Carestream Health Enters Fluoroscopy and Ultrasound Markets

Carestream Health is a company on everyone’s watch list right now as it moves into new fields including ultrasound and fluoroscopy. Medical Imaging International spoke to Charlie McCaffrey, Carestream’s Managing Director, UK and Ireland.

Q: Carestream Health is fast becoming a world leader in the development of new technologies for medical and healthcare IT. What is driving this high level of innovation?

A: We have a reputation for being a very innovative company. Innovation is in our DNA. This is largely due to our success with our DRX detectors and, more recently seen, by our entry into the ultrasound market. Cone Beam CT for extremities is another new groundbreaking piece of technology introduced this year.

With regards to our entry into the ultrasound market, people don’t automatically look at us and say we’re an ultrasound company, but I encourage people to look beyond what we having been doing until now, and beyond their usual two or three ultrasound suppliers because we are bringing customers something different.

Q: Carestream Health gained 61 patents in the U.S. and 64 patents in other markets around the world in 2015. Where are your biggest markets?

A: The United States (U.S.) and Canada are large markets for us, as they are for many medical products, and likewise, the Chinese market and Southeast Asia generally. From a European perspective, our biggest markets tend to be the larger countries such as Germany, France, and the UK. In total, we do business in 151 countries around the world.

Q: What sets Carestream Health products, and the company generally, apart from other competitors and their products in the field?

A: We are a multinational company with all the benefits that brings, but we are still small enough to respond rapidly to customer needs, and gain customer input into our product development. When we look across our portfolio of products, there are benefits of being small and nimble, but also from being a company that is large enough to benefit from economies of scale.

We are in a unique position of being able to respond rapidly to customer needs and to ensure the customer voice is not lost as it might be in a larger multinationals. This responsiveness is especially important right now in the UK with the multidisciplinary management teams for PACS IT, which are undergoing many changes.

Q: MD Buyline (user satisfaction ratings) recognized Carestream Health’s DR systems for their quality of workmanship, well-designed technology, and outstanding customer service. How important is good customer service to you?

A: I was an engineer before entering management. Customer service support is so important, without it how can the NHS function properly? If there’s a car accident in the middle of the night, healthcare professionals need reliable equipment and this means good follow on care is essential. Carestream has a long pedigree in providing good customer service. It’s not just about someone with the spanners to fix a machine, but about being able to talk to somebody who knows what they are talking about.

Q: Carestream Health has also been recognized for innovation focused on value-based imaging that solves real-life problems, and addresses unmet customer needs. What new product innovations is Carestream currently offering in this respect?

A: We’ve just launched our OnSight 3D extremity system that uses cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) technology to capture high-quality, low-dose 3D exams. Conventionally, if someone needs a CT scan on their ankle or knee, using standard scanners, inadvertently other body parts would be irradiated unnecessarily. Also, conventional CT scanners are not optimized for extremities.

The other challenge to CT – especially in the UK – is access, where there are too few scanners per head of population. We have recognized this problem and with the extremity system have brought out a smaller scanner, which operates at a fraction of the cost of a standard CT scanner. Also, because this machine just images the relevant extremity, there will be a dose reduction without compromising image quality. The product will be available later this year.

Q: What does the future hold for Carestream Health?

A: Collaboration is a real buzzword now in healthcare especially with a shortage of doctors and radiologists. So collaboration across enterprises is essential, as is cost effectiveness and productivity. These are the key drivers for us. We hope our technology enables this collaboration, for example through our PACS systems, but also our DR systems increase productivity with high throughput. Our fluoroscopy system, for example, can be used for general X-ray, as well as fluoroscopy. Carestream aims to provide these systems with standard platforms avoiding the need for additional integration.

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