In an industry that has come to define itself by numbers, Siemens Medical Solutions stands alone. According to company executives, it's not the number of CT slices that's important, nor the number of channels carrying data from the detector, and not even the speed at which the CT gantry turns. It's the resolution and robustness of the system and its ability to meet clinical needs within specific budgets.
Strategy and tactics distinguish Philips in CT. Not long ago, the company was a nonplayer in this modality, reliant on suppliers to obtain scanners to sell under the Philips label. That changed in 2002 with the acquisition of Marconi Medical Systems, which transformed Philips into a CT powerhouse. At last year's RSNA meeting, the company leaped beyond the expected 32-slice configuration to offer a 40-slice array rotating at 0.42 second and covering most body organs without motion artifact.
Toshiba's strength in CT is an outgrowth of its development of sensor technologies in key modalities. Efforts in CT have produced a 64-slice detector, which will be showcased at the RSNA meeting as part of a continuum of engineering that already extends to a 256-slice detector prototype. The company will display the prototype as evidence of its technological prowess.
A vendor-neutral method for integrating case input from any PACS workstation into a teaching file system was presented at the RSNA conference."This method requires no vendor cooperation, effort, or software modification," said Dr. David Avrin, of the
No longer separate entities, the technologies of imaging and informatics are irreversibly linked. It is impossible for even the most modality-focused attendee who enters the technical exhibitions in McCormick Place not to recognize this. "Integrated
Taiwanese researchers have found that contrasted-enhanced multidetector CT angiography is a perfect match for conventional angiography in differentiating between total and near-total occlusive disease and mapping the architectural landmarks of the
Volumetric visualization with multidetector-row CT helps find and characterize gastric cancer. It should also be used for the preoperative staging of these malignancies, according to studies presented Monday morning.
A 10-year study has determined that annual CT scans could prevent as many as half of lung cancer deaths. Annual screening detects early-stage lung cancers, which have a curability rate of 80% to 90%.
A new standard proposed by a consortium of researchers and manufacturers at the RSNA meeting would make coronary artery calcium (CAC) screening with CT safer and more useful in assessing early heart disease.
Buoyed by the completion of the historic effort to decode the human genome, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the first radiologist director of the National Institutes of Health, has laid out an ambitious plan to revolutionize medicine.
MR imaging of children can reveal risk factors for lower back pain before puberty, according to Scottish researchers.
Deus Technologies has adapted its RapidScreen computer-aided detection system to find early signs of severe acute respiratory syndrome. Keying off its film-based CAD system for detecting lung lesions, Deus developed an automated method for identifying subtle initial SARS abnormalities that can be easily overlooked on chest x-rays.
Diagnosing nasal lesions on the basis of CT and MR appearance alone can be difficult because many such lesions have nonspecific imaging characteristics. To resolve this problem, a group of radiologists led by Dr. Alla Godelman of Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, NY, have devised 10 principles of nasal imaging.
Computer-aided detection, initially restricted to mammography, is entering the functional imaging arena. CTI Molecular Imaging is showcasing CAD technology during the RSNA meeting on its Reveal PET/CT scanners, as well as the Reveal MVS PET/CT workstation. Under a recently inked exclusive agreement with R2 Technology, CTI has begun offering the first commercially available CAD system for multidetector CT examinations of the chest.
As Medicare passes through the congressional mill, the focus often turns to radiologists and the increasing cost of medical imaging. A recent report by Blue Cross/Blue Shield stated that radiologists are driving up healthcare costs. But Philadelphia researchers on Monday concluded that it is cardiologists -- not radiologists -- who are responsible for sharp hikes in dollars spent for medical imaging.
The first day of the RSNA meeting is always the best, perhaps because I have the most energy and enthusiasm. Ten years ago I didn't get tired until Thursday. Now I'm tired on Monday. I would like to blame it on changes in the meeting, but I have the same problem during a normal work week at home.
The Biliary Wallstent from Boston Scientific has been used for a decade for palliation of malignant obstructive jaundice. Although the newer Luminexx from German vendor Angiomed offers several theoretical advantages, researchers in the U.K. have found that those advantages do not hold up under close scrutiny.
Virtual colonoscopy is gaining in clinical stature as a viable screening tool for colon cancer, with high sensitivity and specificity in detecting colonic polyps. But proper technique and good patient preparation are key to success, according to research presented Monday.
A vendor-neutral method for integrating case input from any PACS workstation into a teaching file system was presented during a scientific session on Monday."This method requires no vendor cooperation, effort, or software modification," said Dr. David Avrin, of the department of radiology informatics at the University of Utah.
Radiologists who are most experienced at reading virtual colonoscopy studies may not deliver the most accurate results, according to a pilot study presented Monday.
Running the numbers on clinical- and cost-effectiveness may appear to drain the excitement out of emergency room imaging. But simple, valid protocols that define how to apply diagnostic imaging to trauma cases are essential to obtaining the biggest clinical benefit from expensive CT technology, Dr. C. Craige Blackmore and Dr. M.G. Myriam Hunink said in their opening-session lectures on Sunday.
Clarify, a vascular enhancement option for Siemens’ premium Antares ultrasound system, has been added to the StellarPlus Performance package. Clarify, which uses power Doppler blood flow data, minimizes noise to better visualize intricate networks of small blood vessels and reduce the steps needed to complete vascular studies.
No longer separate entities, the technologies of imaging and informatics are irreversibly linked. It is impossible for even the most modality-focused attendee who enters the technical exhibitions in McCormick Place not to recognize this. "Integrated RIS/PACS" is the buzzword of the day, replacing the ubiquitous "enterprise solution" of so many past years.
R2 Technology has unveiled at the RSNA meeting a robust version of computer-aided detection technology programmed to find colon polyps. The company plans to take this latest iteration of CAD, first shown at the 2002 RSNA meeting, to the FDA in next year.
R2 Technology has introduced at the RSNA meeting its new dual-mode ImageChecker, a single computer-aided detection unit that can process analog and digital mammography images simultaneously.
GE Medical Systems Lunar introduced the Applause, a portable MR device, at the RSNA meeting. The system is optimized for diagnosing early signs of joint erosion due to rheumatoid arthritis and other forms of autoimmune rheumatoid diseases.
The clinical argument for speed may be up in the air, but the technological one appears settled. At this year's RSNA meeting, Siemens, CTI, and Philips are ready with systems that deliver faster scans or more rapid image reconstructions. The RSNA exhibit hall also plays host to PET/CT's past and future, as the work-in-progress 16-slice version of GE's Discovery LS appears as a commercial product and CPS talks up-and may even show off-its multihead R&D platform.
Since multidetector CT scanners began rolling off the production line five years ago, CT anigography has become a routine procedure, in many cases the procedure of choice, for screening patients for arterial disease. The reason is the ease with which it can be applied. Patients can undergo CTA without being admitted to the hospital and without invasive catheter placement. An added benefit is the extraordinarily low cost of a scan compared with the gold standard x-ray angiography.
Language is less of a barrier now for prospective customers of iPACS, a Web-based PACS product from RealTimeImage. At SCAR, the company introduced multi-language support with an extended unicode character set for its iPACS product line. User interfaces
Women with a history of biopsy-proven lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) appear to benefit from the addition of MRI to mammography for annual breast cancer screening. A retrospective study from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute presented Sunday at the 2010 RSNA meeting indicates the application of screening MRI for this at-risk population can double the cancer detection rate.