Innovative technology of printing medical images on plain paper!

With one of the most promising innovation in medical imaging, Ricoh’s DICOM plain paper print solution offers a high quality and affordable solution for printing medical images

Wilhelm Roentgen’s discovered X-rays in 1895. The medical imaging experienced digital revolution with advent of computer based image processing in 1970s. And then we witnessed the transition to a unified imaging platform with the introduction of DICOM and PACS in 1993. DICOM enables the integration of scanners, servers, workstations, printers and network hardware for multiple manufacturers into PACS. Ricoh India seems to have taken the next step in this development timeline by launching an innovative printing solution that can print medical images from different modalities such as X-Ray, CT, MRI, etc., on plain paper, replacing the conventional films.

This medical image plain paper printing solution has helped organisations to bring down cost of care delivery. The hospitals and diagnostic centres are now reducing their costs by adopting this innovative solution. This solution has also helped healthcare sector to avoid use of harmful plastic films that are non-biodegradable and is a heart of environmental crisis.

Puneet Kanodia, COO-Healthcare, Ricoh India said, “In the past one year, our DICOM plain paper print solution has been embraced by doctors. The quality of the paper prints have been appreciated by doctors. Since our solution is being offered on a subscription model, there is no capital expenditure and even stand-alone diagnostics centres are adopting the technology. The solution is cost effective and our customers have been enjoying savings more than Rs six lakhs a year.”

Five years back, the ultrasound images were also printed on films. Now, all ultrasound reports are being printed on plain paper. Analogous to ultrasound images, DICOM images will also be printed on plain paper in the years to come.

Several leading hospitals and diagnostics centres in key cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Pune, etc., have been using the solution and have been satisfied with the quality of the paper prints.

The solution consists of both hardware and software. The software is installed on a mini computer gets it fetches DICOM images from the digital modality. The software orders paper prints on Ricoh’s medical printer. The solution has a streamlined workflow, where the print can be ordered directly from the workstation and no separate training is required to use the solution. The life of the DICOM image print is over 10 years and can be easily documented along with prescriptions and other lab reports.

In addition to the DICOM plain paper print solution, Ricoh offerings include PICASSO, which stands for Patient Is Central to this Advanced Solution and Service Offering – a state-of-the-art PACS and tele-radiology solution. PICASSO is also being offered at a subscription model. All the patient medical images will be pushed to a cloud server that can be accessed anytime with all the desired encryptions and security standards. There is no more need for a hospital/ diagnostic centre to maintain a server to store old patient reports. The application has a provision to provide access to their patients. Since the application is a browser-based application, medical images can be viewed on any device – workstation, laptop, tablet or mobile.

Ricoh also provides medical grade monitors used for viewing medical images and digitizers for scanning old plastic films and converting them into DICOM images. With such an exhaustive range of offerings, Ricoh is indeed a one stop shop for all imaging technology needs.