Siemens opens biomarker R&D centerStructuRad adopts ‘pay per report’ pricingCardiac CT conference opens this week

GE Medical Systems, SonoSite, and Zonare will drive hand-carried ultrasound to $1 billion in worldwide revenues in the next five years, according to long-standing ultrasound analyst Harvey Klein. He expected these three companies, the current leaders in this sector, to continue to lead in the years ahead. He put SonoSite at the top of the U.S. market in 2006 sales, followed closely by GE, and described the worldwide competition between these two companies in 2006 as very close.

NightHawk exec shuffle risks delistingFuji execs climb ladderSoftware smoothes accreditationStorage firm allies with AgfaViztek expands product reach Array taps new VPNovaRad nabs PACS contracts

The imaging industry in 2006 beat the previous year’s record number of FDA clearances, tallying 360 compared with 349 in 2005. Vendors scored 34 in September and 25 in October before surging with 46 clearances in November, then finished the year with 28 in December.

Coke Super Bowl ad winsHologic exec amends stock trading planToshiba cuts multiyear CT dealMR agent lights up mouse heart

PACS is responsible for the trend toward increased radiologist specialization, according to a new study from Sweden.

Expanded coverage for PET drove demand for procedures in 2006, helping push unit sales, which also benefited from local pressures on providers to keep up with the competition. Demand for upgrading the installed base to PET/CT from dedicated PET could bolster sales in the near term, just as the popularity of the modality continues to rise.

For the first time, long-term data show sustained cognitive improvement at one year in patients who have undergone carotid stenting, according to a report from the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy in Miami this week.

MR volume shows modest growthForesight nabs 50-plus contractEP Navigator enters marketplaceKodak Health Group revenues slip

Since the beginning of PACS, one of the main rate-limiting components of the image viewing workstation has been the central processing unit. Other parts of the computer are easy to scale up. Computer memory is cheap and plentiful.

Researchers in Germany have found that low-dose 64-slice CT colonography accurately detects colorectal polyps in a screening population and tested a new visualization tool that streamlines interpretation. They released their studies at the 2006 RSNA meeting.

A head-to-head comparison of CT scanner performance has found that user behavior is as important as performance in explaining why the dual-source Siemens Definition often exposes patients to more ionizing radiation than a single-source 64-slice CT system.

Millions of dollars may have been spent on the latest CT, PET, MRI, or other digital modality in your imaging center. The purchase of a PACS, RIS, or electronic medical records system may have been made, too.

Although MR colonography is proving to be an effective method of colorectal screening, patients are no more likely to accept it than optical colonoscopy. In addition, limited bowel prep protocols for CT colonography are proving comparable to full cathartic prep.

Siemens' P-10, a palm-sized ultrasound scanner shown for the first time at the RSNA meeting, is due out later this year. But radiologists probably won't be using the Blackberry-like device.

In an industry muddled by clever wording and hidden meanings, the announcement at the 2006 RSNA meeting that Philips Medical Systems had developed an MR system that can be upgraded from 1.5T to 3T brought to mind the rumblings of a forklift and weeks of downtime.

Kodak’s Health Group begins transition to ‘Carestream’Hologic notches record quarterKorean LCDs include Matrox controllersRIS/PACS firm raises $3.3M

Sectra has moved past the loss of Philips Medical Systems as a PACS client, focusing on the development of new technology.

We are at this moment witnessing the ground being laid for an evolutionary leap in medical disciplines: the union of radiology and pathology. A transformation of radiology far beyond the boundaries that now define this discipline is leading inexorably to the end of medical imaging as we know it.

We are at this moment witnessing the ground being laid for an evolutionary leap in medical disciplines: the union of radiology and pathology. A transformation of radiology far beyond the boundaries that now define this discipline is leading inexorably to the end of medical imaging as we know it.