RSD

What RSD does

RSD (Radiology Support Devices, Inc.) is a privately held, family-owned American manufacturer specializing in anthropomorphic phantoms for medical imaging, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, and health physics applications. Founded in 1988 as a spin-out from Samuel W. Alderson's Alderson Research Laboratories (which itself traces to 1951/1952), the company designs and produces lifelike anatomical models that radiographically replicate human tissue at diagnostic photon energies, using proprietary multi-energetic tissue-equivalent materials that meet ICRU Report No. 44 standards. The flagship Take-Apart Pixy, which disassembles into nine parts, has served as the worldwide standard for training radiological technologists for over 30 years; the broader catalog includes the Alderson Radiation Therapy (ART) Phantom, body-section phantoms (thorax, pelvis, knee, head, etc.), nuclear medicine phantoms, the Lawrence Livermore Realistic Phantom for health physics, and trauma/domestic violence training models.

RSD operates a custom quote-based B2B manufacturing model, building each phantom to order in its Gardena, California facility (relocated March 2024 to a 15,000+ sq ft warehouse) with typical 8-10 week lead times. Products are sold as one-time purchases with a 2-year limited warranty, primarily through direct enterprise sales supplemented by long-standing authorized distributors (including JZ Imaging & Consulting and Imaging Solutions, with 30-year and 20+ year relationships respectively). The customer base spans hospitals, imaging centers, radiation therapy centers, nuclear medicine departments, universities, and health physics organizations across more than 60 countries, with a cumulative installed base of over 10,000 phantoms. Recent strategic actions include achieving CE Marking for the Take-Apart Pixy (November 2022), full operational recovery from a May 2023 warehouse fire, relocation to the expanded Gardena facility, and the launch of new multi-modality and PET/SPECT IQ phantoms in 2024-2025.

Name

RSD

Legal name

Radiology Support Devices, Inc.

Website

https://rsdphantoms.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1951

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

RSD is a privately held, family-owned American manufacturer of custom anthropomorphic phantoms used for medical imaging training, radiation therapy dosimetry, nuclear medicine QA, and health physics. It serves hospitals, universities, and nuclear facilities globally from its Gardena, California facility.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Medical Imaging Phantoms

NAICS

Surgical Appliance and Supplies Manufacturing (339113)

SIC

Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841)

akta.pro primary industry

Radiation Therapy Planning & Simulation Imaging (CT Sim/MR Sim) (HLAHABAH)

Keywords

• Anthropomorphic phantoms
• Medical imaging devices
• Radiation dosimetry phantoms
• Tissue equivalent materials
• Nuclear medicine phantoms

Headquarters

HQ city

Long Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Anthropomorphic Phantoms: RSD manufactures custom-made-to-order anthropomorphic phantoms for medical imaging, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, and health physics applications. Products are sold as one-time purchases with pricing determined via quote requests. Lead times range from 8-10 weeks depending on product complexity and production schedule.
2. Radioisotope Solutions: Integrated radioisotope solutions where radioactive materials are encased within anatomically accurate, tissue-equivalent organs. Sold as standalone or integrated with phantom systems for health physics measurement, clinical research, and QA workflows.
3. PET/SPECT IQ Phantom: Modular diagnostic phantom for PET and SPECT imaging quality assurance, sold as a complete product with accessories and carrying case.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

RSD manufactures fully customizable anthropomorphic phantoms with anatomical detail and multimodality for medical imaging, radiation therapy, nuclear medicine, and health physics applications. All phantoms are custom-made in the USA from proprietary tissue-equivalent materials meeting ICRU Report No. 44 standards, and are sold directly to enterprise healthcare and research customers on a quote-based, made-to-order basis with typical lead times of 8-10 weeks.

