John C. Hayes

Digital breast tomosynthesis was found to be superior to 2D digital mammography for determining tumor boundaries, a value at a time when more women with breast cancer are choosing breast conservation therapy, according to a study presented Friday.

It's rare for us to focus closely on medicaltrends in a particular state. We made anexception with this edition's look atPennsylvania, in part because it's an interestingstory, but also because it representsa cautionary tale for all of radiology.

Rates of diagnostic imaging utilization varied by more than 56% across the 10 Medicare regions of the U.S., according to a study presented at the RSNA meeting. The regions with the highest utilization had the lowest percentage of imaging services provided by radiologists.

Having mastered the basic process of digitizing, storing, and retrieving medical images and reports, radiologists are now turning their attention to analyzing vast collections of the data to uncover clinical and practice trends.

Stressed out at the workstation? You’re not alone. A survey presented at a scientific session Wednesday found relatively high levels of stress across a broad spectrum of radiologists.

Researchers using a massive database of radiology reports to identify 10-year trends in scanning practices found mixed results. The good news: CT scans of children increased only slightly. In adults, however, they increased more than 50%, with abdominal and chest scans leading the way.

Rates of diagnostic imaging utilization varied by more than 56% across the 10 Medicare regions of the U.S., according to a study presented Wednesday. The regions with the highest utilization had the lowest percentage of imaging services provided by radiologists.

A prototype system developed by the University of Maryland was able, for a time at least, to dramatically boost and document the communication of critical results findings, according to a presentation Tuesday. It’s since been sent back to the drawing board for more work, but points to a solution to a problem that vexes radiologists nationwide.

Researchers using a massive database of radiology reports to identify 10-year trends in scanning practices found mixed results. The good news: CT scans of children increased only slightly. In adults, however, they increased more than 50%, with abdominal and chest scans leading the way.

John C. Hayes is editor of Diagnostic Imaging.

Using surveillance of 6 to 9-mm polyps with CT colonography instead of referring them for immediate colonoscopy and polypectomy provides a significant cost-effectiveness edge, according to a study presented Sunday.

U.S. radiologists face more of a threat from advances in computer-aided diagnosis than from foreign radiologists who perform interpretations at reduced rates, according to a speaker at the RSNA meeting.

The 2006 RSNA meeting made clear that the ability to reach outside the radiology department via digital information networks offers the opportunity to enhance business and educational opportunities and improve the quality of patient care.

Here you'll discover how one site transitioned to speech recognition and tips on how to best accomplish that task; a report from the Radiology Consulting Group on how to sort through the confusing world of PACS pricing; a look at a new IHE standard that should help ease some of the headaches PACS administrators suffer when patients walk in with images on CDs; and a comment on the importance of ergonomic considerations in planning a reading setting.

Diagnostic Imaging roundtable tackles rationales and realities of efforts to rein in imaging use in radiology

The Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise initiative has released a series of new guidelines that should help secure its role in the move toward electronic health records. Medical information technology is tackling a growing list of issues related to this effort, according to a panel presentation at the CARS conference.

The development of medical image databases has been largely a private activity to date, lacking the rigor and standards that would allow these repositories to serve as reference models for research, including drug development. This is changing, however, as more organizations, including the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the European Federation for Medical Informatics, join the effort. But significant challenges remain, speakers said at a special session Saturday.

The increasing use of imaging in surgery and the need to make better use of imaging equipment will require that radiology departments be located adjacent to operating and emergency rooms in hospitals, an architect said Saturday.

The Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise initiative has released a series of new guidelines that should help secure its role in the move toward electronic health records. Medical information technology is tackling a growing list of issues related to this effort, according to a panel presentation Thursday.

Growth in imaging volume is often attributed to growth in patient volume. But the new capabilities that result from upgrades to imaging modalities, especially CT, can be an even greater factor, according to a presentation Thursday.

A series of presenters saluted the Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery conference Wednesday and offered their prescriptions for the future as the meeting celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The future of the Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery meeting lies in a multidisciplinary appeal to the leading-edge thinkers, according to Prof. Heinz J. Lemke, Ph.D., a founder of the organization who remains its driving force. Those luminaries constantly push for the adoption of new solutions to perennial clinical management challenges.

Imagine a reading space that allows you to electrically fog the glass to signal that you do not want to be interrupted. Or a system that directs sound from the speaker only to you, so you don’t have to share your conversations or music with unappreciative colleagues. These features and more will be part of the reading room of the future, and GE is giving them a trial run to see how they’ll be received by working radiologists.

Little or no difference exists between 1-megapixel and 5-megapixel medical-grade LCD monitors for reading cervical spine images for fractures, according to a study presented at the SCAR meeting Thursday. And consumer-grade LCDs may be good enough for reading CT images, a second study concluded.

A “digital dashboard” helps radiologists quickly identify workflow trouble spots and could improve image management processes, according to researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Over the years, we've grown comfortable and familiar with the digital revolution in radiology. Actually, in many quarters it is no longer a revolution but an accomplished fact.

The key to running a successful Internet chat room is simple, according to the operator of a leading site: Provide expert information from people who are well known and established in the field.

U.S. radiology has hit a conundrum: Demand for imaging interpretation services continues to increase, but the pool of radiologists emerging from residency programs remains fixed at about 3100 per year.

Dr. William G. Bradley Jr. was lecturing in China in 2000 when he received a call from his Southern California office asking for help with a difficult emergency neuro case. He found an Internet cafe, downloaded the image, and was providing an interpretation, when it suddenly hit him: He was reading the case with a fresh perspective during daylight hours. Back in California, it was early morning, and the interpreting radiologist may have been bleary-eyed and a little off-kilter because of the unreasonable hour.

SmartPACS has unveiled a new radiology information system that it says will solve common integration problems.