Workflow, patient comfort, image quality rise with innovative devices and applications.

Siemens Healthcare unveiled a breast ultrasound system at RSNA 2008 whose automated exams could help women’s health practitioners achieve the potential of ultrasound as a complement to mammography.

GE Healthcare combined ultrasound scanner controls and real-time imaging on a single display with the integration of a touchscreen monitor into its compact Logiq e product.

A new kind of self-mutilation is creeping into the teenage population, one that involves inserting objects into the body, according to radiologist Dr. William E. Shiels, II, who presented the first study of the adolescent phenomenon at the RSNA conference Wednesday.

The news was mixed for CT in the emergency department in research presented Wednesday at the RSNA meeting. CT was found to be better than ultrasound for diagnosing ER patients with abdominal pain, but radiation dose can be drastically reduced for patients suspected of appendicitis, according to authors of several studies.

Automated breast ultrasound should not replace handheld ultrasound in a diagnostic breast center but rather should be used in conjunction with it or play a role in screening breast ultrasound, according to a study presented at the 2008 RSNA meeting.

When offered $5000 bonuses, motivated residents at Massachusetts General Hospital completed scan signoffs in a fraction of the usual time.