Arthroscopy: Arthroscopy flies under the radar and across the world

Arthroscopy : Arthroscopy vole sous le radar et à travers le monde

par Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | August 26, 2010

"Our business took a real hit in late 2008," Cooper says. "We didn't see an improvement until March 2009. It was extremely rough. We didn't need to lay anyone off, but it was difficult. Things still haven't improved to the 2007 numbers, but we're starting to see growth."

OEMs open to ideas

We repair MRI Coils, RF amplifiers, Gradient Amplifiers and Injectors.

MIT labs, experts in Multi-Vendor component level repair of: MRI Coils, RF amplifiers, Gradient Amplifiers Contrast Media Injectors. System repairs, sub-assembly repairs, component level repairs, refurbish/calibrate. info@mitlabsusa.com/+1 (305) 470-8013

With the market still a little shaky, OEMs are opening up a little.

"I'm seeing some OEMs taking trade-ins that didn't do trade-ins before," says Harris.

By accepting trade-ins, the OEMs are making it more attractive for facilities to upgrade to HD cameras. In the past, HD was a novelty and in some cases, just not up to acceptable standards set by many hospitals.

"It's been around for years, but it didn't meet all the requirements for infection control," says Harris. "Some places would only use autoclavable cameras and HD cameras couldn't hold up to that for very long. The new cameras are doing better."

With the upgrade in technology comes an upgrade in price.

"If a facility can spend $35,000 or $40,000 on a three-chip system, versus $100,000 on an HD with digital archiving, they might be a little reluctant," says Harris. "After all, they could almost buy three machines for the price of the one, being able to do three times the [number of] procedures."

Will storage be the story?

One of the attractions with HD is tied to getting the digital archiving up and running. When stills or videos of a surgery can be transmitted directly to a patient's digital file right after an operation, it's an attractive option. Pair it with the push for digital health records and the attraction increases.

As more facilities take to HD, more used equipment will hit the market, letting companies like United Endoscopy and Imaging Associates offer bigger bargains.

"I believe we'll be dealing with more and more end-users as word-of-mouth spreads and people start to really take a look at the secondary market," says Cooper.