Diagnostic Imaging Staff

Siemens Healthcare has received FDA 501(k) marketing clearance for a software package that helps in the assessment of cerebral blood flow during interventional procedures.

Radiologists can now charge Medicare for MRIs when the patient has a pacemarker approved for MRI exams.

GE Healthcare has received FDA clearance of its Optima XR220amx, Optima XR200amx and Brivo XR285amx, a new platform of mobile x-ray systems.

According to new survey results, physician alignment is the main problem when building accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Today, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended that Congress require pre-authorizations for some imaging services, consistent with its proposed recommendations from last month.

New product uses parametric imaging to give more infomation than DSA alone

The median starting salary for diagnostic radiologists in 2010 was $350,000, according to the just-released Placement Starting Salary Survey: 2011 Report Based on 2010 Data from the Medical Group Management Association.

Medicsight now has FDA 510(k) clearance to market ColonCAD, a computer-aided detection system to aid in CT colonography.

Some obstetricians are turning away obese patient, wary of the higher risk of complications and about the safety of patients on their exam tables. Radiology struggles with similar issues. Is it time to set limits?

Although 40 percent of surveyed mammographers anticipate a suit in the next five years, in reality 10 percent will face a legal challenge.

Though access to capital remains tight and Medicare dollars are hard to come by, managers of hospital radiology departments remain confident in their ability to turn a profit.

The use of breast shields is the technique of choice to protect the breasts of women from radiation exposure while undergoing chest CT examinations, according to a new study.

MRI could help detect Alzheimer’s disease at an early stage - before irreversible damage has been done, according to the second recent study to examine MRI use for Alzheimer’s.

Using MRI may help researchers predict which adults are likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study published online and in the June issue of Radiology.

The mammography screening guidelines released in 2009 were more confusing than they were helpful, and women aged 40 to 49 were the most confused. That’s according to a study published in the May 2011 issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, in which researchers examined news reports and social media posts about the new recommendations, as well as surveyed women after the announcement.

NeuroLogica Corp. has received FDA approval for their portable, full-body, multi-slice CT scanner known as the BodyTom, the company announced this week.

Are airport scanners safe? In another recent analysis on the topic, researchers at the University of California have estimated the cancer risk from one kind of scanners is extremely low.

Interventional radiologists have confirmed the effectiveness of a liver cancer treatment that has shown results were chemotherapy has failed. Treating liver tumors with higher doses of intra-arterial yttrium-90 radioembolization, which can be done on an outpatient basis, was shown to be effective and help preserve the patient’s quality of life, according to a study presented this week at the Society of Interventional Radiology’s 36th annual scientific meeting in Chicago.

The Global Harmonization Task Force, which was created in 1992 to “achieve greater uniformity between national medical device regulatory systems,” decided recently to disband and reform without industry representatives. The group is comprised of the U.S. FDA and the regulatory bodies of the European Union, Japan, Canada, and Australia.

X-ray equipment has become far more sophisticated in the last 115 years - and uses far lower radiation doses and exposure times, researchers found recently after testing a first-generation system from 1896.

Stephen Herman, MD, an associate professor of radiology at University Health Network in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and CEO of MedCurrent, discusses how radiology decision support systems can help reduce radiation exposure, and what it will take for the tools to catch on.

The U.S. breast imaging and mammography markets are expected to not only recover from the recession, but nearly double in the next several years.

Yes, reimbursements are down and costs are up - but for academic faculty specialist physicians, there is some good news: Your income has increased slightly, according to new data from the Medical Group Management Association.

Lantheus Medical Imaging Inc. has received a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) approval for a Phase 3 clinical trial for the assessment of myocardial perfusion using PET imaging of an injection agent in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

Was it just business as usual for PACS vendors at this year’s European Congress of Radiology? That’s the assessment of one medical research firm that surveyed the PACS landscape at the congress.

Advances in MRI have enabled better understanding for diagnosing epilepsy, while multimodality techniques allow for better information for surgery and post-surgery follow up, according to experts presenting at ECR 2011.

Through carefully calculated adjustments to coronary imaging using dose-reduction techniques, cardiologists have managed to reduce the radiation delivered to patients undergoing coronary angiograms considerably. Plus, it’s possible to maintain good image quality throughout, researchers found

As the population ages, radiologists will be required to recognize common pathologies - while avoiding overdiagnosis, according to experts presenting at ECR 2011.

Ultrasound elastography is shown to raise sensitivity by 24 percent for preoperative assessment of axillary metastases in suspected breast cancer. Meanwhile, microbubbles identify sentinel lymph nodes, minimizing operations, according to researchers presenting at ECR 2011.

In anticipation of the European Congress of Radiology 2011, which will be held March 3 to 7 in Vienna, Austria, Diagnostic Imaging caught up with Professor Yves Menu, chairman of the department of radiology at Saint Antoine Hospital in Paris and the ECR 2011 Congress President.