The Agfa-Gevaert Group subsidiary of Bayer AG purchased Sterling Diagnostic Imaging Inc., giving getting a boost just as it is preparing for an initial public offering that it plans in the second quarter of this year. The Sterling business doubles the size of Agfa's medical imaging revenues and strengthens its presence in the US medical imaging market.

Eastman Kodak's recent acquisition of Imation, the medical x-ray film business spun off from Minnesota Mining and Manfufacturing Co., will give both companies an important boost. Kodak is still the market leader in x-ray film, but it has lagged in developing a dry laser film product to round out its line. That's where Imation comes in.

Large diagnostic imaging companies are recognizing that one company can't build everything from scratch.

Diagnostic Imaging; X-ray. Xicon Technologies hopes to catpure x-rays digitally with a system that is useful for both radiography and fluoroscopy. Xicon's imaging system makes use of the photoconductor thallium bromide to directly convert x-rays to electronic signals, without the need for an image intensifier and a camera.