by
Diana Bradley, Staff Writer | April 19, 2012
From the April 2012 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
“Business had been relatively flat for the mini C-arm market over the past few years,” says Keil. “However, we see significant interest in our work-in-progress Fluoroscan InSight-FD mini C-arm.”
Although GE has seen very little erosion of business toward flat panels from its customers, Shrawder believes the technology will be the direction of the future.
“I won’t sit here and tell you FD isn’t going to happen,” says Shrawder. “Future generations of FDs will have increased sophistication and reduced cost of electronics versus image intensifiers and at that point, the whole industry will shift. Until then, it’s just out there as more of a glimpse into the future that’s not really fully baked yet.”
Manum predicts a continued evolution as customers further embrace digital technology over analog technology, but warns that the service of equipment may be affected with flat panel detector technology’s increased adoption.
“The performance of FD doesn’t diminish with time like image intensifiers,” says Manum. “There is a point in time when you have to replace an image intensifier because the [imaging quality] has degraded and that shouldn’t be taking place with a flat detector. So as more and more digital systems replace analog systems, the servicing will change in that way.”
Fixed vs. mobile
As demand for fixed C-arms in the operating room rises, one of the challenges customers face is to what extent hybrid ORs play into the hospital’s strategy for managing surgery.
“Toshiba does not market portable C-arms in the U.S. because the place where these portable C-arms are primarily used [the OR space] is trending towards going with permanently installed high-end products rather than portable C-arms,” says Dick Werner, product manager in the XRVL business unit for Toshiba America Medical Systems.
Toshiba’s ceiling-mounted and floor-mounted C-arms have an
Toshiba's Infinix
CC-i vascular x-ray system
with ceiling-mounted C-arm.
advantage in mechanical flexibility over the competitive systems on the market, according to Werner. Both offer standard lateral movement, the ability to easily move from the left to the right side of the operating table, as well as pivot around the patient. In fact, Toshiba’s Five Axis Floor Mount, on the market since 2007, won industry awards from KLAS for its flexible mechanical motions. Other OEMs, including Philips, have followed Toshiba’s example.
“We’ve had a lot of customers request new geometries for C-arms, so we’ve adapted that by redesigning our Veradius mobile C-arm and introducing the Veradius neo system that has an optimized geometry for easier positioning, even when we get a very big patient on the table,” says Philips’ Manum. Veradius neo is Philips’ newest system and will ship later this year.
