Your Guide to Medical Imaging Equipment

A dependable digital mammography unit is the cornerstone of any women's health department. Among the leaders in the digital mammo modality is the Hologic Selenia series.

While the Selenia's performance has earned it this place of favor, it's still subject to some of the same service and maintenance pratfalls of any digital X-ray equipment. One of the most serious among these is the eventuality of digital detector failure.

To help all you Selenia users out there prepare for this a little better, we've compiled information from the experiences of our parts and service teams and the facilities they serve to bring you typical cost, lifespan, and replacement information for your Hologic Selenia digital detector.

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.

Q: What do GE digital mammography systems, your car, and your own body have in common?

A: When someone tells you there’s a serious problem with one of them, it pays to get a second opinion.

In the case of the GE mammo, we’re referring specifically to a diagnosis of “bad detector”. The detector is one of the most expensive parts to replace on a digital mammography system. With used models falling anywhere in a vast range from $30,000 to $100,000 depending on the model of your system, this kind of diagnosis from a service engineer is almost the worst news a digital mammo owner can hear, second only to having the entire machine carried away by a freak tornado and dropped through the roof of a reclusive conspiracy theorist.

If you’ve recently heard bad detector news or worry that someday you might, we have a few words of comfort for you: It might not be your detector

Hologic produces the most popular family of mammography systems on the market today. They've earned this with a commitment to technological advancement and reliability in performance. Still, like any other digital mammo system from any other manufacturer, Hologic Selenia and Dimensions units have X-ray tubes that will eventually fail.

To help prepare you for that eventuality, we'll share with you what to look for as your tube ages, as well as what to expect when the time for a new tube finally comes.