The year’s European Congress of Radiology (ECR) was a prime opportunity for Thales (Neuilly sur Seine, France), the French multinational electronic systems company, to introduce its groundbreaking flat panel detectors and imaging solutions to radiology professionals gathered to learn more about state of the art technologies on offer this year.

Jerome Tabourel, Marketing Director from Medical Radiology at Thales explained that at ECR, they were introducing a complete new product range for surgical applications. Hospital operations are evolving, he said, and the new emerging driver is the need for complementary products that help optimize workflow management.

“Currently, the surgical market uses imaging intensifiers and in this respect Thales holds 50% market share. But now we are seeing a transition between imaging intensifiers and flat panel detectors,” he noted.

With digital imaging and flat panel technology becoming ever more ubiquitous, the key global driver remains higher image quality with lower dose. At ECR, Thales unveiled its Pixium Surgical Imaging Suite that combines the high performance Pixium Surgical flat panel detectors with cutting-edge Image Chain Solution.

The surgical market is extremely price demanding, Mr. Tabourel pointed out. “Basically we are introducing the 21 cm by 21 cm squared flat panel to replace the 9 inch tubes, and we are introducing the 30 cm by 30 cm panel to replace the 12 inch tubes.” In coming months, the company will launch a third product in the series of flat panel detectors.

“Through an imaging chain solution we want to help our customers. It’s a software option that provides all the image processing at the level of surgical processing but it does not manage the interface with the system,” said Mr Tabourel.

“These products will bring outstanding image quality in terms of processing, and compactness and this is a trend which over time will see flat panels replacing imaging intensifiers for surgical application.”

Thales also introduced a new generation of flat panel detectors for digital radiography, which currently comprises a 43 cm by 43 cm square panel called the Pixium RAD 4343 C-E and G-E. He explained that this was a new generation detector for a fixed RAD room and it remains a mainstay of this segment, because of its flexibility and adaptability to any imaging solution.

However, as workflow management changes, different systems are required. As a result, the Pixium Portable EZ coupled with the ArtPix Mobile EZ2GO tablet, allows technicians to take images directly in patients’ rooms and to instantly view the clinical image.

“Here we take a tablet which has uploaded all the post-processing software and the user can see the images in the operation room. They can also be sent directly to the PACS,” explained Mr. Tabourel. “This is of great benefit, as it significantly improves the workflow against legacy solutions. Now with a single tablet we can do all the examinations needed. This is completely changing how technicians are working.”

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