Barco's history in medical imaging started well over 30 years ago, when we specialized in custom display technology.

Because our products were reputed for their quality, we soon started building ultrasound displays for big medical companies, such as GE, Siemens, Acuson and Toshiba, and even started to develop custom image processing boards that were placed into these ultrasound machines.

'It was an experience that helped us to understand the needs and pains of the medical modality market. And we realized we could help change things for the better,' says Geert Carrein, who's been working for Barco Healthcare since the beginning.

'Our drive for change was fueled by the digitization of medical imaging. So we jumped on this new trend and developed a diagnostic display system that was game-changing at the time. The quality of the images was unseen. When we introduced the display at RSNA, it took the market by storm.'

Shortly after the introduction of our first diagnostic display, we enrolled in the SCREEN project (i.e. a program funded by the European Community to develop digital technology for mammography screening applications). This brought together experts from the industry, clinicians, and universities from different countries to research the needs of digital mammography imaging. It made us understand the demands of mammography imaging and dive deeper into the workload of breast screening radiologists.

Subtle breast lesions become easier to detect

As experienced radiologists can read up to 60 screening cases in one hour, we realized breast screening radiologists would need an extremely performant and accurate system that could handle their heavy workload.

Over time, we developed new technologies that helped improve the productivity and accuracy of these radiologists.

With the introduction of DuraLight, 'a super bright luminance' technology, we could create a major impact on clinical outcomes as it makes subtle lesions more visible and better detectable.

Another technology has to do with 'screen uniformity', and takes away noise and makes subtle lesions more visible and better detectable. This technology (Per Pixel Uniformity) is patented and really set the standard for digital mammography imaging.


But it takes more than technological skill to make a difference. Awareness and education are at least as important. And here too, we have a role to play. Find out how in part 2 of Our history in mammo.

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Barco NV published this content on 12 April 2018 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 12 April 2018 12:11:10 UTC