Direct digital dental x-ray imaging with visualix/VIXA.

Visualix (VIXA in North America) is a new commercial system for direct dental x-ray imaging. It is based on a special charged-coupled device sensor and a personal computer platform with dedicated peripherals. Application software is installed that manages the operation of the sensor and provides a user interface specifically conceived for real time imaging. Given the high sensitivity of the sensor and the corresponding low dosage required, the performance of the system in terms of signal-to-noise ratio is essentially determined and limited by the quantized nature of the original radiologic information in the x-ray beam. At full scale range, the dose requirements are approximately six times less than those for a D-speed film.