Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

If you use an OEC 9800 C-arm, you're probably already familiar with the series of arrows that move across the display panels during the boot up sequence. You probably also know that if boot up is interrupted while those arrows are still on the display, counting the number of arrows the machine has made it to will tell you what type of boot-up problem your system is experiencing. What you might not know, and what we hope to share with you today, is what it means when your 9800 stops five arrows into boot up. 

If you own a 2D mammography system, you’ve probably seen many of your competitors step up to 3D mammography. 3D systems have been proven better at detecting cancer- especially in dense and/or fatty breasts. More insurance providers have also come aboard with increased reimbursement for 3D studies. With these factors at play, the feasibility of justifying a 3D price tag seems more doable than in the past.

Your next question might be, “Can I find a quality 3D system on the secondary market?” 12 months ago, the answer might have been, "Probably not". Today, however, there is a slow, steady supply of units coming onto the secondary market and parts availability has increased. As a result, third-party parts and service providers are now able to support extended service agreements.

We believe that purchasing a pre-owned Hologic DImensions 3D Tomo unit can make tremendous cents (pun intended) if the seller is reputable and the buyer is well-informed. To help those of you who may be looking for a Dimensions 3D unit know what to look for and what to expect, we'll share four tips that we've seen buyers apply for better equipment and smoother projects.

From where to have lunch to when to retire, life is filled with decisions that require careful consideration. Not the least of these is how to protect your CT, MRI, X-ray, or other medical imaging equipment with service and maintenance coverage.

No two imaging facilities are exactly alike, and that's why there is some flexibility among the plans you'll find on the service market. To help reduce your legwork as you enter the service market, we'll cover here three common imaging equipment service plans offered by service providers.

If you use mobile imaging equipment (C-arm, ultrasound, endoscope, arthroscope) that doesn't have native DICOM, getting images from those systems onto your network will require a special solution. That's exactly where the MediCapture recorder comes into play. Of course, there are several varieties of MediCapture, so there's going to be a little leg work required to find out which one best fits your needs.

Fortunately for you, we've done the leg work and compiled it below. Read on for a comparison of the MediCapture series of image transfer systems and their different capabilities.