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Imaging is a general term to describe a wide variety of activities involving the capture, storage, and manipulation of images. This would include storing capturing and storing digital x-rays, scanning documents, taking patient photos with a digital camera, scanning x-rays, enhancing photos, using an intraoral camera, etc. The DentOffice Images module has some basic imaging capabilities which can handle scanning, importing, cropping, and storing images. This is mostly targetted for documents, but can also easily be used with digital photos which you can import from your camera. See the Image Enhancing page as well.
The following scanners are the only ones we are aware of that have a large enough transparency adapter to be used with panos. But be aware that we do not currently directly support transparency scanning, so you will have to use the software that comes with the scanner and save the image into the patient's DentOffice folder.
Epson Perfection 4990 $600, 8 x 10 transparency area. Brand new on the market.
Microtek Scanmaker 8700 $500, firewire/USB2(fast), 8 x 10 transparency tray.Their software is very hard to use and full of bugs. You can't save to a network folder, you can't change the contrast, the settings are touchy, etc. You also have to cut the ends of your panos. We do not recommend this scanner.
Microtek 9800XL with TMA ($1400, firewire, 12 x 16 transparency area)
UMax 2100XL ($1300, SCSI-II, 12 x 17 transparency area)
Epson 1680 ($1200, 8.5 x 11.7 transparency area, but being discontinued)
For more complex imaging requirements, you will need imaging software. It is very common to use one program for dental practice management and a different program for image management. If you are using digital x-rays, then your hardware vendor will have an imaging program you can purchase. Examples include Dexis, Schick, and Gendex VixWin. There are also stand-alone products such as TigerView and Apteryx which work very well.
The best way to link the imaging program to DentOffice is with a bridge. This is a simple link which lets you avoid having to enter the name of a patient twice. It also allows you to have single button access to the images from the Chart module. There are currently bridges in place for the following imaging programs:
TigerView
Apteryx
Schick CDR Dicom
Dexis
Gendex VixWin
Trophy (bought out by PracticeWorks)
XDR
Lightyear
Sirona SIDEXIS XG
Planmeca
In Progress
Later Versions (or as requested)
DBSwin by Duerr
Mediadent
Adstra
DentalEye3
Progeny
Vipersoft
Sensors
We will eventually be providing direct support for many sensors. Here is a prioritized list of the order in which we might add support for sensors:
Schick
RSV
Owandy
DentX Eva
e2v
DenOptix
Progeny
Gendex
Sirona
QuickRay
ScanX (difficult)
These sensors may be difficult to support:
Trophy
Sensors we will probably not support
Dexis (they do not allow direct sensor support)
Suni (they will not cooperate with us)
Imaging hardware and software vendors alphabetically
Air Techniques www.airtechniques.com
They make the ScanX, shown above, which is a new phosphor plate system. As with the other major phosphor plate system, the Gendex Denoptix, the advantage is the price, especially if you use panos. The disadvantages are the time involved and the fact that the phosphor plates can become scratched. The ScanX is faster than Denoptix because you don't have to load the plates onto a drum first, but you instead just drop them through the slot in the upper black area. Some offices claim that the quality is not acceptable unless you use high resolution.
Apteryx www.apteryxware.com/dental
Their XVA3 software can support almost all sensors on the market. The hardware support is just outstanding, and the software is powerful. Apteryx is frequently rebranded under different names, including Lightyear. Apteryx does not manufacture hardware, and Suni sensors are frequently used with it.
DentalEye www.dentaleye.com
Imaging software from Sweden.
Dentrix Image
Purchased Vipersoft and renamed it Dentrix Image. It has become a closed and proprietary solution available only to Dentrix users. They used to use Suni sensors, but now use e2v sensors which they refer to as ImageRay sensors.
Dent-X www.dent-x.com
Previously known for their line of chemical x-ray developers. Manufactures Eva sensors and ProImage image management
Dexis www.dexray.com
They manufacture sensors and an imaging program to go along with them, but their sensors only work with their proprietary program. They sell one sensor size which is between a #1 and a #2 in size.
A sensor manufacturer that only sells sensors wholesale. They have 3 sensor sizes which will work on Windows, Mac, or Linux !! The e2v sensor is used in Gendex,XDR, Progeny, Imagin, Mediadent, and Dentrix ImageRay products among others.
