products business unit at Siemens.
To meet that demand, the company developed Multix Select DR, a DR system with an emphasis on price performance, Ohnesorge said. The unit is a floor-stand table-based system, with a tethered mobile detector that can also be used in a wall bucky stand. The system uses an amorphous silicon 36 x 43-cm flat-panel detector and a 55-kW generator.
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| Multix Select DR is a table-based DR unit targeted at emerging markets. The system also comes with a wall bucky stand for chest work. |
To develop the system, Siemens used its experience developing higher-end systems and ported that knowledge to Multix Select DR. The company has further saved costs by manufacturing the system in China, which helps lower the cost of the system by a third compared to premium DR units, Ohnesorge said.
Siemens sees the key markets for the system to be China, India, Brazil, Eastern Europe, and Africa, but it may also appeal to smaller hospitals and private practices in developed countries. Many of these locations can benefit greatly from the workflow benefits of digital technology, such as higher throughput and better integration with digital technologies like PACS.
In fact, high throughput is an emphasis at many facilities in the developing world that have to scan more patients with less technology. "I've seen hospitals in China where they do 200 to 300 patients per machine per day," Ohnesorge said. "In emerging countries, the need for this is incredible."
Siemens expects to begin shipping the first Multix Select DR unit in Europe this summer with availability in China in early 2012.
Also at ECR, Siemens will roll out Mobilett Mira, the company's first mobile digital x-ray system with a wireless detector. The product sports a new swivel arm that in addition to vertical movements can also be moved horizontally up to 90°, and all electric connection cables are integrated with the swivel arm.
Other highlights of the product include a small footprint and an integrated drive that makes movement easy, exposure time beyond 1 msec, and resolution of more than 7 million pixels.
