Two tubes are better than one, if you ask Siemens Medical Solutions. Simultaneous x-ray beams rotating every 330 msec on the Somatom Definition CT gantry stop any motion in its tracks, even that of the heart. Now Siemens is taking the concept a step further.

Wavelet compression can shrink large, unwieldy digital mammography images by a factor of 100 without any loss in image quality, according to a German study presented at the European Congress of Radiology in March. This finding has tremendous potential benefits for productivity, teleradiology transmission speed, and PACS storage costs.

InSight files for bankruptcyCarestream partners with Hitachi on archiveSiemens reaches MR milestoneFujifilm promotes CookeInternational luminary joins Aurora Imaging

Research developments showcased the future of MR last week in Berlin, as Siemens demonstrated the feasibility of creating a hybrid of this modality with PET, while GE Healthcare exhibited the potential of 3T MR in virtual colonography.

Ultrasound could make the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis considerably more accurate, aiding in recommendations for treatment. Treatment decisions can depend on how far the disease has progressed, and the only way to measure the progression of rheumatoid arthritisis to identify which of a patient’s joints show synovitis. Yet a recent study shows that doctors miss swelling in the shoulder joints of 30% of patients.

Siemens frames progress in MR/PET hybrid

Revenues from ultrasound scanners in the U.S. rose more than 5% last year compared with 2005 on the heels of increasing demand for echocardiography. A drop of 23% in upgrades, however, damped overall growth to just 2.6%, according to a new report by Klein Biomedical Consultants. Still the ultrasound market rose to a record $1.33 billion in 2006 and could go much higher. Sales are expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.8% to reach $1.76 billion by 2011, according to the report, “Medical Diagnostic Ultrasound Market in the USA: Challenges & Opportunities in the New Millennium, 2006.”

Philips Medical Systems is assessing the use of naturally occurring, nonradioactive fluorine-19 as part of an MR contrast agent that will root out the early signs of colorectal cancer.

German researchers have developed a protocol for MRI of the knee at 7T that reportedly allows visualization of all relevant anatomical structures and the most common pathologies.

Drug-eluting stents for non-FDA-approved indications to treat coronary artery stenosis could be associated with a higher rate of short-term complications, according to two studies published in May in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Off-label use, the studies also show, may be more prominent in the U.S. now than on-label use.

The first brain images produced simultaneously with a prototype MR/PET scanner were shown at the Siemens Medical Solutions booth and in a scientific session in Berlin. The device, currently in development at a Siemens lab, integrates a PET detector into the bore of a 3T scanner.

An alliance between Philips Medical Systems and biopharmaceutical company Organon announced May 22 is designed to aid in the development of new drugs and therapies.

GE appoints new MR leaderPlanar allies with NVIDIAToshiba taps new VP of strategic businessInSight deadline stretches to May 25

Researchers in the U.K. have used functional MR imaging to show that patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) respond differently to heat and pain stimulation compared with diabetic patients without peripheral neuropathy.

Image-guided percutaneous sclerotherapy should replace surgery for the treatment of varicoceles, according to a long-term study by Italian researchers. The technique is much less invasive and effectively addresses the pain, infertility, and recurrence linked to the condition. The bad news is that few patients know this treatment exists.

Earlier this year it was SonoSite and Zonare preparing to battle in court over ultrasound patents. Last week GE opened a new front, alleging SonoSite infringement of five GE patents.

More is better and all but inevitable in medical imaging. In CT, more means slices. In MR, it’s channels for receiving radiofrequency signals. These currently number 32 on the most advanced commercially available systems. But a replacement for that benchmark is in the works.

Whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI has been introduced to complement and possibly compete against whole-body FDG PET and whole-body anatomical MRI for staging cancer metastasis.

The big four of high-field MR converged this week in Berlin mouthing a single objective: to make MR simple.

Playing off the continuously moving table built into TimCT, Siemens Medical Solutions proclaimed “Tim (Siemens’ total image matrix) is on the move” at the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine meeting in Berlin. The company is featuring clinical results from its seven luminary installations of the technology in MR angiography and central nervous system imaging.