Week 4 – Digital Intra Oral XRay Sensors – The Good The Bad And The Ugly – Part 4

Week 4 – Digital Intra Oral XRay Sensors – The Good The Bad And The Ugly – Part 4

Digital Intra Oral XRay Sensors

-Good Image Quality – Part 1
-Reliability – Part 2
-Price – Part 3
-Functionality – Part 4

Part 4 Functionality

Reviewed Sensors:
-Eva by Dent-X (AFP Imaging)
-SuniRay-Suni Corporation (Orange Dental)
-Dixi 3-Planmeca
-Dexis Platinum-Dexis
-CDR Elite-Schick
-Kodak RVG6100- Kodak (Owned By Carestream Now)

Part 4: Functionality

In this article I wish to discuss how a sensor can be connected into your computer systems, what software the sensors will work with and any particular data that might be of interest as far as the sensors use.
-Eva by Dent-X (AFP Imaging)

This sensor connects to an inexpensive and durable interface that can be mounted on the wall or under a counter. The interface connects to your computer through USB. The interface in this design is not intended to be moved from room to room and because of this the interface is sold rather inexpensively at around $300. The interface itself can be 16 feet from the computer because of the limitations of USB. I have not had good luck with attaching this interface through a powered extension. To be sure of good reliability I would advise to limit yourself to mounting the interface within the 16ft limitation. The sensor then plugs into the interface and give you roughly 6 feet of cable to work with. If your room has pass through xray tube heads I would advice running the usb cable through the wall or floor into your pass through so that when you plug in the sensor, the sensor and sensor cable follow the same path as the xray tube arm. This will prevent you from tripping over the cable and damaging your sensor during use. If 16 feet will not get you to the pass through you may need to mount the unit at your 12 o’clock. If you do not have a pass through than try to route your usb cable over to the xray tube wall mount and locate your interface there. The idea is that if you are using the sensor, the tube head is pulled out and the arm of the tube head keeps you from walking across where your sensor cable is.

The sensor is of similar size to a Suni Ray or Schick sensor and has rounded corners. I would expect this sensor to be as comfortable as most sensors on the market.

Eva sensors come with their own included imaging software that is okay to use or if you would like they also work great in Xray Vision. I prefer Xray Vision in most cases, because of its ability to work with lots of different sensors, panos and phosphor plate systems.
-SuniRay-Suni Corporation (Orange Dental)

The Suni Ray is a direct in line USB sensor similar to the Kodak sensor. The sensor is attached to its own in line interface and has about 3 feet of cable here. The small interface about the size of a tin of mints has a mini USB female connection and comes with a 16 foot usb cable to plug into the interface. This sensor design is intended to be plugged into a powered hub located near your computer. In most of my installs I suggest having enough USB cables to have one plugged in in every room and simply move the sensor with its short cable and interface around. This is much easier than using the long 16 foot usb cable and moving it from room to room.

The sensor has rounded corners and a composite body. I have found the sensor to be comfortable to use and position.

Suni Ray sensors work in Prof Suni and Xray Vision. This is kind of redundant because Prof Suni is an OEM release of Xray Vision

-Planmeca ProSensor

The Planmeca sensor has an interface that the actual sensor plugs into. The interface has many different ways to be connected to the computer including USB and a network interface. The network interface is an excellent choice because you can place your interface any distance from the computer you choose. If you used the correct wireless device in conjunction with the interface and you know a computer guy who can set it up you wouldn’t even need to run a cable from your network to the interface.

The sensor itself is waterproof and of similar size to the other sensors in this review except for the Dexis which is smaller.

Planmeca sensors work in their own Dimaxis software and can also be utilized in Xray Vision

PLANMECA CORRECTIONS

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Its called the Planmeca ProSensor…. The picture you use even shows that. 🙂 Dixi was replaced by it.

The warranty program is 10 years. 3 years 100% 3 years 50% 4 years 40% no fees. We have a 24 hour replacement after a dealer tech has confirmed the problem with our support (or even the office with them on the phone depending on the issue)

We are integrated directly into Romexis (our SW that replaced Dimaxis awhile ago for 2D and 3D in one) Eaglesoft, MacPractice, Dolphin, and others.

The images are on a few of our websites. Also I have posted images on Dentaltown in the past comparing it to SUNI sensors in MacPractice. From the same office, same computer, tubehead, anatomy, etc. If you would like some images let me know.

The pricing is adjustable. We have trade-ins for current digital users, we bundle them with Pans, we bundle them with Intra X-Rays, we offer buy 2 get one… etc. Also Pricing is determined by the dealer, and we do have a few distribution partners therefore we cannot post pricing.”

-Anonymous

-Dexis Platinum-Dexis

The new Dexis Platinum has no interface. It has a cable that comes directly out of the sensor and ends in a standard USB B Connection that can be plugged into the computer USB ports. The downside of this is that the connector is only good for about 1000 disconnects meaning after about 1000 patients you will probably start having problems with the sensor plug if you are unplugging it and moving it after each patient. The cable is pretty long and most likely would need to be plugged in wherever your computer is and draped across the floor to your patient when in use.

Dexis sensors only work in Dexis Image from what I have been told although I know that drivers were made for it to work in Xrayvision for when the sensor is used in conjunction with the US military.

-CDR Elite-Schick

This sensor plugs in through its own interface that has another cable that comes out of it and plugs in through USB to the computer. As far as placement of the sensor you will probably want to place the interface at the computer location because you wouldn’t want to damage the cable going to the interface by running it through your walls. The interfaces for these schick sensors are close to $2K a piece so be careful with them.

Schick sensors work in Dentrix Image through a module you download, through eaglesoft image and with xray vision. I have only used the sensor in eaglesoft and xray vision. If you use eaglesoft image you may want to go into the settings and change the acquisition timer. By default I believe it is set to less than a minute so if you hit the acquire button before positioning the sensor the acquisition may time out before you take the xray.

-Kodak RVG6100- Kodak (Owned By Carestream Now)

Kodak sensors are very similar to the Suni Ray as to how they plug in. They have an interface that is very small that is attached directly to the sensor through a cable. Then you use a USB cable to plug into the interface. As far as functionality the Kodak works similar to the Suni Ray.

Kodak sensors work in Kodak Image and in Xray Vision. Kodak only recently released the drivers to interface with Xray Vision so if you have Kodak Image and don’t like it feel free to buy Xray Vision and switch over.

If you have any questions or comments please either comment on the post or visit https://www.sodiumdental.com/dental-technology-integrators-contact-us/