Product overview

RSD (Radiology Support Devices Inc.) is a manufacturer of anthropomorphic medical imaging phantoms and quality assurance tools for the global medical diagnostic and radiation therapy community. The product portfolio centers on Take-Apart Pixy (a disassembleable whole-body phantom in nine parts), the Alderson Radiation Therapy (ART) Phantom (radiation dosimetry phantom), and various body-section phantoms (thorax, pelvis, head, knee, etc.) for different anatomical regions. RSD also produces specialized phantoms including the Heart & Thorax Phantom, Striatal Phantom, Dynamic Breathing Phantom, and multi-modality phantoms for CT, MRI, and X-ray. The company offers tissue equivalent materials, radioisotopes, QA phantoms (XR21, CDRH, Micro-CT), and accessories. All products are custom-made in the USA with a 2-year limited warranty. Key product lines include medical imaging phantoms for training technologists, radiation therapy phantoms for dosimetry, nuclear medicine phantoms, health physics phantoms, and quality assurance products. The company introduced inclusive skin tones (light, medium, dark) at no additional cost and received CE Marking for Take-Apart Pixy enabling European market access.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Take-Apart Pixy Anthropomorphic whole-body phantom that disassembles into nine parts for teaching and training radiological technologists. Provides realistic anatomical detail, multimodality high-fidelity imaging, and quantifiable data with unlimited repetition of imaging views across X-ray, CT, and MRI.
• Alderson Radiation Therapy (ART) Phantom Radiation therapy phantom providing accurate organ dosimetry measurements with minimal dosimeters. Horizontally transected into 2.5 cm thick slices with bone-equivalent, soft tissue-equivalent, or lung tissue-equivalent pins; available in male and female versions.
• Multi-Modality Fusion Head Phantom Advanced head phantom featuring highly detailed skull and cervical spine constructed of materials mimicking attenuation properties of both trabecular and cortical bone. Provides comprehensive assessment across X-ray, CT and MRI modalities with 3D lattice for MR distortion assessment.
• PET/SPECT IQ Phantom Modular diagnostic phantom for PET and SPECT imaging quality assurance with individually replaceable sphere and Derenzo rod inserts, suitable for acceptance testing and ongoing QA programs in clinical and research settings.
• Mammography Phantom Positioning aid for craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique mammography views and patient substitute for teaching mammography positioning with realistic X-ray images featuring high contrast.
• Dynamic Breathing Phantom
• Heart & Thorax Phantom
• Striatal Phantom Phantom optimizing quantitative imaging in patients using PET or SPECT, based on a standard RSD head with calvarial cut and brain shell containing five fillable compartments for nucleus caudate and putamen imaging studies.
• Thyroid Phantom Phantom for thyroid uptake and scan quality assurance, I-131 therapy training, and SUV quantification and validation, containing a hollow-shell thyroid with filling and flushing ports.
• Lawrence Livermore Realistic Phantom Worldwide reference standard for in-vivo counting of emissions from low-energy transuranic nuclides. Developed under U.S. Department of Energy direction with a synthetic bone skeleton in soft-tissue-equivalent material.
• Fission-Product Phantom Phantom developed for nuclear power stations with more organs than the Lawrence Livermore Realistic Phantom, including head, neck, complete torso, stub legs, thyroid, kidneys, stomach, spleen, pancreas, and intestines.
• Radioisotopes High-quality radioisotopes integrated within tissue-equivalent anthropomorphic organs for realistic, repeatable measurement and evaluation in clinical and research environments; RSD is the only anthropomorphic phantom manufacturer offering integrated radioisotope solutions.
• Tissue Equivalent Materials Precision-engineered materials mimicking acoustic and physical properties of various human tissues including water, adipose, breast, bone, lung, soft tissue, kidney, and liver for QA applications and custom phantom construction.
• XR21 QA Phantom Quality assurance phantom compliant with NEMA XR21 standards for routine QA of medical imaging systems, with modular PMMA plates simulating various patient sizes for testing collimation geometry, dose performance, spatial and contrast resolution.
• Wounded Willy & Damaged Debbie Trauma training phantoms representing wounded/damaged human anatomy for emergency radiology training and forensic imaging education.
• Domestic Violence Take-Apart Pixy Specialized Take-Apart Pixy variant configured for domestic violence forensic imaging training applications.
• The Treatment Brassiere Breast positioning device for radiation therapy that reshapes the ipsilateral breast for more uniform dose delivery and repositions the contralateral breast away from beams, with a library of 40 cups available.
