Tips for Buying a Computed Radiography (CR) System

MedWOW, the global medical equipment marketplace, compiled the following suggestions for facilities shopping for a computed radiography (CR) system.

• When purchasing a new or used computed radiography (CR) system, medical facilities should consider the following key factors: image plate throughput, cassette buffer size, and number of technologist terminals.
• The image quality of X-ray computed radiography (CR) imaging Systems is not as high as other more expensive Digital Radiography technologies, but the versatility a new or used computed radiography (CR) system offers is desirable.
• Operating these computed radiography (CR) systems is much like other Digital Radiography technologies, where versatility is a trade-off for increased speed.
• Radiology departments wanting a digital modality to replace film can often find that computed radiography (CR) has become a popular choice.
• Four categories of X-ray computed radiography (CR) systems readers are available: multi-plate readers, single-plate readers, desktop plate readers, and cassetteless readers:
• a.    Busy areas, in which the CR cassettes can be simply dropped into the computed radiography (CR) reader and left there, require multi-plate readers.
• b.    In single-plate readers, the reader must be empty before the next cassette is loaded, because there is no buffer facility.
• c.    Very low-throughput facilities can use desktop units, which are the smallest readers with only the essential components.
• d.    Cassetteless readers use a computed radiography (CR)  reader built into either a chest stand or a bucky table.
• Sometimes it is possible to get higher image quality at the price of slower image plate throughput.
• Cassette buffer size is extremely important for the multi-cassette loaders. It should be possible to place multiple technologist terminals next to each computed radiography (CR) image reader.
• All multiple computed radiography (CR) readers should be networked, so a technologist can use any reader with any terminal.
• To facilitate future additions to any network, computed radiography (CR) buyers should ensure compatibility with existing x-ray components and conformance with the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine 3.0 Standard.
• Suppliers should provide computed radiography (CR)  system buyers with DICOM conformance statements that explain what information objects, service classes, and data encoding are supported by their system. These are highly technical, and should be reviewed by specialists. All statements from all suppliers should use the same format and the same vocabulary to facilitate comparisons.

MedWOW's international, multilingual, medical equipment marketplace offers a large selection of computed radiography (CR) complete systems, as well as hundreds of computed radiography (CR) parts and accessories. Some of the computed radiography (CR) systems available for sale in current international inventories include: Agfa ADC Compact, Fuji FCR 5000R, Kodak DirectView CR 500, Carestream DIRECTVIEW Vita and many more.