The Diffusion and Use of Diagnostic Imaging Equipment in France

Abstract

AbstractThe paper presents a French national survey on diagnostic imaging equipment and activity showing that conventional x-ray radiology still dominates and that the rate of diffusion of technological innovations has been very different, being slower than in other industrialized countries for such technologies as CT scanners, nuclear medicine, and magnetic resonance imaging, but on the other hand, very quick for ultrasound and digital angiography.The variety of regulations for this equipment, although it plays an important role, is not sufficient to explain these differences in the rate of diffusion. The paper shows that other explanatory variables must be taken into account, at least in the French context: the situation of the domestic biomedicai industry, the relations between private and public sectors of health care delivery, and even the “technical” culture and tradition of French radiologists.