Hitachi Medical Systems America
Hitachi will demonstrate digital radiography systems developed by Swissray International, with whom Hitachi signed a product marketing agreement in 1999.
A new Swissray product in Hitachi's portfolio is ddRModulaire, a multifunctional system designed to provide digital CCD-based radiography at an economical price. The system features fast positioning due to a counter-balanced, isocentric arm, according to Hitachi. The price of ddRModulaire should be competitive with the detector-only retrofits being offered by some digital x-ray firms.
Hitachi will also feature IGS 1000, a new mobile table with a four-way floating top. IGS 1000 is available as an option on ddRModulaire, ddRCombi, and ddRMulti-System, the three Swissray digital products that Hitachi is selling.
Hitachi will also highlight digital image management products like 2K and 1K review workstations and a jukebox archive, as well as an optional package of software tools designed for orthopedic radiology.
Hologic
Bedford, MA-based Hologic will showcase products from the Trex Medical businesses it acquired this year, including Lorad, Continental, and Bennett product lines.
Hologic's radiographic systems division will feature a non-tiled, full-size 14 x 17-inch amorphous selenium DirectRay detector, along with inverse topography (IT) software. IT is designed to optimize the appearance of both soft tissue and bone in the same hard- or soft-copy image.
The company will also display four new direct radiography systems using DirectRay technology: Radex, designed for ambulatory and outpatient radiography; Epex, for the full range of general radiography exams, including cross-table applications; a system for general-purpose and tomographic radiography; and a dedicated digital chest system. The company also plans to exhibit an R/F table with a new user interface.
Hologic's bone densitometry division will be showcasing upgrades to the Delphi system, which includes expanded diagnostic capabilities through the addition of supine lateral bone mineral density (BMD) capability. This permits BMD assessment of the spine in patients where artifacts in conventional AP views may mask low bone density. Delphi's instant vertebral assessment (IVA) capability has also been enhanced with new capabilities, including reporting tools.
The company's Fluoroscan division will introduce Profile, a C-arm with a 9-inch field of view. Profile features a simplified user interface, expanded image storage, and easy mobility that's ideal for general orthopedic applications, pain management, and general surgery.
InfiMed
InfiMed will be highlighting the first installation of StingRay, the Liverpool, NY, company's flat-panel digital retrofit package for analog x-ray rooms. The first StingRay was installed in October at the University of Alabama in Birmingham as an upgrade to a Continental x-ray system, according to Tim Stevener, vice president of InfiMed's radiology business.
Unlike most digital x-ray vendors, who are concentrating on selling new systems, InfiMed believes that there is substantial demand for digital x-ray from hospitals that don't want to throw out their old equipment in order to convert to digital. StingRay employs the Pixium 4600 amorphous silicon detector manufactured by Trixell of France, and InfiMed will begin production shipments in late 2000 and early 2001.
InfiMed will also be showing upgrades to its more traditional products. The company will highlight new features for its GoldOne digital R/F module, including an image auto-optimization feature, support for DICOM Worklist, and a new table-side remote control.
Lumisys
The big news in the Lumisys booth will be the pending acquisition of the Sunnyvale, CA, company by Kodak of Rochester, NY. Earlier this month Kodak said it would buy Lumisys, a manufacturer of computed radiography systems and film digitizers, for $39 million.
On the product front, Lumisys will be showing a new economy-priced laser film digitizer, Lumiscan 40, that replaces the company's older CCD-based Lumiscan 20 system. Lumiscan 40 features 2K resolution and a 3.2 true optical density laser digitizer. The unit has a list price of $18,900, and is currently available.
On the CR front, Lumisys will debut version 5.0 of its digitizer/CR scanning software, DI-2000. The application has multiple-image-per-page print capabilities, a scan wizard, and is based on the Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional operating system
The company will also exhibit its QuickCheck automated CR quality-control system.
(Disclosure notice: AuntMinnie.com is a subsidiary of Lumisys.)
Quantum Medical Imaging
A new entrant in the x-ray market, Quantum will make its RSNA debut at this year's meeting. The firm was started earlier this year by former employees of Bennett X-Ray, a New York x-ray and mammography firm that was acquired by Trex Medical in 1995. Quantum will display its line of high-frequency x-ray generators and radiography systems in its RSNA booth.
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