New software shown by Siemens at the RSNA meeting promises to cut patient exposure to x-rays by as much as 60% for a wide range of CT applications.

Over the last several months, Philips has been dropping hints that the company would unveil at RSNA 2009 a high-powered technique for cutting CT dose. The company did not disappoint.

Adding coronary calcium to the assessment of conventional cardiovascular risk factors leads to substantial improvement in cardiovascular risk classification of asymptomatic men and women, according to a study presented at the RSNA on Wednesday afternoon.

Targeted breast ultrasound is a safe and effective alternative to biopsies, and it can be used by radiologists to alleviate anxiety that patients may have about breast cancer screening, according to two studies presented Wednesday at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

Experts continue to lambast recent recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to cut breast cancer screening from annual to biennial exams and to limit the test to women ages 50 to 74. The experts are primarily concerned with the task force’s ability to influence policy, and thus they continue to assert there are no data to support the recommendations.

Using sophisticated mapping technology, census data, and state cancer registry statistics, researchers from Georgia established a link between the presence of Mammography Quality Standards Act-certified mammography centers and lower death rates from breast cancer.

Despite growing concern over CT-related radiation exposure, measuring cumulative exposure from CT imaging in a standardized or formal way is not part of routine practice for ordering physicians in the emergency department, according to a presentation this week at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

CT vendors have been talking for months about the potential of iterative reconstruction as the next big thing to substantially reduce the worrisome radiation dose patients are exposed to during multislice CT imaging. Now they have results of a large multicenter cohort study to add substance to their enthusiasm.

To prevent errors and misunderstandings, referring clinicians and radiologists must show more restraint when using abbreviations, a U.K. study has found.

“Hedge” statements were found in nearly a third of radiology reports using a computer-based review system described in an award-winning paper presented Tuesday at the RSNA meeting.

Adding noncontrast and delayed-contrast series to abdominal/pelvic CT examinations appears common in routine clinical practice and represents a potential public health danger with no associated clinical benefit, according to a presentation Monday afternoon at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

Digital mammography plus MRI is the most clinically effective strategy for screening women carrying a genetic mutation known to increase the risk for breast cancer. However, unless the cost of breast MRI decreases substantially, the modality doesn’t translate as cost-effective, according to a study presented on Tuesday at the RSNA 2009 meeting.

Universal x-ray screening of tuberculosis has limited value, carries potentially adverse effects for patients, and creates an unnecessary cost burden, according to a study presented Monday at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

Full-field digital mammography significantly increases the cancer detection rate for women younger than 50 years, according to a study presented Monday afternoon at the RSNA meeting.

CMC-001, an investigational MRI liver contrast medium, may be at least a partial answer to reducing the long imaging times that have frustrated patients and encouraged radiologists to look for imaging alternatives to aid diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and colon cancer metastases in the liver. A phase III trial indicates it is as sensitive as a gadolinium-enhanced MRI for detecting colon cancer metastases, but at the cost of lower specificity.

Radiologist Dr. Richard M. Chesbrough has taken an in-depth look at outpatient imaging services in Southeast Michigan, and the resulting picture is not pretty

Many radiologists have already viewed clinical images on their iPhones, but a study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College finds that there are plenty of other applications, ranging from study aides to clinical data lookups, that may be of value to practicing imagers.

If it’s round, has a hole in it, and isn’t a bagel or donut in the break room, chances are it’s a CD brought into the practice by a patient. According to Dr. Bradley Erickson from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, the use of compact discs to transfer diagnostic imaging data has seen a steady increase over the past decade.

Imaging suite dashboards that incorporate business intelligence to automate more steps could speed up and improve imaging processes, according to a Monday presentation at the RSNA meeting.

Developing a structured and rigorous peer-review quality assurance process that involves ongoing case presentations, open discussion, and consensus opinions can help to decrease perception errors and improve the interpretive skills of breast imagers, according to radiologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.