New hospital chooses Agfa for X-ray rooms

MILTON, Ont. – Agfa HealthCare announced that Halton Healthcare has selected Agfa’s DR 600 for four new direct radiography (DR) X-ray rooms that will open as part of a large expansion project taking place at Milton District Hospital. The DR 600 was chosen over several competitor technologies primarily for its unique ZeroForce technology, which allows for smooth movements of the tube head, wall stand and table in all different directions with almost zero effort.

Milton District Hospital is part of Halton Healthcare, which consists of three well-established, community hospital facilities in the Greater Toronto Area. Construction of the newly expanded Milton District Hospital is currently underway and is scheduled to be completed in Spring 2017.

The four DR 600 rooms will be installed during the expansion project and will be available for clinical use when the expansion opens in Fall 2017. With a focus on patient-centered care, the hospital’s expansion is designed to provide exceptional healthcare within an innovative hospital environment. Built to meet the needs of the rapidly growing community and accommodate the changing face of healthcare, the expansion at Milton District Hospital will provide Milton residents with improved access to the care they need, closer to home.

“During Halton Healthcare’s review process of the DR 600 they were especially interested in the ergonomic benefits of the DR 600’s ZeroForce technology,” commented Kristen Andreopoulos, imaging solution manager, Agfa HealthCare. “Our unique ZeroForce technology makes X-ray production faster and virtually effortless for technologists. These improvements often result in reduced strain on the technologist, increased patient comfort and shorter exam times.

Fully automated, the DR 600 streamlines workflow, increases throughput and enhances the experience of patients and operators alike, even in the busiest imaging environments. Full automation, auto-positioning and auto-tracking allow light, fast and easy operation.

The ZeroForce technology enables manual movement of the tube head in all directions quickly and with minimal to no effort. In addition, the system shows particular strength in Full Leg/Full Spine imaging with its EasyStitch technology. Based on fully automated single focus technology, EasyStitch minimizes distortion.

Angular tracking is available for dedicated exams, while motorized movement of the wall stand and tube head provides accurate stitching capabilities, for high precision. An optional table overlay allows full leg/full spine exams to be performed recumbent.

The DR 600 includes an innovative and integrated tube head design with a touch screen control panel and image preview. This workflow reduces time between exposures and results in a higher throughput.

Integrated with all Agfa HealthCare digital radiography solutions, Agfa’s gold-standard MUSICA image processing software brings multi-scaled image processing to a new level by showing exquisite detail in low noise images that allow technologists to capture consistently high-quality images.

The DR 600 comes with a choice of fixed, tethered or wireless detectors based on either Cesium Iodide (CsI) or Gadolinium Oxy-Sulphide (GOS) technology. The excellent image quality of Csl in combination with MUSICA offers potential dose reductions of up to 60%, supporting healthcare providers’ goal to utilize the least amount of radiation reasonably achievable during each X-ray exam.

“After a competitive process, Agfa HealthCare is very pleased that Halton Healthcare chose the DR 600 for four newly designed X-ray rooms that will launch in 2017,” commented Lisa Shoniker, regional vice president, sales, Canada, Agfa HealthCare.

“The DR 600 is designed to incorporate several modern technologies including ZeroForce, EasyStitch, MUSICA and Cesium Iodide into one seamless product that can provide high quality DR images with significant dose reduction potential, while maximizing productivity, versatility and ease of use. The DR 600 will provide Milton District Hospital with the speed, precision and comfort they need for their high-throughput imaging department.”

About Agfa HealthCare

Agfa HealthCare, a member of the Agfa-Gevaert Group, is a leading global provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions. The company has nearly a century of healthcare experience and has been a pioneer on the healthcare IT market since the early 1990’s. Today Agfa HealthCare designs, develops and delivers state-of-the-art systems for capturing, managing and processing diagnostic images and clinical/administrative information for hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as contrast media solutions to enable effective medical imaging results. The company has sales offices and agents in over 100 markets worldwide. Sales for Agfa HealthCare in 2013 were 1,160 million euro. For more information on Agfa HealthCare, please visit www.agfahealthcare.com.