Best portable/handheld X Ray for field work

[Techo NZ]

Hi,

just wondering if anyone has had experience with any portable or handheld X-Ray devices, similar to the RayMe Wireless

https://www.jagasdental.com/product/rayme-wireless-and-portable-x-ray-machine/

Or the 'upgraded'; Biotech portable X-Ray

https://www.adae.store/products/korean-made-portable-x-ray-machine

This is for volunteer field work in the remote Islands of Vanuatu so it is being purchased via donated funds so anything to help us make the right decision is very much appreciated.
Cheers

 

[Techo NZ]

Oh, I just heard our budget is US $1,000 which really limits our choices. I know the Nomad Pro 2 at $6k is very good but out of budget.
There are a lot of Internet listings for items like MyRay, MaxRay etc which fit the budget, and I know cheap and good in the same sentence is an oxymoron, hence why I'd appreciate any feedback if you have used anything.

 

[honestdoc]

Sorry, I have no experience with your inquiries. I want to thank you for your time and efforts with volunteering.

 

[Techo NZ]

Well thank you, we are a team of 6 from New Zealand who make 2 or sometimes 3 trips a year to the most remote Islands. Most work for the NZ public health service and give up their annual leave time and largely pay their own way, airfares, food, travel costs.

The last trip was to the island of Loh, one of the most northern and ‘forgotten Islands’ of the Torres group with the only dirt landing strip. From Vila it is 3 hours low and slow flying in a very noisy 1968 Britten Islander, the pilot said if oil was leaking from the engine that was good, it meant there was still some oil left, but to let him know if the oil stopped leaking as that meant there was no more oil

They have never received oral health care before so when word gets out the dental team have arrived people walk for hours. Lots of RoP, extractions and infection issues to deal with.

 

[Techo NZ]

Just prior to our first arrival there had been a fatal case of Ludwigs Angina.....

Tragically it was a Nivan health worker, the one they relied on the most for their well being. Due to their remoteness and inability for diagnosis or evacuation for treatment the prolonged suffering and trauma continues to haunt the island.

 

[Techo NZ]

Here is a link to the web site for our volunteer group,

we are non religious, non political, non governmental, just a small bunch for kiwis who have a great time going to these remote and wonderful places. Being small and self funding we go where we like, when we like and do what is best without beholding to anyone. Nonetheless I must give a shout out to Rotary who help support us on some of the most remote trips.

Personally I'm the electrician and a friend of the dental team, I go along to try and get some sort of power going from either the local solar or busted generators to power the dental equipment, then I'm the DA... Fuji 9 anyone ??

We take 2 suitcase dental sets, 2 dentists work side by side with a a patient each but due to power restrictions you can only use 1 set at any one moment, so they have to tag-team trying to use one triple syringe on one set, then pause whilst the other drills on the other set, then pause whilst one suctions (max 20 seconds before it overloads), then pause whilst one uses slow speed... then pause again as everything overloads, wait for it to reset and go again, 2 weeks 300 interventions... the power sux but if ya don't laugh you'd cry

The 2nd video under the Torres Island Oral Health Project link shows a STOL plane that gets us to some of the bigger islands, it's bigger than the 8 seater Britten Islander going to Torres, interestingly after we landed in the STOL the bent fuel cap fell off, the pilot is trying to put it back on ha ha

https://afriendofkokorosa.org/

 

[Techo NZ]

In regards to needing a portable X-Ray, we installed a 1980's wall mounted X-Ray and for 3 years it worked well, it must've taken 1,000+ exposures but due to power surges it died 4 days into a 2 week trip, Trying to treat 300+ people with no X-ray is hard. So we are looking to get a portable jobby to take between the islands. Next trip is August (in 6 weeks), we probably need to sort something within the next 2 weeks so any experience or recommendations appreciated. Cheers

 

[Techo NZ]

We settled on a RayMe portable X-Ray from Korea, it was US $1,200 or NZ $1,800 , it's $800 over budget, but oh well we'll find the money somewhere.
Ordered it on Friday, it was on the doorstep the next Thursday, wow 6 days from China to NZ, that's amazing. The team leaves for Loh Island in 2 weeks.

https://www.adae.store/products/korean-made-portable-x-ray-machine

I had a query to the supplier on the import duty, their reply was " don't worry dear, we make custom value look like low price, so now you can defraud tax "
It goes in our Volunteer accounts at full price so we do end up paying the tax due but I laughed at " look like low price... to defraud tax "

 

[Techo NZ]

The good news....
The X-Ray works very well, attached are some images. I used a 20mm fuse as a tester, it has a coil of wire inside the fuse to give depth, an interesting aspect is the coil at the very top of the fuse which is under a metal end cap. Slightly different time settings give slightly different depth and clarity

 

[Techo NZ]

Here are some 'test dummy' X-Rays... They may not be perfect as they were just tests and may need a bit of fine tuning, but good enough for a first result.

Patient dental diagnoses are welcome...

 

[Techo NZ]

The not so good news...
On arrival the internal battery was flat (which is to be expected) but the supplied battery charger was dead... zero, ziltch, nada, nothing... so the battery could not be charged.
The X-Ray has an internal Lithium Polymer battery, which requires constant voltage, constant current charging. The sort of battery that if you charge it with the wrong charger then they die or explode, so it needed the exact charger to match the exact internal battery.

The team were leaving in 2 weeks and the Chinese supplier wanted the faulty charger back before supplying a replacement.

Further the original charger was marked to indicate the charging plug was wired as centre negative, (99% of chargers are centre positive, but 1 in 100 are centre negative), but with the charger not working there was no way to prove or disprove this . So after a few days sourcing a new local charger and connecting it as centre negative then both the new charger and the X-ray emitted smoke... Feck.. the X-Ray battery was really centre positive, the label on the supplied charger was clearly wrong.

Long story short.. pull the x-ray apart, fix it, put it together.. new charger, we got it going... but could've done without the hassle.

 

[Techo NZ]

And for a dental team update... they were due to leave in a few days but a volcanic eruption has closed the airspace to Loh Island. The pilot felt he could detour around the ash cloud but would then have to wait 3 weeks on Loh for fuel to come by boat to make the return journey.
The team are now re-routing to Aneityum ,the southern most island of Vanuatu. The first leg of the journey to Aneityum is via Tanna Island which is (or was) on the ATR-72-500 that crashed at Port Vila last week, smoke in the cockpit, emergency landing and hit 2 planes on landing, nil injuries, but the plane is out of action, so maybe that is now a new problem.

The smashed Britten Islander in the background is the one we flew to Loh in December last year.1968 - 2018 R.I.P

https://www.radionz.co.nz/internati...ne-makes-emergency-landing-at-vanuatu-airport

If any of you have been on a P&O cruise that stopped at Mystery Island, it is the villagers of Aneityum who boat across to operate the tours.

Another trip to Aneityum is planned for October, I'll be there.. ask the locals to bring you ashore