Schick 33 Software: Changing the Definition of Digital Diagnostics

As product manager at Sirona, Joe Goldstone is responsible for knowing all the ins and outs of all of their platforms. Recently, he took the time to discuss the Schick 33 sensor. This is the second entry in a two-part series, the first of which appeared on June 28, 2013.

In my last post, I gave an overview of the properties that make the Schick 33 sensor so outstanding. Yet for the users of Schick 33, the software is what truly opens up the sensor’s diagnostic potential.

In developing the software, we considered the following perspectives:

1. Different diagnoses require different image appearances.
Endodontic procedures need higher contrast with larger differences between shades to allow maximum visibility of the periodontal ligament, lamina dura and apices. Periodontic procedures require lower contrast images with more shades of grey to emphasize bone density and show the presence of soft tissue.

2. Each clinician has unique tastes when it comes to radiography.
As many oral radiologists will tell you, radiology is a subjective science with different clinicians having different opinions on what they see to be the most diagnostic image to their eye.

These two perspectives helped shape the Schick 33 software, which was developed to provide different task settings that could be adjusted depending on the diagnosis being made or the region of the oral cavity being viewed.

The dynamic sharpen slider allows the user to adjust the sharpness level from a low level, where the image has a soft, film-like appearance, all the way up to the sharpest possible view where changes in anatomy jump off the screen. Some users have found the softer levels too blurry, so they turned up the slider, while others found the sharpest setting too sharp for their taste and turned it down. Users of CDR DICOM, SIDEXIS, Eaglesoft and Patterson Imaging have the ability to adjust those settings at any time after the image is captured. And all of these settings can be saved as pre-sets to ensure every image comes out in the format that is preferred without having to adjust after capture.

We understand that clinician differences in opinion over image appearance can have a significant impact on a practice with more than one dentist. That’s why we included the ability to create profiles or me-sets for multiple users that allow clinicians to jump straight to their preferred image settings without disrupting their colleagues.

Schick software truly gives you an unprecedented level of personalization and control. For a closer look, check out the Schick Software Simulator.