CR or DR?
OK – so you’ve decided the old processor has had its day, film prices are rising, the chemicals smell and are costing evermore to dispose of. In addition to this you were never completely happy with the image quality as the chemicals keep ‘going off’, in short it’s time to consider digital.
BUT – which way do you turn? There is a wide choice of systems being offered by a number of leading veterinary dealers and some smaller ones. Of course they want to sell you what they have, and persuade you that what they don’t have is not for you. DR in particular is a bit of a minefield. DR is only just coming into its own in the NHS. In this area there are 3 major suppliers, all giants in the business world. Siemens, GE, Philips. There are some smaller players entering the DR market and indeed we are introducing DR to meet the growing demand globally.
Most hospitals cannot justify the huge cost of DR unless
they have a very high patient throughput. The products sold into the healthcare
sector are extremely unlikely to find their way into general veterinary practice.
The veterinary DR market is populated in the main by products from the far
east whose names in many cases are not widely known.
We’ve asked CLIFF BARON, Konica Minolta’s sales manager for digtal imaging who has extensive experience of both CR and DR, having in previous roles been a product specialist for both. Below he explains why CR is a better option for the modern general veterinary practice, but DR does have its place in some areas……….
Why CR and not DR?
In recent times the introduction of digital imaging into veterinary practice has created a new dilemma. No longer do users ask 'should we go digital', but rather 'which route should we take' ?
The principal answer would seem to rest with one of two options, Computed Radiography (CR) or Direct Radiography (DR) It would seem that in general, the applications for DR seem to be specialising into distinct categories where image acquisition speed and rapid multiple views are clinically more relevant. The clear specialist area is currently in equine radiology. Multiple views can be taken, often in remote and outdoor sites and the speed and volume of images lends itself to this compact technology. Portability and mobility are further recognised in these compact and light-weight units.
In the more diverse field of small animal veterinary medicine the demands tend to be for more practical simplicity and higher image quality. Lightweight CR cassettes provide this physically 'easier' technique and the spatial resolution demanded when examining physically small animals or small animal anatomies is eminently better met by CR.
Small animal radiology requires the highest definition of subtle pathologies and often in anatomical regions which occupy millimetres rather than decimetres. CR further lends itself to the current working practices employed in general veterinary medical centres, where the CR cassettes effectively mimic the size and workflow previously accorded to film/screen technology. CR fits in.
On a financial level CR is still currently the more cost-effective technology, not only in the initial capital outlay, but also in the running and service costs. Higher image quality at a lower cost ? The choice would seem to be obvious. Computed Radiography will, quite rightly, dominate digital imaging until such time as DR can compete on image quality and at a more realistic cost.
Why choose Konica Minolta CR?
There are less than a handful of reputable CR manufacturers currently operating in the UK and Ireland. CR systems are available at what might be termed 'low-cost', but the quality of the images and the reliability of the systems really needs to be confronted.
The Konica Minolta CR offers some unique advantages over other similarly priced units. Firstly our plate technology is perhaps the most robust of any system currently available. It is unique in being the only plate which has no physical contact with the reader mechanism. The resulting extended plate life significantly reduces the expensive plate replacement strategy required in other units.
The reader consoles are available in a range of specifications, from the ergonomic touch-screen monitor to the full-blown Diagnostic workstation option. The local image store can be tailored to each practice to retain from 4000 to 140,000 images. We can even store images from other modalities and display them on our Image Pilot platform.
Our spatial resolution is the highest amongst general CR systems, our 'normal' high resolution offering 12 pixels/mm. Our ultra-high resolution is the highest available from any manufacturer anywhere in the world. Finally our image processing is probably the most advanced currently available. The Image Pilot offers fully automated image optimisation software. The veterinary surgeon or practice nurse no longer needs to select body-part algorithms. The process is fully automated and virtually eliminates sub-optimal imaging. X-ray 'repeats' are becoming a thing of the past.
Click here to learn more about Konica Minolta's stunning IMAGE PILOT CR