50 Years of Experience in X-ray Technology

DÜRR NDT, as a subsidiary of Dürr Dental SE, looks back on 50 years in X-ray technology this year.

It all began in 1968 when we developed and manufactured the Procomat for Siemens - our first fully automated X-ray film development device. This was followed in 1975 by the X-ray film development device model “1330”, sold under our Dürr Dental brand.

In 1989, its successor featuring immersion tank technology, the XR 24, was introduced and has been constantly developed and refined to this day and is still in use all over the world. Due to high demand from industry for non-destructive testing using film radiography, a specially developed NDT model was launched in 2008. This was further enhanced by our offering of “green” NDT X-ray chemicals which since 2016 fully satisfy the stringent requirements of the European chemicals directive REACH and are also usable in film processors made by other manufacturers.

With the introduction of the VistaScan models in 2002, Dürr Dental rapidly gained a reputation as a market leader among manufacturers of image plate scanners for dentistry. The reusable image plates used in this computed radiography (CR) technology are a digital substitute for conventional X-ray film and offer enormous advantages in terms of cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness. Within a year of initially supplying it to various medical and veterinary OEM partners, CR found further application in material testing, bomb disposal and airport security.

The accompanying D-Tect analysis software offers many functions and special tools for image evaluation, including automatic wall thickness measurement for pipeline inspection. Since the first version of the software was launched over 10 years ago, D-Tect has undergone constant updates and improvements in response to feedback from users and in order to keep pace with the latest inspection standards.

Today, systems made by DÜRR NDT are routinely in use by renowned companies in a variety of industrial sectors worldwide, including oil and gas, and aerospace. Typical areas of application are weld seam testing, erosion and corrosion inspection, inspection of industrial castings, and material analysis. Additional services offered by DÜRR NDT to supplement the hardware and software include training for operators and maintenance staff as well as the development of bespoke turnkey solutions.

By leveraging its wealth of experience in X-ray technology, DÜRR NDT continues to drive forward adoption and innovation in DR and CR technology with the aim of ensuring an even safer world in the future.