Digital Radiography
Anyone who ever had a radiograph taken of themselves or their pet prior to the 1990's has seen an x-ray film. In much the same way camera film worked, x-rays were used to expose the film and record an image on the film. X-rays would pass through the object of interest and strike the film on the other side. The denser the tissue (bone), the fewer x-rays that would pass through and the lighter the image would appear on the film. Just as with camera film, x-ray film had to be processed through various chemicals in order to be developed. Whether this was done with dip tanks or with an automatic processor, it was a time consuming process. After processing, the films could then be viewed on a view box, which projected light behind the film to allow the doctor to view the image.
Well, just as cameras have made the jump from film to digital recording media, so have x-ray machines. The x-rays are still used in the same way, but now instead of exposing film in order to record an image, they are read by a digital plate and the image is transferred to a computer in seconds.
Our new digital x-ray machine allows us to snap a radiograph and be interpreting the image in as little as 6 seconds. Digital radiographs offer greater detail and better image quality, just as digital photographs do. This will allow us to offer our clients faster services while also allowing us to practice a higher quality medicine, enabling us to better diagnose and treat our patients. The promise of being better able to care for the furry, four legged kids in our clinic has us all very excited about this new addition to our clinic.
