Printers
A computer printer is a peripheral device that produces a readable representation of graphics and/or text on paper or other media. The two most common printer mechanisms are black and white laser printers, used for common documents and color inkjet printers which can produce high quality photograph output.
The choice of print technology in a healthcare facility has a great effect on the cost of the printer and cost of operation, speed, quality and permanence of documents, and noise. Some printer technologies don’t work with certain types of physical media, such as label stock that is typically used to identify medical specimens.
A second aspect of healthcare printer technology that is often forgotten is resistance to alteration: liquid ink, such as from an inkjet head or fabric ribbon, becomes absorbed by the paper fibers, so documents printed with liquid ink are more difficult to alter than documents printed with toner or solid inks, which do not penetrate below the paper surface.
Common Print technologies found in Healthcare
Toner-based printing
A laser printer rapidly produces high quality text and graphics. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers (MFPs), laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differs from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced by the direct scanning of a laser beam across the printer’s photoreceptor.
Another variation on toner-based printer is the LED printer which uses an array of LEDs instead of a laser to cause toner adhesion to the print drum.
Liquid inkjet printers
Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably sized droplets of liquid ink onto almost any sized page. They are the most common type of computer printer used by consumers.
Thermal printers
Thermal printers work by selectively heating regions of special heat-sensitive paper. Monochrome thermal printers are typically used in cash registers, credit card machines, and some older, inexpensive fax machines.