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Compact and Affordable for a Variety of Healthcare Settings

The award-winning SIERRA Advantage film digitizer, developed by VIDAR Systems Corporation, represents a significant advance in film digitizer technology and overcomes some of the most common barriers to digitizer use — quality, cost, and size. The ACR-compliant SIERRA Advantage is a cost-effective digitizer for integration of outlying clinics and low- volume digitizing. The SIERRA Advantage digitizer continues to be small enough to be easily wall-mounted, solving siting problems commonly found at hospitals and radiology offices. It features easy USB connectivity, an LED lighting system, and is available with a single or 10-sheet film feeder. With VIDAR’s next-generation proprietary High Definition CCD (HD-CCD®) technology, and its unique ADC (Automatic Digitizer Calibration) feature there is virtually no variation in image quality and an excellent grayscale reproduction in every image is ensured. The RoHS compliant SIERRA Advantage meets the needs of healthcare professionals for a high quality, affordable, compact film digitizer capable of being integrated into a variety of healthcare settings, including at the point of care.

Maintenance Free Design and Lower Cost of Ownership

Unlike other digitizers that require biannual calibration or cleaning, VIDAR digitizers need no maintenance or calibration, saving nearly $2,000 annually. The straight-line film path reduces the need for costly service calls ($500 or more each) due to film jams. Parts replacement, on-site service, shipping, and service costs for factory repairs can reach $4,500 annually for laser digitizers. These substantial cost differences are illustrated by a comparative analysis created by PACS expert Michael Cannavo. An analysis of a three-year total cost of ownership demonstrates that the cost of owning a laser digitizer is significantly more than that of a SIERRA Advantage.

Flexibility of Siting

At just 30 pounds, the SIERRA Advantage is much lighter than other digitizers that weigh 50-200 pounds. This light weight, combined with its small size — about that of a one-panel light box — makes the wall-mountable SIERRA Advantage ideal for crowded radiology offices and hospitals, where space often is at a premium. It also means that the SIERRA Advantage can be deployed in a number of other settings where quick access to high-quality electronic images would enhance patient care, such as the emergency department, intensive care and coronary care units, as well as at teaching hospitals, imaging centers and alternate care settings.

Clinically Proven Image Quality

The SIERRA Advantage continues VIDAR’s tradition of exceptional image quality. A Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology study comparing the SIERRA Advantage and the Kodak LS75 laser digitizer demonstrated that there is no difference in image quality and radiologists’ preference between radiographs digitized on the two systems. In addition, a ROC (Receiver Operator Characteristic) study conducted at Johns Hopkins University concluded there was no difference in a radiologist’s ability to make a correct diagnosis when reading the original films or the SIERRA Advantage digitized images on a high- resolution workstation.

The SIERRA Advantage is supported by VIDAR’s excellent customer service. It also delivers unmatched stability, consistency, and ease of use. With no additional burden on their staff, radiologists can be confident that the digitized image is faithful to the hard-copy film, and that their diagnoses are based on accurate, complete information. SIERRA Advantage — combining unmatched image quality, superior reliability, compact size, and low total cost of ownership — results in the most economical ACR-compliant film digitizer on the market.