Pediatric patients at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics benefit from nearly 60% dose reduction compared to previous system

Agfa HealthCare’s DX-G CR solution meets quality demands for pediatric care and delivers potential for a significant reduction in radiation dose.

  • Press release
  • Mortsel, Belgium/Greenville, SC
  • November 08, 2012 04:00

- Children’s Mercy chooses Agfa HealthCare CR system for its pediatric and neonatal digital radiography needs, including 10,000 neonatal chest X-rays annually.
- The DX-G system provides high-quality imaging results with the hospital experiencing a reduction in radiation dose of 57 percent.
- Agfa HealthCare’s solution meets the hospital’s requirements both for safety and high throughput, improving the delivery of patient care, productivity and wait times.

(RSNA 2012, Booth #411, Lakeside Hall) As part of its commitment to improve and expand pediatric care, Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo., has selected Agfa HealthCare's DX-G CR solution for its critical pediatric radiography needs. With patient safety as the top priority, Children's Mercy Hospital, a state-of-the-art, 335-bed facility, has reduced radiation dose by 57 percent using the DX-G compared to its previous CR solution.

Same quality in diagnostic image at a significant reduction in radiation dose
"We did a side-by-side comparison of the DX-G with our previous digitizer, and the outcome was very clear: We got the same quality in the diagnostic image at a reduction in radiation dose of nearly 60 percent," said Corliss Panis, director of radiology, Children's Mercy Hospital.

It is this commitment to safety that drives Children's Mercy, named one of the best children's hospitals by U.S. News & World Report, to follow guidelines from the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging that include reducing the amount of radiation used whenever possible for a full range of exams.

Overcoming the imaging challenges of small size patients
Pediatric radiology has unique challenges, and neonatal radiography of premature infants is a particularly demanding area. Using the DX-G from Agfa HealthCare, the facility is able to successfully overcome the imaging challenges that the small size of the patients could pose, and also helps assure a lower cumulative dose for these patients who historically are imaged many times.


"Agfa HealthCare's DX-G solution allows us to give our neonatal patients the care they require without the corresponding risk that can be associated from the up to 30 or 40 exposures these patients may receive over the course of their treatment," said Dr. James C. Brown, chairman of the Children's Mercy radiology department and associate professor of radiology and the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. "To reduce radiation dose by almost 60 percent and still have the same image quality we need with a high level of detail is a significant step forward for Children's Mercy Hospital and our neonatal patients."

Combined innovative features for radiation dose reduction and monitoring
While it features a small footprint, the DX-G combines several innovative features for radiation dose reduction and monitoring: DirectriX CsBr needle-based phosphor detectors, NX Workstation with MUSICA2 Platinum Pediatric image processing, color-coded dose bar, extended dose monitoring analysis and automated repeat / reject analysis. This combination provides excellent image quality with a much higher detective quantum efficiency (DQE) and potential for decreased dose.

"While digital X-ray may have significantly less dose than other imaging exams, Agfa HealthCare believes that all dose should be minimized to the furthest extent possible, and we are proud of the remarkable low dose results we are able to deliver to facilities, particularly pediatric hospitals, like Children's Mercy," said Greg Cefalo, U.S. Imaging Business Unit Manager, Agfa HealthCare. "Providing safe, quality, patient care is our priority. We will continue to innovate in this area and support the needs of facilities and their patients, and the industry workgroups and initiatives that are underway."

Smooth, more productive workflow results in a satisfied radiology department
With the provision of 10,000 neonatal chest X-rays annually, Children's Mercy sought out the ideal radiography solution to achieve not only reduced dose but also flexibility and high throughput. The DX-G CR system includes tools like a deviation index that help technologists determine if an image is under- or over-exposed with an easy-to-read, color-coded (red/yellow/green) dose bar. "The technologists love how easy it is to determine if exposure is correct compared to our previous digitizer," says Nanci Burchell, Radiation Safety Officer, "It is very simple - you just have to make sure that you stay in the green zone." This helps lead to a smoother, more productive workflow for both centralized and decentralized environments, and translates to a more satisfied radiology department, while the hospital's tiniest patients receive the benefits of reduced dose and excellent image quality.

A complete article on the dose reduction results at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and Agfa HealthCare's DX-G solution will be featured at RSNA 2012 in the Agfa HealthCare booth #411, Lakeside Hall. For more information on this product or to speak with a product expert, please contact salesinfo@agfa.com or visit www.agfahealthcare.com



Miriam Ladin
Marketing Communications Director - North America
One Crosswind Road
RI 02891 Westerly, Rhode Island (USA)
tel:+1 (0)401 604 22 03
fax:+1 (0)401 596 85 62
miriam.ladin@agfa.com

Marc De Fré
Global Marcom Director
tel:+32 3444 7319
marc.defre@agfa.com

Johan Jacobs
Corporate Press Relations Manager
Septestraat 27
2640 Mortsel - Belgium
tel:+32 (0)3 444 80 15
fax:+32 (0)3 444 50 05
johan.jacobs@agfa.com

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