Shimadzu garners top rank in KLAS digital x-ray report
Shimadzu Medical Systems' Radspeed maintained the top ranking for the second year among digital x-ray developers, according to a recent KLAS report, "Digital X-ray 2011: An Untethered Market," but the company was not alone in garnering strong scores. Fujifilm Medical Systems took second place by a slim margin, the survey found, and other vendors, including Canon Medical Systems, Carestream Health and Viztek, received overall performance scores of more than 90 percent.
Emily Crane, the report author, noted that the adoption of wireless technology has expanded since last year’s study, and vendor offerings have increased as well. With recent wireless technologies from GE Healthcare, Konica, Fujifilm and Canon cleared by the FDA, those vendors have joined previously approved solutions, from Carestream, Siemens Healthcare and Philips Healthcare, according to Crane. Compared with scores obtained two years ago, the average digital x-ray score has increased by three points.
“The advance in x-ray technology is a welcome improvement to radiology,” said Crane. “This investigative study’s importance increases as providers search to understand which vendors they can trust for reliability and which can help them improve patient throughput and care in the face of so many imaging options.”
Wireless x-ray is becoming increasingly utilized, as providers attempt to optimize efficiency, according to the report. Carestream is continuing to improve its products, wrote Crane, and others, such as Canon, Konica and GE are following suit.
“In last year’s report, wireless was beginning to make a splash in the digital x-ray market, and since then interest in wireless has grown and most vendors are now offering wireless detectors,” she wrote.
Among some of the benefits, providers noted that the cost to retrofit with wireless is relatively low—with reported prices in the $115,000 to $135,000 range—and the technology increases the speed of workflow, allowing providers to see more patients.
Fujifilm best exemplifies the high performance and development of the digital x-ray market, according to the report. The company moved up 10 points over last year’s rank, as providers were impressed with its SpeedSuite system. Philips improved over last year, but maintained low overall ranks within the report. Providers noted that wireless technology is improving functionality and maintaining a high return on investment. Driving the market forward, GE is currently the only vendor that claims to provide tomosynthesis technology in its new product, the wireless FlashPad.
“Considered the backbone of general radiology, digital x-ray has taken a backseat to CT and MR when it comes to advanced imaging,” Crane wrote. “But as accountable patient care and dose concerns come to the forefront and digital x-ray continues to save providers time and money as well as offer a lower dose diagnostic tool, digital x-ray may prove to be a viable alternative to CT in some cases.”
The report, released June 30, involved interviews with 232 providers from radiology managers, technicians and physicians, among others. "Digital X-Ray 2011" can be purchased here.
Emily Crane, the report author, noted that the adoption of wireless technology has expanded since last year’s study, and vendor offerings have increased as well. With recent wireless technologies from GE Healthcare, Konica, Fujifilm and Canon cleared by the FDA, those vendors have joined previously approved solutions, from Carestream, Siemens Healthcare and Philips Healthcare, according to Crane. Compared with scores obtained two years ago, the average digital x-ray score has increased by three points.
“The advance in x-ray technology is a welcome improvement to radiology,” said Crane. “This investigative study’s importance increases as providers search to understand which vendors they can trust for reliability and which can help them improve patient throughput and care in the face of so many imaging options.”
Wireless x-ray is becoming increasingly utilized, as providers attempt to optimize efficiency, according to the report. Carestream is continuing to improve its products, wrote Crane, and others, such as Canon, Konica and GE are following suit.
“In last year’s report, wireless was beginning to make a splash in the digital x-ray market, and since then interest in wireless has grown and most vendors are now offering wireless detectors,” she wrote.
Among some of the benefits, providers noted that the cost to retrofit with wireless is relatively low—with reported prices in the $115,000 to $135,000 range—and the technology increases the speed of workflow, allowing providers to see more patients.
Fujifilm best exemplifies the high performance and development of the digital x-ray market, according to the report. The company moved up 10 points over last year’s rank, as providers were impressed with its SpeedSuite system. Philips improved over last year, but maintained low overall ranks within the report. Providers noted that wireless technology is improving functionality and maintaining a high return on investment. Driving the market forward, GE is currently the only vendor that claims to provide tomosynthesis technology in its new product, the wireless FlashPad.
“Considered the backbone of general radiology, digital x-ray has taken a backseat to CT and MR when it comes to advanced imaging,” Crane wrote. “But as accountable patient care and dose concerns come to the forefront and digital x-ray continues to save providers time and money as well as offer a lower dose diagnostic tool, digital x-ray may prove to be a viable alternative to CT in some cases.”
The report, released June 30, involved interviews with 232 providers from radiology managers, technicians and physicians, among others. "Digital X-Ray 2011" can be purchased here.