Sigma sensors with Cliniview software. Cliniview is a rebranded version of Apteryx.
Gendex www.gendexxray.com
Owned by Dentsply. Manufacturer of DenOptix, shown above, which is the original phosphor plate system. The problem with Denoptix is that it takes time to load the individual plates onto the drum, and it is easy to scratch the plates which then need to be replaced. On the other hand, a phosphor plate system is by far the most affordable way to go completely digital, especially if you are using panos. They also manufacture intraoral cameras, x-ray systems, sensors, digital panos, and a wide variety of other instruments.
Lightyear www.lightyeartechnology.com
Heavily marketted for use on a tablet PC, Lightyear is simply a pared down version of Apterxy software matched with Suni sensors.
MediaDent www.multimediadental.org
They started out in medical imaging, and then moved into dental imaging using the e2v sensor. They very recently released a practice management software to complement their imaging software. Although they are an DentOffice competitor, we do support their philosophy of an open SQL database.
Owandy www.owandy.com
A French company that makes a sensor between a #1 and #2 in size called a Upix. It has a very short cord (about 4") with a memory chip on the end so that you can take one "wireless" radiograph without hooking up the extension cord. It comes with Upix QuickVision imaging software.
Planmeca www.planmeca.com
Based in Helsinki. Software is Dimaxis. They manufacture hardware for both panoramic and intraoral radiography.
Progeny www.progenydental.com
A fairly new company founded by the original owner of Gendex. They manufacture an x-ray head, camera, and software. They use the e2v sensor.
Schick www.schicktech.com
Their open architecture and programming tools are unmatched. They have poured a lot of money into database development and automation features. DentOffice does not take advantage yet of many of their automation features. They also manufacture sensors, wireless sensors, and digital retrofit kits for pano machines. They provide functionality for other imaging programs to directly use their sensors. They are owned by Patterson, the same company that owns Eaglesoft. But they have not tried to restrict user choices and it doesn't look like they will. In fact, they continue to open up their database with powerful Dicom functionality.
SciCan www.scican.com
SciCan is better known for autoclaves such as the Statim. They also make intraoral cameras and ImageFX software, but no x-ray equipment.
Sigma Biomedics www.sigmabiomedics.com
Rebrands Suni sensors as Bio-Ray, and uses Apteryx for imaging.
Sirona www.sirona.com
A German company that develops software and equipment. Especially well known for their Cerec CAD-CAM equipment. Their imaging software and sensors are called SIDEXIS. Their software does not directly support other sensors.
Suni www.suni.com
Used to sell sensors wholesale, but now sell retail. Their imaging software, Professor Suni, is Apteryx software with a different name. The Suni sensors are currently being sold as Lightyear and Sigma BioRay brands among others. They were also used in the older version of Dentrix ImageRay. When Suni made the switch to retail, they lost some of their wholesale customers. And no, "Dr. Suni" is not a doctor.
TigerView www.televere.com
They have extra features that you wouldn't normally find in imaging software. For instance, e-mail, letters, insurance submissions, etc. DentOffice passes more information through TigerView's bridge than through any other imaging bridge. They do not manufacture hardware. Their support is very good, and it is easy to quickly talk to a helpful person.
Trophy www.trophy-imaging.com
Owned by Kodak/Practice Works, they have become a very large corporation and are mostly pushing their imaging solutions through PracticeWorks and SoftDent integration. They manufacture a wide variety of hardware. The bridge from DentOffice to Trophy is the simplest of all the bridges. All it does is specify to Trophy the name of the folder containing the images of the current patient. The Trophy sensors require the proprietary Trophy imaging program to work. They now have a Mac sensor. They are known for having a high quality sensor.
VideoDental www.videodental.com
RSV sensors are imported and distributed exclusively by VideoDental, who also distribute hardware and software from a variety of other manufacturers.
Don't let the simple interface of this imaging software fool you. It was written by Dr. Douglas Yoon, one of the nicest and smartest guys around. Dr. Yoon was the programmer who created the now famous automatic caries detection algorithm. What this means is that XDR has single click enhancements rather than making you wade through useless features like colorization. XDR uses the e2v sensors.