Toronto-based Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre has enhanced its radiographic capabilities with Agfa HealthCare’s digital radiography (DR) 600 system. The DR 600 was chosen primarily for its ZeroForce technology—which allows the tube head, wall stand, and table to move in all directions—as well as its Musica image processing software.

Henry Sinn, Sunnybrook’s director of medical imaging, says the learning curve was mild since technologists were already familiar with the Musica workstation interface. “The newest x-ray room installation will allow us to maintain the impressive image quality that we’ve grown accustomed to from Agfa HealthCare while adding advanced new features such as ZeroForce and EasyStitch technology,” he says. “This will also allow Sunnybrook to reconfigure and right-size our radiographic fleet with the expected efficiency generated via this upgrade.”

EasyStitch technology, for instance, is designed for full-leg/full-spine imaging and enables accurate stitching via motorized movement of the wall stand and tubehead. And an optional table overlay allows full-leg/full-spine exams to be performed recumbently.

Other key features of the DR 600 system include a touchscreen control panel and image preview, which reduces time between exposures and results in higher patient throughput. Plus, the Musica image processing software improves image quality via fractional multiscale processing, which decomposes image components in microscopic fractions for separate processing. Finally, the DR 600 comes with a choice of fixed, tethered, or wireless detectors based on either gadolinium oxy-sulphide or cesium iodide technology; when combined with Musica, the latter can reduce dose by up to 60%.

For more information about this equipment, visit Agfa Healthcare.