PCI Cards

Orthopantomograph 100 and 200 as well as Cranex D use fiber optic cable to communicate with the computer. This requires a “proprietary” PCI card, or for the 200 and Cranex D, a PCIe card. These circuits are not generic. They use a firmware chip programmed for them. The PCI cards are produced as full size and half size cards. The PCIe comes as PCIe –1, the smallest of the slots typically available in the back of a computer. These interface circuits all use the “ST” connector.

The cables that originally came with dental X-ray machines were hand made, and they transmitted visible light. They worked well with the original Windows XP computers. However, modern operating systems have provided some challenges.

Drivers vary with the operating system. All three of these interface cards have a “link” LED. The two PCI cards have other LEDs for power and reset functions. This is a “simplex” system, which means that one line is for reception in one direction and the other line is for transmission and reception in the other direction. It is a serial loop, where the infrared signal goes to the receiver and the output is of modulated infrared light (dark to light, dark to light). If they are not connected correctly, they will not communicate. It will not cause damage to the receiver or the transmitter. It just won’t work.

In order to have a link, the serial connections must be correct, and the sources must be asked to communicate with TWAIN . TWAIN is a protocol that allows scanning devices to transmit information electronically so it can be recompiled in a useful form. In this case, the information that is received by the X-ray sensor is made into a serial, digital code that is sent by the fiber optic cable to a decoder that reformats it into what we can call an X-ray image. The link is like a handshake, confirming that it is ready to accept, transmit, receive and compile the data.

As you can see, PCI cards are not “plug and play” systems. When they work well, they provide excellent image quality, but it may take some troubleshooting and possibly a new PCI card if your X-ray machine and computer are communicating properly.

PCI Cards from TEC

If you have a faulty PCI card, we will exchange it for a replacement card. We do not sell PCI cards as spares, since there are not enough to go around. We sell the following:

Drivers are provided with circuits upon request. If you have questions or need technical support, give us a call at 612-963-8337 or contact us.