RSNA

It’s been argued that repeat/reject analysis, a quality-assurance tool to observe trends and make improvements that help reduce the need for repeat images, is not necessary when using digital equipment. While it is true that digital imaging reduces some error rates, the results on the Mayo Clinic digital poster exhibit at the RSNA meeting showed that mistakes still occur in the digital environment.

New offerings shown at RSNA 2009 by the makers of digital mammography equipment reflected a new reality in the U.S. market, one based on cost constraints and diminishing demand. Vendors emphasized low-cost solutions that guard against obsolescence at the expense of premium ones, a change spurred by the continuing recession in the U.S. and an installed base increasingly saturated with high-end full-field digital mammography systems.

Korean researchers tested the ability of radiologists to spot CT images altered with commercially available software to introduce pathology and found that their ability to do so is no more certain than a coin flip.

Standard nuclear scintigraphy of parathyroid cancer produces enough false positives for patients with multigland disease to lead researchers to recommend rapid intraoperative parathyroid hormone assay along with preoperative technetium-99m sestamibi imaging to assure that all lesions have been removed.

Toshiba laid the groundwork for entering the 3T marketplace in the U.S. with the unveiling of its Vantage Titan 3T system at RSNA 2009. The work-in-progress, which is pending FDA clearance, leapfrogs earlier generations of 3T scanners with a 71-cm tapered aperture and Pianissimo noise reduction technology.

McKesson is showcasing its latest image management technology on the RSNA exhibit floor, a workflow enhancement called Variable Thickness Regional Intensity Projection (VTRIP), which promises more efficient reading of CT and MR studies.

Increasing CT scanning speeds and image resolution combined with automated injection and optimized protocols tailored to specific patient features could reduce iodinated contrast media needed for coronary CT angiography by at least half, according to several papers presented at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

RSNA newbie Real-Time Tomography launched at this year’s meeting a new image processing and enhancement software library for digital mammography. But the product, dubbed Adara, will not be sold to providers, at least not directly. Real-Time Tomography came to Chicago with hopes of attracting original equipment manufacturers to its library.

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.