How our radiology activities are proving more decisive than ever in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic

 Digital Radiology Digital radiology technology Radiology

Today, more than ever, hospitals are operating on a day-to-day basis and the number of patients is continuing to escalate due to the ongoing pandemic. The crisis poses challenges to hospitals, which have to increase capacity and amounts of equipment in record time. Thales radiology solutions have never been more vital and the teams are working daily to meet these volume needs.

For more than 60 years, Thales has been strongly committed to providing medical imaging subsystems comprising Pixium® digital detectors, developed by Trixell (joint venture with Philips Healthcare and Siemens Healthineers), and software solutions that enable healthcare professionals to obtain clinical images. Today, 50% of radiological examinations performed worldwide use Thales solutions.

The detectors, integrated within equipment manufacturer tables or mobile radiography systems, make it possible to produce high-quality radiographic images. They help in the screening of patients, their monitoring and the analysis of lung lesions and degradations.

“Healthcare professionals can thus assess and monitor the condition of patients with COVID-19, whether in the radiology room or directly in their hospital room, thanks to our mobile systems which are faster to deploy and easier to disinfect than exams initiated in the radiology room,” says Jean-Loïc Mourrain, Trixell Managing Director.

The implementation of very strict safety measures have made it possible to greenlight the decision to maintain critical activities at the Moirans facility in south-eastern France, such as the production and delivery of detectors, for the strategic purpose of combating the coronavirus. In addition, activities essential to production continue on site or by through home office work.

Xavier Caillouet, VP of Thales’s Radiology activity, explains the importance of production continuity: "At the request of our partners and our customers around the world who meet the needs of hospitals, healthcare professionals and patients, we are contributing to the collective effort to fight the pandemic, thanks to the unfailing commitment of our employees. Our priority is to enable our employees on site to work in the best possible conditions. To do this, we are making every effort to respect barrier gestures and distancing measures."

The site has now been organized into five distinct teams ensuring 24/7 operations, while simultaneously limiting the number of people present at any given time. To meet ever-increasing demands in this period of crisis, employees from other radiology activity departments as well as the use of temporary employment contracts have even allowed a ramp-up of the production to answer these increased needs.

CMT Medical, Thales software development entity in Israel, is also operating at high capacity to help meet the increased demand for Mobile radiography solution that enables X-ray examinations to be performed at the bedside, and generate high-quality clinical imagery, which is the basis of any diagnosis. Several systems have already been installed in hospitals since the beginning of the crisis to answer the patients’ screening needs of hospitals.

The commitment of everyone in this exceptional period is helping Thales to contribute, side by side with its customers and suppliers, to the fight against this pandemic and to continue to meet the needs of its end-users, the hospitals themselves. 

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