Interventional Radiology Costs Less, Safer than Surgery for PAD
January 3rd 2012Endovascular lower-extremity revascularization procedures performed by interventional radiologists bring about less transfusion and intensive-care unit use, shorter hospital stays, fewer repeat revascularization procedures, fewer amputations, and lower costs compared to those done by vascular surgeons.
Decision Support Cuts CT Pulmonary Angiography Orders from ED
December 22nd 2011The use of clinical decision support in the emergency room cuts the need for CT pulmonary angiography for acute pulmonary embolism by 20 percent and boosts yield 69 percent, according to a study published online on Dec. 20 in the journal Radiology.
FDA Approves Handheld Intracranial Hematoma Detector
December 19th 2011The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first handheld device to detect intracranial hematomas - bleeding in the skull - which the agency says can help determine if patients with critical injuries need an immediate CT scan.
KLAS: Docs Perceive Siemens, GE as CT Low-Dose Leaders
December 14th 2011While providers are paying special mind in lowering radiation dose through prep work and process improvements, they do have their opinions on which CT vendors are the low dose leaders, according to a new report from KLAS, CT 2011: Focused on Dose.
MRI Contrast Agent Prototype Targets Cancers
December 14th 2011University of Pennsylvania researchers have developed an experimental MRI contrast agent capable of targeting tumors, according to a report in the journal ACS Nano. Its coating, instead of targeting particular cancer receptors - which can be hit-or-miss and depend on the cancer - is attracted to the acidic environments in which tumors generally thrive.
MRI No Help in Treating Lower Back Pain with Steroid Injections
December 13th 2011Magnetic resonance imaging does not appear to help patients slated for epidural steroid injections (ESI) for chronic lower back pain, and has only a minor effect on the physician’s decision making, according to a study published online this week by the Archives of Internal Medicine.
KLAS: Healthcare Orgs Ambivalent about Cloud
December 12th 2011While 71 percent of healthcare organizations are either using or considering the deployment of cloud computing or storage technologies, trust in public-cloud services such as those offered by Amazon, Google and others remains weak, according to a new KLAS report. PACS is an area of particular interest in terms of leveraging the cloud, according to the report.