Our History

Agfa HealthCare - a history of evolution

Agfa HealthCare has over 100 years of imaging history, as part of the Agfa-Gevaert Group. The company launched its first assortment of medical film solutions as early as 1947.

1867 - A color dye factory was established at the Rummelsburger See, near Berlin. In 1873, it was registered as the 'Aktien-Gesellschaft für Anilin-Fabrikation', or AGFA.

1890 - The 22-year-old Lieven Gevaert established his own workshop in Antwerp (Belgium), which was mainly used for manufacturing calcium paper for photography.

1947 - Gevaert launches new assortment of X-ray products with higher sensitivity, better contrast, brightness, and wider exposure margins.

1964 - Gevaert and Agfa, subsidiary of Bayer, merge to form Gevaert-Agfa N.V. in Mortsel (Belgium) and Agfa-Gevaert AG in Leverkusen (Germany).

1991 - Agfa HealthCare enters into a partnership with Mitra, a Canadian technology company, resulting in the introduction of a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), later branded IMPAX™.

1999 - Agfa-Gevaert acquires Sterling Diagnostic Imaging allowing Agfa to gain a leading market position in conventional medical imaging in the United States.

2000 - Agfa HealthCare takes a majority stake in the Belgian software company Quadrat, which operates in information systems for the radiology department (RIS).

2001 - Talk Technology, North America's leading supplier of voice-enabled clinical workflow and reporting solutions for healthcare, becomes part of Agfa HealthCare.

2002 - Agfa HealthCare acquires Mitra.

2004 - Agfa HealthCare acquires Symphonie On Line, a French provider of enterprise IT solutions for the healthcare industry.

2005 - German healthcare IT leader GWI is acquired by Agfa HealthCare. Later that year the business group takes over CardioVascular Information Systems (CVIS) provider Heartlab (USA).

2006 - Agfa HealthCare becomes an autonomous business group within the Agfa-Gevaert Group.

2007 - Agfa Healthcare acquires HYDMedia, a leading provider of Document Management Systems in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.