Archive for November, 2011

Selling and Purchasing Used Medical Equipment

Purchasing used medical equipment is no longer exclusively practiced by developing countries that are in desperate need for a bargain. Online websites and budget cuts have created an escalated demand in the United States for gently used medical equipment. Any informed medical professional can attest to the fact that often facilities hold on to medical equipment that is no longer being used. This can be both costly and burdensome. Therefore, used medical equipment sales are beneficial to both the buyer and seller.

Used medical equipment is effective and useful. People assume that because it is used that it is no longer functioning or too outdated to provide patients with quality medical care. Fortunately, this is not accurate information. If used medical equipment is not in proper working condition, it is illegal to sell it without disclosing that it does not work properly. There are many reasons why medical equipment that is gently used becomes available for public sale. For example, larger hospitals that typically have generous budgets are always trying to keep up with current technology. With technology constantly changing and improving, these hospitals often replace perfectly fine medical equipment on a regular basis.

Sellers and buyers alike benefit from living in a digital computer age where internet access to goods is convenient. The decision to sell moderately used medical equipment to lower budget facilities means that sellers no longer have to store their old equipment that takes up much needed space in their facilities. Sellers now have a reputable venue to unload the equipment that they no longer have a use for and at the same time recoup some of their budget funding that can be used toward purchasing newer equipment and supplies. In addition, the internet provides medical equipment buyers with catalog shopping convenience, reasonable costs, warranties, and secure payment options when purchasing used medical equipment online.

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Full-field Digital Mammography Medical Equipment: A Better Tool to Screen for Breast Cancer

Currently, mammography is still the best diagnostic tool used to detect breast cancer its early stage. While digital radiographic imaging has rapidly become the norm in the medical community, because of the distinctive requirements used in mammography, it was late to embrace digital technology. Full-field digital mammography medical equipment is a newer diagnostic tool that is being used to perform breast screening exams. When compared to traditional film screen mammography, which has recently been medically determined to be limited in detecting cancer in women that have denser breast tissue, digital mammography offers several concrete advantages.

What is the difference between traditional film mammography and digital mammography? Patients that are familiar with traditional mammograms will not notice much of a difference between the two types of exams. During a film screen mammographic examination, low energy level x-rays pass through compressed breast tissue and the exiting x-rays are captured on x-ray film. The processing time usually takes about ten minutes to develop the film and retrieve an image for the radiologist to read and evaluate.

With digital mammography, a patient will notice different equipment in the examination room. A flat screen television monitor is standard medical equipment that is used with digital mammography and allows the radiologist to see the image within seconds. In digital mammography, low energy level x-rays also pass through the breast tissue, but they are photographed and recorded by an electronic digital detector rather than by film. Digital technology is superior to its film counterpart diagnostically because the radiologist can manipulate the image(s) electronically to magnify specific areas, or alter the brightness and contrast of the image(s). Images are then displayed on a monitor or can be printed if desired.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Digital mammography medical equipment a little more costly than film screen mammography. However, The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must regulate and approve all digital mammography equipment in the United States. For this reason, insurers like the federal government are aware of the cost differences and will reimburse digital costs at a slightly higher allowance.

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The Benefits of Flat Panel Digital X-ray

Radiologists are ecstatic to finally an option to have a cost-effective and reliable x-ray technology that does not utilize harsh chemicals, traditional radiography films, and heavy imaging plates. By using digital x-ray sensors, instead of photographic films, many top-rated companies that produce radiology imaging medical equipment have created and introduced a smaller, light-weight, flat-panel detector that converts digital signals into pictures and offers multiple benefits.

Flat-panel digital x-ray medical equipment resembles the newer flat screen televisions. Using a similar integrated circuit (IC) technology that is used in digital video and photography, it is able to absorb light and create an electrical pattern that produces up to sixty quality digital images per second on the screen.

These newer digital x-ray machines provide both patients medical practitioners with several advantages. The digital images can be manipulated by professionals in real-time by using a variety of interactive functions. Furthermore, the technology provides patients with a lower dosage of radiation and better quality clinical x-rays than traditional analog films. Medical record archiving is simplified since digital image storing is easily available at all times. The digital images that are provided can easily be shared simultaneously at various locations which also enable them to be easily converted to a patient’s electronic medical records (EMR).

Digital imaging is achieved in four basic steps:
1) Generation
2) Processing
3) Archiving
4) Image presentation

Flat Panel X-ray Detector (FPXD) machines are small and portable. This newer medical equipment technology provides better imaging quality that is clear and sharp, with little to no distortion at the edges, which is commonplace with traditional fluoroscopy and radiography. The exceptional quality of digital x-ray imaging is capable of showing fine details such as hairline fractures. Digital images are produced quickly and efficiently and provide EMR and trauma staffs with an invaluable resource.

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