March/April 2026 Issue

Hidden Gems
By Keith Loria
Radiology Today
Vol. 27 No. 2 P. 14

Advances in DR are expanding its role in patient triage and care.

DR has long been the backbone of diagnostic imaging. Fast, accessible, and cost-effective, X-ray remains the first-line modality in hospitals, outpatient centers, and mobile care settings worldwide. But today’s DR landscape looks markedly different from even five years ago. Staffing shortages, rising exam volumes, cost pressures, and advances in AI are reshaping expectations for what radiography systems must deliver. Across the industry, vendors are embedding automation, AI-supported workflow guidance, and advanced detector technologies to make DR more efficient, more consistent, and increasingly more clinically capable.

“One of the biggest shifts we’re seeing is how digital radiography is moving from a foundational modality to an intelligent, workflow-driven engine that also improves care delivery efficiency,” says Daniel Mazon, business leader for diagnostic X-ray at Philips. “The X-ray modality is at the front line of care, and hospitals and imaging centers are seeking systems that reduce manual steps and help technologists get it right the first time, under higher pressure.”

Strategic Deployment
Philips views DR as becoming more strategic within imaging portfolios. “In hospitals, DXR is increasingly viewed as the backbone of imaging throughput,” Mazon says. “Emergency departments, intensive care units, and inpatient wards rely on fast, reliable radiography to maintain patient flow.”

AI-assisted positioning and collimation are shaping new systems, such as the company’s Radiography 7300 C. “It automatically provides the radiographer with a personalized proposal for collimation and detector height adjustments,” Mazon says. “This helps streamline repetitive tasks, reduce errors, and improve image collimation consistency.”

Automation is also helping standardize exams across technologists with varying experience levels. “We’re moving from a highly manual process to one that’s much more guided and repeatable,” Mazon says. “Dose management expectations have evolved, as well. The lowest possible dose isn’t the only priority anymore. Customers ask for consistent, protocol-driven image quality with smart dose control built in.”

Philips sees DR’s role expanding at the front door of care. “Digital radiography is a hidden gem,” Mazon says. “As the front door of the hospital, it plays an increasingly important role in patient triage and care pathways.”

Workflow Support
Siemens Healthineers is focusing on flexible, workflow-driven solutions for departments, handling a mix of complex radiography and fluoroscopy exams. Tim Glebinski, product manager for the company’s DR business in North America, says all of the company’s new radiography and fluoroscopy systems were designed to address growing efficiency demands while maintaining image quality and dose performance.

The remote-controlled Luminos Q.namix R can be operated either from the control room or at a patient’s bedside, offering flexibility for a wide range of fluoroscopic and radiographic procedures. It supports exams such as upper and lower gastrointestinal studies, swallow exams, and joint injections requiring contrast media, as well as general radiography of the chest, bones, and joints.

The Luminos Q.namix T, with tableside control, is geared toward nonambulatory patients and procedures requiring intensive interaction, including pediatrics, bariatrics, and gastroenterology. Its design allows technologists to remain close to the patient while maintaining efficient control of the system.

Luminos Q.namix fluoroscopy systems include the benefits of the Ysio X.pree radiography system. The Ysio X.pree provides efficient radiography workflows and smart automation capabilities. “The systems that can automatically move from the table to the wall stand automatically help position based off of body part, which obviously helps decrease the burden on staff and helps increase efficiencies within the room,” Glebinski says. “By enabling automated positioning and workflow support, the system helps standardize exams and reduce repetitive manual steps for technologists.”

For orthopedic applications, both the Luminos Q.namix platform and the Ysio X.pree can leverage AI for automated long leg and long spine imaging. This technology also plays a role in workflow optimization. Glebinski notes integrated 3D camera technology allows staff to monitor patients and adjust collimation directly from the workstation.

“The 3D camera also allows artificial intelligence to automatically collimate certain body parts to help save time,” he says. “That capability can reduce the need for technologists to reenter the room to make manual adjustments.”

Dose management and image consistency remain top priorities. “Image quality, image processing, low doses, and consistency are always paramount for customers today,” Glebinski says. “Advanced image processing engines are designed to allow departments to tailor parameters to meet clinical expectations while delivering the best quality image at the lowest dose.”

By combining multifunctional capability, automation, and AI-supported workflow guidance, the Luminos Q.namix platform and Ysio X.pree are intended to help imaging providers manage rising patient volumes and evolving care settings without sacrificing efficiency or performance.

Evolving Uses
For Konica Minolta, the conversation around DR begins with workforce realities. “Trends in digital radiography, and across all of diagnostic imaging really, are AI and the shortage of radiologic technologists and radiologists,” says Guillermo Sander, PhD, marketing director for DR at Konica Minolta. “Facilities are looking for greater efficiency and more streamlined workflows.”

He notes that primary imaging remains the most predominantly used modality in health care. As such, providers are demanding more digital information from DR systems without adding complexity.

“We are investing in technology to make DR more intuitive, automated, scalable, and easy to use,” Sander says. “And we are working to expand its use cases, but not by making it more complex, rather, by providing the tools for DR to do more.”

Dynamic digital radiography (DDR) is central to that strategy. By enabling cine-style imaging of moving anatomy, DDR extends the clinical utility of traditional X-ray. “They want a system that can do everything it does now, but faster or better, and can do more,” Sander says.

Workflow tools such as system-side image review and AeroRemote Insights dashboards help technologists confirm positioning immediately and allow managers to monitor dose, reject rates, and technique consistency. “Good enough is no longer good enough,” Sander says. “They want superior image quality, low dose, and quick workflow.”

