Enhanced Imaging Seeks Foothold in Digital Technology : Acquisition: The Irvine company confirms it is negotiating to buy a medical device unit of Agfa.

Enhanced Imaging Technologies Inc. on Thursday confirmed rumors that it is negotiating to buy a medical device division of film manufacturer Agfa as a way to get into the digital imaging industry.

Digital imaging is a new process by which images such as X-rays, CAT scans, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging, which are usually stored on film, can be digitized for computers.

The company, which supplies optical filters and specialized films and imaging products for the medical field, said that such technology will soon replace film imaging.

“It’s very important for our company to have a foothold in digital imaging because film will probably disappear,” said Robert G. Quinn, vice president for corporate affairs. “We want to be leaders in the area, not followers.”

Though there has been no signed agreement to buy Agfa’s Torrance facility, where its digital imaging systems are made, Quinn said that the company announced its intention because “it was already becoming common knowledge. It was already in the rumor mill.”

Agfa is a division of Miles Inc. in Ridgefield Park, N.J.

The Torrance facility would add $12 million a year in sales for Enhanced Imaging, which had 1992 revenue of $45.3 million.

A signed agreement is expected in the next three weeks, Quinn said, with closing of the deal by late April.

Enhanced Imaging’s stock closed Thursday at $6.25 a share, unchanged, on the NASDAQ market.