The Core Service Engineering team has just completed the substantial feat of installing three highly customized, state-of-the-art Shimadzu Sonialvision G4 rooms at three different healthcare facilities in the Northwest. This brand new technology brings extraordinary versatility and cost-efficiency to what had been an important, but costly procedure for many healthcare providers.
The three recipients of the highly advanced G4 systems include two in Oregon, Tuality outside Portland and PeaceHealth Sacred Heart University District in Eugene, along with Community Medical Center in Missoula, Montana.
The Core team worked closely with each facility to design and install the rooms, doing so without the presence of a manufacturer technician on site. This represents a strong vote of confidence in our service team, especially since the first G4 installation had occurred only a few short months earlier in Maryland.
The new Shimadzu Sonialvision G4 offers a best-in-class multi-functional Universal RF System that is easy to operate and fully customizable, in addition to delivering extraordinary image quality while minimizing x-ray dose levels. This technology is a major reason that Shimadzu Medical Systems holds the number one position for portable and R/F products in the Q1 2016 MD Buyline Market Intelligence Briefing.
The G4 is so versatile that it can be used all day for a wide variety of examinations in addition to fluoroscopy, including endoscopy, orthopedic exams, urology and general radiography. This is great news for providers whose fluoroscopy systems historically spent most of their service life waiting for the next specific examination.
“You could conceivably have that one room alone and do every possible exam without having another overhead,” said Bill Boles, the Core Senior Service Engineer who managed the installations at all three sites. “You can do everything on that table that you could do in a conventional RAD room.”
Installation of the equipment typically takes three weeks, with an additional two weeks reserved for application configuration, fine-tuning and training of doctors and techs to ensure optimal use of the system’s advanced capabilities. While most major manufacturers still running Windows XP, the Shimadzu G4 is a true Windows 7 system that can be programmed to fulfill individual doctors’ needs and preferences for how they like to see images and operate consoles.
Community Medical Center in Missoula, Montana became the first hospital in the Western region to offer these features. The G4 room was built in a brand new space previously used as a break room. The G4 is the latest in the Center’s advanced equipment that includes two Canon Delinia and two RadPro portables.
“They liked the system because it gave them so many opportunities for advanced special exams,” according to Sales Account Executive Gary Brown. Such exams include tomosynthesis and slot-beam, which enables accurate exams without distortion using a low dose of radiation suitable for pediatric patients.
As for the G4’s positive impact on PeaceHealth University District Hospital, Manager of Imaging Services Adam Mellott puts it best:
“The addition of our SonialVision G4 has been a huge time-saver, allowing for improved efficiency and a drastic decrease in dose to our patients. Having the ability to reduce the necessary footprint needed in our Imaging department to be able to provide basic x-ray imaging as well as fluoroscopy procedures using an all-in-one unit has been a benefit throughout, especially if you are tight on space as we are. The G4 lowers down to an impressive 18 inches, and the extra-wide table top has allowed for improved patient comfort and safety.
We are also very impressed with Core’s service team, as they have been instrumental in quick response troubleshooting as well as communication with us on a consistent basis even when we are not in need of support.”
Core also installed a G4 to replace Tuality’s 37-year-old x-ray room. The addition of the G4 technology now allows Tuality to offer fluoroscopic exams to their patients. To accommodate the new system, Tuality executed a retrofit of an older existing room. Their ability and willingness to adapt existing structures and equipment to provide leading edge solutions within space and budget constraints is one reason for the long-term relationships Core enjoys with Tuality and many other providers.