• RSD Needle Placement Phantom Teaching and training aide for proper needle placement and skill maintenance, enabling fluoroscopic needle placement practice without the biological contamination hazards associated with cadavers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 10,000 RSD phantoms in use worldwide as global standard for radiological technologist training
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Imaging SolutionscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2002Distributor of RSD Phantoms for over 20 years. Imaging Solutions reports that RSD products deliver quality, performance, and reliability their OEM customers depend on. RSD's customization capabilities are particularly valued for application-specific requirements.
• JZ Imaging & Consulting, Inc.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 1994Small, woman-owned national distributor for the medical imaging community. Partnership has been 30 years strong, with JZ distributing RSD products to hospitals, training facilities, and specialty practices. JZ values the partnership and RSD's industry standard for high-fidelity, multimodality imaging phantoms.
• Sierra Engineering Co.minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1951Historical partnership for development of Sierra Sam, the first anthropomorphic test dummy invented by Samuel W. Alderson to test aircraft ejection seats, aviation helmets, and pilot restraint harnesses.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sun Nuclear (Mirion): Sun Nuclear, now part of Mirion Technologies, is a leading manufacturer of QA and dosimetry phantoms, detectors, and software for radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging. It is the most direct large-scale competitor to RSD in the medical imaging and radiation therapy phantom market, serving many of the same hospital and clinical customers.
• CIRS (Computerized Imaging Reference Systems): CIRS manufactures tissue simulation and anthropomorphic phantoms for medical imaging, radiation therapy, and nuclear medicine, including multi-modality and ultrasound phantoms. It competes most directly with RSD's multi-modality and radiation therapy product lines.
• The Phantom Laboratory: Phantom Laboratory designs and manufactures anthropomorphic phantoms for medical imaging and radiation therapy, including the widely used RANDO-style phantoms. It is a direct competitor in anthropomorphic and sectional phantoms used for imaging QA and treatment planning.
• Standard Imaging: Standard Imaging produces QA instruments, phantoms, and detectors for radiation therapy and diagnostic imaging, including daily QA phantoms and array detectors used in linear accelerator QA. It is a direct competitor in radiation therapy and imaging QA phantoms serving hospital radiation oncology departments.
• IBA Dosimetry: IBA Dosimetry manufactures QA devices, phantoms, and dosimetry solutions for radiation therapy, radiology, and nuclear medicine, including the Compass and myQA platforms. It overlaps with RSD in radiation therapy dosimetry and imaging QA, particularly for hospital and proton therapy centers.
• PTW (Physikalisch-Technische Werkstätten): PTW is a global leader in radiation dosimetry, producing ionization chambers, detectors, and phantoms used in radiation therapy and diagnostic radiology QA. It competes with RSD in dosimetry and QA solutions for radiation therapy and radiology departments.
• Modus Medical Devices: Modus Medical develops QA phantoms and software for radiation therapy, with a focus on MRI-guided linear accelerator and MR simulation QA. It competes with RSD in advanced radiation therapy QA, particularly for emerging MR-linac and stereotactic applications.
• QRM (Quality Assurance in Radiology and Medicine): QRM designs and manufactures specialized phantoms and test objects for CT, mammography, dental, and bone densitometry QA, often with a focus on quantitative imaging and standards-based phantoms. It is a direct niche peer in diagnostic imaging QA phantoms.

Emerging players

• True Phantom Solutions: True Phantom Solutions manufactures realistic anatomical training phantoms for ultrasound, interventional, and surgical simulation. It is an emerging player with partial overlap to RSD in training-focused phantoms, though its emphasis is more on ultrasound and procedural training than radiation therapy or nuclear medicine.

Broad incumbents

• Fluke Biomedical / RaySafe: Fluke Biomedical (including the RaySafe brand) provides a broad portfolio of biomedical test and measurement instruments, including QA solutions for diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy. As a broad incumbent, it competes with RSD in select imaging QA use cases while serving a much wider healthcare and biomedical customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@rsd-phantoms
• Facebookfacebook.com/Radiology-Support-Devices-154550684595963

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about RSD