Portable Imaging Designed For the Technologist

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Editors Note: We asked  Betty Ward, Imaging Director, Roper St. Francis Healthcare, to share her feedback on Carestream’s prototype DRX-Revolution Mobile X-ray System, which is not yet commercially available.  Ward can also be seen in the video below following her preview of the system at AHRA. 

Portable imaging is a critical piece of how we care for patients at Roper St. Francis Healthcare. In five of our twelve facilities, 70 diagnostic radiologic technologists perform approximately 22,400 mobile exams a year in environments ranging from the ICU and ER to the OR and hospital floor—often for our most acute patients.

So at the annual meeting of AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management this past summer, I welcomed the opportunity to preview and provide feedback on the works-in-progress Carestream DRX-Revolution Mobile X-Ray System, which is not yet commercially available.

What immediately struck me was how this system could eliminate some portable imaging pain points for my technologists.

Staff in imaging departments can sometimes feel like we are adapting the way we work to the requirements of the portable unit. It’s clear that technologist input about our needs and workflow guided the development of the DRX-Revolution.  For example, a collapsible column is intended to solve the maneuverability problem that makes it difficult to navigate busy hallways for my “vertically-challenged” techs. An extended tube head reach could help my technologists get the positioning they need even with bedside monitors in the way.

I’m always concerned about the tethers on other DR detectors being pulled or acting as an infection agent as it goes from room to room. I was really pleased to see that the Carestream mobile x-ray system is designed to use the same wireless DRX detector as its other DR systems.

And the clearest sign that technologist feedback has manifested itself in this system? Little extras like built-in bins for gloves, places for wipes and even storage for detectors – they’ve thought of everything.