Agfa HealthCare has successfully implemented its DX-D 600 Direct Radiography (DR) system at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL), creating a new DR room at the Leigh Infirmary. Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust is a major acute trust serving the 318,000 population in the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. The Trust's services are delivered across three hospital sites, Wigan Infirmary, Wrightington Hospital and Leigh Infirmary. The Trust also provides outpatient services at Leigh Infirmary and the Thomas Linacre Centre in Wigan.
WWL has been using Agfa HealthCare's Computed Radiography (CR) for over 10 years since the Trust chose to opt out of the National Programme for IT deployment and implemented Agfa HealthCare's CR across all four hospital sites, as Agfa HealthCare's image quality and processing was preferred. WWL were also impressed by the good working relationship and the support services that Agfa HealthCare provided.
Ease of implementation
In May 2012, WWL issued a notice through the NHS Supply Chain for the creation of a DR room at Leigh Infirmary. After reviewing several solutions, the contract was awarded to Agfa HealthCare. The key decision factor was the high image quality and processing offered by the DX-D 600 but additional benefits for the Trust included the productivity gains and ease of implementation, as radiographers were already used to Agfa HealthCare's NX interface, meaning there was minimum training and ease of adoption by staff.
Versatility, automation and increased throughput
The ceiling-suspended DX-D 600 system is Agfa HealthCare's top-of-the-line direct digital X-ray room, ideal for facilities such as Leigh Infirmary that have a high patient load and are looking to streamline workflow and increase throughput. The DX-D 600 system supports radiographers by offering a complete portfolio of fully-motorised, automatic and manual configurations using the latest in state-of-the-art auto-positioning technology. The DX-D 600 system is equipped with dual Cesium Iodide DR detectors in the wall stand and table, with optional integrated CR as well. In addition, for fully automatic systems, full leg full spine imaging capability is available with a horizontal overlay stitching grid which enables FLFS imaging even for a patient lying on the table. A maximum of three images can be taken on the table with a fixed detector and now also with a portable detector in the portrait position.
Impressive image quality
In addition to the productivity gains, WWL were impressed by the high image quality delivered by MUSICA², which lies at the heart of Agfa HealthCare's CR and DR solutions. MUSICA² software provides body-part independent, intelligent and automated digital imaging processing for consistently reliable, high-quality image visualisation.
Andrew Beatty, Radiology Directorate Manager at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust, comments: "After looking at several solutions for the new DR room at Leigh we were impressed by the image quality, productivity and automation alongside the usual benefits of DR such as speed and increased throughput. All of these qualities along with the fact that our staff were already used to working with the Agfa HealthCare technology meant that the new equipment was easily adopted with minimal training. We also have had a good working relationship with Agfa HealthCare for the last ten years and they have continued to provide excellent service levels for our existing equipment."
Paul Willey, Superintendent Radiographer at Leigh Infirmary adds: "The new DR room not only looks good - which is important for the patient experience - but our radiographers are impressed by the image quality, versatility and ease of use of the DX-D 600 which will help them on a daily basis. The DR room is also self-contained meaning the immediate availability of high-quality images speeds up our workflow and reduces patient waiting times."
Grant Witheridge, General Manager of Agfa HealthCare UK, comments: "We are delighted that Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh has chosen Agfa HealthCare for their DR solution at Leigh. This is testament to the capabilities of our product range to meet the specific imaging requirements and also the on-going partnership between the Trust and Agfa HealthCare over the last 10 years. The Trust will also become a UK and European reference site for our DX-D 600."
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About Agfa
The Agfa-Gevaert Group is one of the world’s leading companies in imaging and information technology. Agfa develops manufactures and markets analogue and digital systems for the printing industry (Agfa Graphics), for the healthcare sector (Agfa HealthCare), and for specific industrial applications (Agfa Materials). Agfa is headquartered in Mortsel, Belgium. The company is present in 40 countries and has agents in another 100 countries around the globe. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 2,948 million euro in 2010.
About Agfa HealthCare
Agfa HealthCare, a member of the Agfa-Gevaert Group, is a leading global provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions. The company has nearly a century of healthcare experience and has been a pioneer on the healthcare IT market since the early 1990's. Today Agfa HealthCare designs, develops and delivers state-of-the-art systems for capturing, managing and processing diagnostic images and clinical/administrative information for hospitals and healthcare facilities, as well as contrast media solutions to enable effective medical imaging results. The company has sales offices and agents in over 100 markets worldwide. Sales for Agfa HealthCare in 2010 were 1,180 million euro.