RSNA

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.

MRI is the best method to assess breast cancer tumor size prior to surgery and after chemotherapy, according to findings from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network trial 6657. Size on mammography does not correlate with true residual disease in patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and thus MRI is the best modality, the researchers said.

IT products ready for market and ones nearing commercial release punctuated the Merge Healthcare booth at the RSNA meeting. Two works-in-progress vied particularly well for the attention of visitors. One is the eFilm for iPhone, an image-enabled supplement to the electronic medical record. The second is the company’s FusionWeb Patient Access Portal, which delivers an Internet-based means for web-savvy patients to manage appointments, update records, receive appointment reminders, and view reports.

Despite growing concern over CT-related radiation exposure, measuring cumulative exposure from CT imaging in a standardized or formal way is not part of routine practice for ordering physicians in the emergency department, according to a presentation this week at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

CMC-001, an investigational MRI liver contrast medium, may be at least a partial answer to reducing the long imaging times that have frustrated patients and encouraged radiologists to look for imaging alternatives to aid diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma and colon cancer metastases in the liver. A phase III trial indicates it is as sensitive as a gadolinium-enhanced MRI for detecting colon cancer metastases, but at the cost of lower specificity.

Siemens brought two blockbuster MR offerings to the RSNA meeting this week: the 3T Skyra and 1.5T Aera. The two new products, works-in-progress pending FDA clearance but scheduled to begin shipping by mid-2010, promise a productivity lift through their patient-friendly bores, measuring 70 cm wide, and automation that simplifies complex scan tasks.

Siemens unveiled a new information technology at RSNA 2009: software that promises to do the tedious and time-consuming tasks involved in reading MR and CT exams. The new product, a work-in-progress pending FDA clearance, is an outgrowth of the syngo platform that Siemens has used for years to provide consistency in data processing among its modalities.

Adding noncontrast and delayed-contrast series to abdominal/pelvic CT examinations appears common in routine clinical practice and represents a potential public health danger with no associated clinical benefit, according to a presentation Monday afternoon at the 2009 RSNA meeting.

Many radiologists have already viewed clinical images on their iPhones, but a study by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College finds that there are plenty of other applications, ranging from study aides to clinical data lookups, that may be of value to practicing imagers.

Developing a structured and rigorous peer-review quality assurance process that involves ongoing case presentations, open discussion, and consensus opinions can help to decrease perception errors and improve the interpretive skills of breast imagers, according to radiologists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.