Carestream Dental Celebrates 40 Years of Digital X-Rays

Carestream Dental is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the invention of RadioVisioGraphy (RVG), the technology behind digital intraoral sensors, which is still used in most sensors today. In 1982, Dr Francis Mouyen was developing a digital x-ray system that would be small enough for dental applications while delivering instant results. During this time, he patented a way to convert x-ray energy into light and direct it toward a small, light-sensitive sensor.

The ability to capture X-rays instantly on a monitor, without film processing, was a breakthrough. Dr Mouyen went on to partner with engineers at Trophy Radiologie (now owned by Carestream Dental) to commercialize the sensor. Since the 1980s, the sensor’s design has gone through several iterations: From initially requiring a large tabletop electronic unit with an embedded display screen to the small portable sensor it is today.

Beyond the benefit of being able to view X-rays on a screen instantly, advanced sensor technology has been able to reduce doses to patients. Redesigns to the sensor head have made it smaller and more comfortable for patients, too. As the technology evolved, it became the first digital intraoral system to equal or exceed dental film resolution (20 lp/mm true resolution) and it was even adapted for extraoral imaging systems.

Today, the Carestream Dental RVG sensor is a thin, lightweight device that’s used for everything from a standard check-up to confirming a crown has been seated correctly. Because of the sensor’s size and portability, it’s been used on mission trips, in mobile clinicians visiting underserved communities, and even as part of the hospital ship Global Mercy’s mission in Africa, according to a press release from Carestream Dental.

“That engineering spirit that started 40 years ago—seeing a need in the industry and inventing a dental-specific solution where none existed—continues to this day,” said David Roudergues, product line manager for intraoral imaging at Carestream Dental. “We are constantly driving innovation forward, from the small RVG 6200 sensor to our biggest extraoral imaging system, the CS 9600, to new technologies currently in production.”

In honor of its 40th anniversary, Carestream Dental is offering special promotions and limited-edition memorabilia.