DR Tools Designed for Neonatal Imaging, Bone and Soft Tissue Detailing

Two new direct radiography (DR) applications take image processing to a new level by rendering excellent bone and soft tissue detail simultaneously in one exposure, and provide specialty radiologists with improved image processing for challenging exams. Both applications are designed to maximize radiographic detail and provide workflow efficiency.

Agfa HealthCare (Mortsel, Belgium) reported on the North American launch of its NX Musica2 Platinum and NX Musica2 Neonatal systems, which provide enhanced detail across the complete dynamic range of the image for enhanced contrast, sharpness, and density required by radiology specialists.

NX Musica2 Platinum provides fine-tuned abdomen, chest, and musculoskeletal presets for both adult and pediatric patients. Special image processing defaults can be automatically applied for up to four different pediatric age groups. NX Musica2 Platinum, designed for these individual applications, solves the problem of many large healthcare networks and university medical centers to have dedicated image processing that shows increased emphasis on soft tissue or bony structures, depending on the exam type.

NX Musica2 Neonatal image processing includes algorithms tuned specifically for the neonatal patient, providing excellent contrast and detail without increasing noise—even on lower dose exams. Using Musica2 Neonatal and Musica2 GenRad (general radiology), physicians can rapidly and easily customize imaging perimeters for the overall patient population as well as their dose-sensitive neonatal patients. Installation and set-up is easy; workflow is improved because all Musica2 image processing is fully automatic with DR exposures. Radiologists, technologists, and clinicians seldom, if ever, need to postprocess or window/level images to view all pertinent anatomy rendered in a single Musica2 image.

“Agfa HealthCare continues to raise the bar for image quality in radiology with new innovations in image processing. Our most recent advances in technology address the demanding field of pediatric and neonatal imaging with NX Musica2 Platinum and NX Musica2 Neonatal, giving diagnostic confidence when it matters the most,” said Greg Cefalo, US digital radiography business unit manager, Agfa HealthCare.

“Especially in the neonatal environment where subtlety of image detail is important, enhanced features help detect minute daily changes to provide physicians with the confidence for urgent clinical decision-making. Agfa HealthCare’s image processing algorithm used in NX Musica2 Neonatal is finely tuned to the special imaging needs of the neonate,” said Mr. Cefalo. “For example, Musica Neonatal enhances detail in the low-contrast neonatal bones without adding the additional unwanted noise that traditional image processing creates. These attributes, combined with comprehensive dose management tools, provide excellent image capture technology for radiology’s most demanding newborn and premature patients.”

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