Diagnostic Imaging Staff

While 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.

University 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.

Magnetic 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.

While 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.

Patient familiarity with a medical imaging test makes them more likely move forward with the test, according to a survey of U.S. adult attitudes toward imaging released at RSNA this week.

CHICAGO - Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging (BSGI) has greater sensitivity and comparable specificity compared to mammography and ultrasound, according to a new study presented Tuesday at RSNA. A second study presented Tuesday showed that, unlike mammography, BSGI is as effective in detecting breast cancer in women with dense and non-dense breasts.

Magnetization transfer (MT) contrast-prepared magnetic resonance imaging is “unlikely to be of clinical utility” in diagnosing cirrhosis, according to a study published online Nov. 23 in the journal Radiology.

Although a vast majority of radiologists qualify under the federal government’s meaningful use incentive program for electronic health records, many have lingering concerns about the program, according to a new KLAS and RSNA survey.

Siemens’ computed tomography (CT) iterative reconstruction protocol has been cleared by the FDA, the company announced Wednesday.

Canon USA Inc. has received FDA 510(k) clearance for its digital radiography detectors, the company announced Tuesday.

Medicare spending on medical imaging continues to decline and that Medicare patients are receiving fewer imaging procedures, according to a new analysis of Medicare data released Nov. 17 by the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA).

Radiologists order just 5.3 percent of high-cost imaging examinations, according to a study published online on Nov. 14 in the journal Radiology.

Coronary artery calcification (CAC) scores of zero don’t give patients a pass from obstructive coronary artery disease, according to a study using coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) on patients with symptoms of coronary artery disease.

A team of Stanford engineers and pathologists have trained computers to analyze breast-cancer pathology slides - and the machine is more accurate than the assessments of man (and woman), the researchers said.

Medical imaging managers reported low confidence that reimbursement rates will improve and that funding for capital purchase for equipment and IT will be available in the fourth quarter of 2011 (October to December).

Spinal bleeding is a hallmark for child abuse, so complete spine imaging should be performed for young children undergoing brain magnetic resonance imaging for moderate or severe traumatic brain injury, according to a study published online Nov. 8 in the journal Radiology.

Inhaling undiluted, hyperpolarized xenon 129 for magnetic resonance imaging of the lungs is safe for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients as well as healthy volunteers, Duke University researchers reported online on Nov. 4 in the journal Radiology.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ 25-percent cut of multiple procedure payment for image interpretation is “unfounded and potentially dangerous,” the American College of Radiology said.

Agreement is lacking - both across institutions and within departments - for the management of six commonly encountered incidental findings on body CT, concludes a study in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Departments should develop guidelines to ensure consistent patient recommendations, authors said.

It’s a question posed in a The New York Times article last week that explored MRIs in sports medicine.

New custom-designed patient shielding devices should supplant traditional lead aprons for chest CT scans - and possibly every scan, regardless of body part. That’s according to the authors of a new study published in the British Journal of Radiology.

Annual chest X-ray screenings have no effect on lung-cancer mortality, according to a study published online Oct. 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Nonradiologist physicians with a financial interest in imaging means were as much as 49 percent more likely to order imaging as those with no financial interest, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Diffusion-weighted MRI patterns can guide the work-up for patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke symptoms, according to a study in the November Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

CT angiography works as well as conventional digital subtraction angiography for diagnosing peripheral arterial disease (PAD), researchers reported online in the journal Radiology.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared GE Healthcare’s SenoBright contrast enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) unit, the company announced on Thursday. The technology is designed to produce contrast-enhanced images of the breast using an x-ray contrast agent and a dual energy acquisition technique.

The Discovery MR750w with Geometry Enhancing Method (GEM) suite of coils has a patient-friendly design and 70 cm bore to accommodate the hard-to-scan patients, such as larger, claustrophobic, elderly or very young patients, the company said.

In the second of a four-part series, Medical Management Professionals Inc.'s David Stone talks about the impact of HIPAA 5010 and ICD-10 on practices and how to prepare.

Toshiba American Systems Inc. today announced FDA clearance of their M-Power interface aimed at increasing MR exam efficiency. The customizable user interface enables technologists to streamline and accelerate the imaging process and enhance diagnosis, according to the company.

In the first of a four-part series, Medical Management Professionals Inc.'s Jana Landreth discusses effective metrics for measuring practice revenue and the single biggest cause for lost revenue.