RSNA

Integration is an essential theme for National Institutes of Health director Dr. Elias Zerhouni. His vision for medical research revolves around the use of breakthrough science to address major health needs.

Hitachi Medical Systems formally launched its 1.2T vertical field open MR scanner at the RSNA meeting. Oasis, shown as a work-in-progress at last year’s meeting, cleared the FDA in September.

Magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA) and ultrasound bring different strengths to imaging and treating joint injuries and stresses, according to research presented at the RSNA meeting. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a superior method of assessing of neovascularity in patients with lateral epicondylitis, while MR can detect signs of recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome after surgery. A combination of MRI and ultrasound may be the most effective solution for imaging medial elbow pain.

Biospace Med is showing off an innovative low-dose, high-contrast EOS digital x-ray system that uses two matched sets of x-ray tubes and detectors. Designed specifically for whole-body scanning, the system relies on orthogonally mounted x-ray chains that scan the standing patient and acquire data in continuous top-to-bottom motion.

Esaote introduced S-SCAN, a dedicated joint and spine MR scanner derived from the company’s earlier released G-SCAN system. It includes improved electronics, new coils for lumbar and cervical spine, new pulse sequences, and a modified magnet.

Radiologist and NIH director Dr Elias Zerhouni gave yet another talk on trends in the imaging sciences. He deserves special attention, since he is probably the only radiologist at the meeting who can actually direct those trends. I can talk about trends all day, but I have trouble controlling my seven- and nine-year-old sons.

Planning for your next PACS within the contractual confines of a current implementation is a prudent business strategy, two University of Southern California radiologists advised fellow users.

Fonar featured a new scoliosis application for its Upright MR scanner. New software and a receiver coil produce coronal, sagittal, and axial views of the entire spine.

Spectrum Dynamics unveiled at the RSNA meeting the commercial version of its D-SPECT Cardiac gamma camera, which promises to cut the time typically needed to do a SPECT heart scan by 75% or more. Time savings come from solid-state cadmium-zinc-telluride detectors and proprietary image reconstruction techniques, according to the company.

Evidence is mounting that CT is overused for ruling out pulmonary embolism, exposing patients unnecessarily to radiation and hiking up healthcare costs, according to research presented Tuesday morning.

A wide-bore 3T scanner small enough to fit in the same footprint as a 1.5T system debuted at Siemens RSNA booth. At 170 cm, Verio is the shortest 3T on the market, according to the company, but the 70-cm bore diameter may be of greater interest to prospective buyers.

Digital tomosynthesis detects more breast masses, better categorizes those masses, and produces lower callback rates than conventional mammography, according to research presented at the RSNA meeting. In a study of symptomatic patients, tomosynthesis was not superior to mammography, but a combination of the two techniques detected more carcinomas than either alone.

Detecting, classifying, analyzing, and managing errors can help avoid the repetition of preventable mistakes and minimize harmful effects, according to a research team from Boston.

Researchers called for both legislation and public awareness to curb the magnitude and severity of injuries to children from accidents on all-terrain vehicles after compiling the largest series of imaging findings in children suffering ATV injuries.

HIV-positive patients could benefit from the ability of MR diffusion tensor imaging to reveal microscopic changes in their spinal cords before abnormalities show up on conventional MR imaging. The early warning could identify those who would benefit from antiretroviral therapy.

Pulmonary embolism and other conditions may be detected in pregnant women using lower radiation doses than is currently standard, according to studies presented at the RSNA meeting on Monday. New techniques show promise, but obstacles such as small study populations and the lack of prospective trials must be overcome before a definitive protocol can be devised.

I don’t know if it is my own insecurity or a real phenomenon, but I feel like corporate America is creeping further into radiology, and most of my life, every year. The number of teleradiology companies continues to expand, and now two of them are publicly held. Every year, more of us become employees of for-profit firms.

Executives at Siemens Medical Solutions hope to end eight years of slice wars with a work-in-progress CT platform unveiled this week at the RSNA meeting.

Public policymakers have long sought valid scientific evidence linking lung disease and secondhand smoke. Their wait ended Monday at the 2007 RSNA meeting, when Chengbo Wang, Ph.D., announced clinical trial results using hyperpolarized helium-3 diffusion MRI to make the connection.

The massive American College of Radiology Imaging Network 6666 trial shows that adding ultrasound to the initial screening protocol for high-risk women could help detect 30% more cancers. The cost, however, could be many more needless biopsies of benign lesions.

In a novel approach to cervical spine trauma, researchers have found that changes in diffusion tensor imaging parameters are most marked at the spinal cord injury site and also reflect the severity of cord injury.

New CT perfusion scanning techniques that are safer and faster than older CT protocols could offer a practical imaging alternative to MR perfusion for stroke patients, according to two studies presented at the 2007 RSNA meeting. Findings also emphasize a new trend for widening the window for thrombolysis.

The soft, white sound of an air conditioner forcing air into a radiology reading room may be music to the virtual ear of speech recognition reporting systems and improve accuracy during automated radiology report transcription.

Executives at Siemens Medical Solutions are out to give competitors, including those selling reburbished MRs, a run for their money. Listing below $1 million, the company’s new Essenza MR scanner is the most affordable 1.5T system in the industry.

Coming to the annual RSNA meeting is exciting and invigorating, usually, but not today. Today, it just made me feel old.

Radiology is at a crossroads, according to three prominent radiologists who have followed the specialty’s digital revolution and evolution of practice. Their message was characterized by the RSNA as “a warning and a challenge.”

Research presented at RSNA 2007 bolsters the role of MR imaging for preoperative surgical planning in patients with known breast cancer and in working up the challenging invasive lobular carcinoma.

The use of multislice CT angiography has increased detection of vascular injury in patients suffering head and neck trauma, prompting debate on whether whole-body screening or focused attention on the head and neck is more useful. Both methods had their proponents at an RSNA session on emergency radiology.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging could one day become a routine exam for noninvasive characterization and staging of uterine tumors, replacing unnecessary catheter or surgical biopsies, according to several studies released Sunday at the RSNA meeting.

The RSNA has decided to eliminate ultrasound as a separate subspecialty category from its annual meeting’s scientific paper program in favor of an organ-based and clinical subspecialty-based approach. The move was received with mixed reactions by radiologists and sonologists.