With mergers and consolidations, some larger health systems have a huge footprint of outpatient imaging and are struggling to manage that efficiently. Meanwhile smaller clinics and independent outpatient centers are struggling to invest in newer technologies, and their investments need future-ready capabilities.

“Smaller hospitals or clinics are utilizing DDR for contrast studies, sniff tests, exams typically done with more expensive and underutilized fluoroscopy rooms,” Sander says. “Critical access hospitals often don’t have fluoroscopy because they don’t have a radiologist on site to oversee/perform this exam. That’s where DDR can provide similar information for many patient cases. Providers can get the answer to the clinical question and, importantly, they don’t have to send the patient elsewhere for a fluoroscopy exam.”

Konica Minolta sees DR evolving, allowing X-ray to complement advanced modalities by triaging patients and potentially reducing reliance on CT, MRI, or nuclear imaging in appropriate cases.

Tight Budgets
Fujifilm is responding to tight capital budgets and staffing shortages by emphasizing productivity and flexibility with its DR systems. “Buyers are prioritizing affordability, reliability, and especially workflow productivity,” says Rob Fabrizio, director of strategic marketing for diagnostic imaging. “This is shaping system development toward simplified workflows, faster exams, and smarter automation.”

Recent updates to the company’s FDR Visionary Suite include AI-driven automation, live camera positioning guidance, and advanced lightweight detectors. The collimator-integrated camera provides real-time patient video at both the tube and console, helping technologists confirm positioning before exposure.

“Features that shortcut workflow steps and reduce mistakes are critical,” Fabrizio says. “They help technologists shorten exam times, be more precise, prevent retakes, and deliver consistent, high-quality images during busy caseloads.”

Fujifilm is also featuring mobile imaging systems such as the FDR Go iQ. “As care expands across more settings, DR systems are expected to be light, agile, and versatile,” Fabrizio says. “When it comes to dose, providers are looking for smart automation that helps provide the right dose every time with fewer retakes and consistent image quality.”

Fujifilm expects DR to evolve into “AI-driven, highly portable, and ultra-low-dose systems” that make radiography “faster, safer, smarter, and more flexible across health care settings.”

Increasing Automation
GE HealthCare is focusing on automation and patient-aware imaging platforms in its DR portfolio. “In digital radiography, we’re seeing three major trends driving system innovation: workflow automation, demand for consistent high-quality imaging across technologist skill levels, and flexible system configurations,” says Michael Wussow, GE HealthCare’s global director of product marketing for fixed radiography.

Systems such as the Definium Pace Select ET integrate AI-driven positioning support and automated collimation. “These systems can identify the patient’s size, height, and body shape and use that information to automatically position the tube and detector,” Wussow says. “Automation is no longer optional. Automation is no longer viewed as a convenience but as a critical element for achieving consistent, low-dose, high-quality imaging in today’s high-pressure clinical environment.”

GE HealthCare also sees potential in autonomous X-ray systems that could expand imaging access in underserved regions. “By combining advanced robotics, AI driven positioning, automated collimation, and intelligent image analysis, these systems could deliver high-quality diagnostic imaging without requiring a technologist or physician on site,” Wussow says.

Decision Support Capabilities
KA Imaging is pushing DR toward more quantitative and decision support capabilities. “We are seeing movement to lighter, cheaper detectors,” says Charlie Hicks, the company’s vice president of global medical sales. “But the biggest trend is that customers want more capability from their digital radiography systems.”

He notes that DR must evolve beyond commodity imaging for it to become more widely used. “DR needs to be a better frontline decision tool,” Hicks says. “Can the first exam already answer more of the clinical question, reducing the need for further imaging when applicable or opening new diagnostic paths earlier when that is the case? That’s a fundamental shift. It means DR has to support triage, early risk assessment, and faster clinical confidence, especially in high-pressure environments like intensive care units, emergency departments, and mobile care.”

Dose concerns are also shifting clinician behavior. “There’s growing awareness that CT comes with real radiation tradeoffs,” Hicks says. “If you want clinicians to rely more on low-dose imaging, you have to give them more confidence in what they’re seeing.”

That’s why he believes innovation should focus on extracting more clinically meaningful data from X-ray itself. “The future of DR is not about cheaper detectors but about smarter detectors,” he says. “We see DR evolving into a low-dose, high-value clinical platform that supports early detection and risk assessment for multiple conditions: lung disease, cardiovascular disease, bone health, and more. Not as a replacement for CT or MRI, but as a smarter gatekeeper, with the long-term potential to support population-level risk assessment in ways that aren’t practical with higher-dose modalities.”

Consistent Outcomes
Agfa Radiology Solutions is focusing on what it calls “first-time-right” imaging in its DR offerings. “We continue to focus on solving health care’s staffing challenges,” says Lindsey Smith, product manager at Agfa. “Our latest DR systems embed intelligent automation directly into the workflow, removing repetitive tasks and shortening exam time.”

Features such as Smart Positioning QA provide immediate feedback during exams, while one-click workflow capabilities streamline processes from login to upload. “Customers now expect high image quality, responsible dose, and consistent outcomes all at once and not as trade-offs,” Smith says.

Agfa is evolving toward what it calls an “AI-driven autonomous X-ray model.” “Intelligence will increasingly guide positioning, acquisition, and quality control, reducing the number of manual steps required while delivering predictable, repeatable, first-time-right imaging,” Smith says. “Technologists remain essential, but their work shifts: automation handles routine tasks, giving techs more time to care for vulnerable patients, manage complex cases, and oversee autonomous imaging rooms.”

— Keith Loria is a freelance writer based in Oakton, Virginia. He is a frequent contributor to Radiology Today.