Agfa HealthCare Extends Portable DR Reach To Bethesda Healthcare System

Bethesda Hospital East adds multiple DX-D 100 systems for image quality, flexibility and workflow gains

• Agfa HealthCare’s DX-D 100 mobile DR solution enables Florida hospital to provide consistent, high DR image quality regardless of exam location.
• Hospital technologists benefit from improved X-ray exam productivity and ease of system maneuverability.
• MUSICA2 image processing helps produce images that exceed facility’s quality expectations.

(RSNA 2012 Booth #411, Lakeside Hall) Agfa HealthCare announces recently that Bethesda Hospital East, the flagship hospital of Bethesda Health, Inc., in Boynton Beach, Florida, has selected and implemented the DX-D 100 DR (Direct Radiography) system for all of its portable direct radiography needs. The fully motorized and ergonomically friendly system brings efficient, high quality imaging to the more than 400 patient beds of the Boynton Beach facility, and the system will also later be installed at the new Bethesda Hospital West, slated to open in January 2013. The flagship site for Bethesda Healthcare System, the fully accredited, not-for-profit hospital has already purchased four DX-D 100 systems to deliver top-of-the-line portable X-ray services with a fifth purchase expected in October.

'Anytime, Anywhere' access to high quality medical imaging technology
"Over the past five years we have been replacing our equipment, and the new mobile DR systems are part of the transition," reported Fran Lutz, Administrative Imaging Director at Bethesda Memorial Hospital. "And our technologists applaud the system and software, along with the consistency it provides with the same user interface of the other Agfa HealthCare systems they have used."

Designed with the demands of "anytime, anywhere" access to high quality medical imaging technology, the DX-D 100 system is easily moved and operated by a single person for optimal, efficient bedside imaging. It delivers immediate previews and high resolution for the broad range of general radiography exams performed at Bethesda Memorial.

MUSICA2 image processing software for consistent high image quality
With 125 micron pixels, all the benefits of a full-size cesium based detector are achieved at the point of care with high resolution. Further, its integration with Agfa HealthCare's MUSICA2 image processing software delivers consistent, high image quality and high-contrast detail that is exceeding the facility's expectations.

"We do a lot of post-operative chest X-rays, particularly for our heart unit, and with our previous portable X-ray systems the contrast and the detail were just light years away from what it is now," said Steven J. Rooney, M.D., Radiologist at Bethesda Memorial. "Now, with MUSICA2 image processing software, it is a pleasure to wade through the dozens of images of ICS, CCU and cardiac patients instead of being frustrated and complaining about poor images."

The exam-independent MUSICA2 technology intelligently optimizes image quality and workflow, delivering excellent detail throughout the image and greatly reducing the need for manual activities such as window and leveling. Combined with the Agfa HealthCare NX workstation, configured for both DR and computed radiography (CR) imaging, Bethesda Memorial achieves smooth connectivity to its PACS, RIS and HIS.

Mobile solution saves additional level of turnaround time
Agfa HealthCare's DX-D 100 wirelessly sends images to the hospital's PACS, using a Wi-Fi network. Technologists can review worklists and send images right from the patient's bedside. "The fact that it is a mobile solution saves an additional level of turnaround time on the exam itself," said Anne Osowski, PACS Administrator. "Because it is wireless, the radiologist can read the image while the technologist is technically still in the patient's room. I'd estimate it is a 20-minute time saving for the technologist, from the time used to take the image to the time the radiologist can see the image. From the technologists' standpoint, this is huge."

The technology provides these many workflow and image quality benefits at a low cost per exam. The DX-D 100 solution helps the hospital meet patient care needs while improving radiology department workflow, and performance.

A complete article on mobile DR at Bethesda Hospital East and the DX-D 100 system will be featured at RSNA 2012 in the Agfa HealthCare booth #411, Lakeside Hall. For more information on this product or to speak with a product expert, please contact salesinfo@agfa.com and www.agfahealthcare.com.