Merge eMed upgrades RISSiemens enhances customer support groupGE notches MR milestone

In a previous column on technology assessment, it was noted that PACS installations completed during the early years of the technology typically yielded low value. The key reason was that technology adoption was not accompanied by behavior modification. Physicians continued to print film rather than make diagnoses from soft-copy images. Why wasn’t this situation avoided? Why didn’t the manufacturers work with the customers to train and prepare them to use the new technology properly( “Successful technology implementation makes medical imaging tick”)?

Optical MI firm recapitalizesSweden funds 3D/4D developmentImage-guided surgical system to debut

If you use ultrasound to guide steroid and anesthetic injections to treat ankle injuries in high-performance athletes, chances are you do not practice in the U.S.

Demand booms for PACS monitorsIT firms partner on Boston projectsCR firm embraces PACSCSI sinks its teeth into x-ray

Now that legal hurdles in the U.S. are cleared, the deal for Philips Medical Systems to acquire Intermagnetics General could be completed by the end of October, according to Jacques Coumans, Ph.D., vice president of MR global marketing for Philips. If the two companies keep to this schedule, Philips will exhibit coils for its premier MR scanners, all obtained from Intermagnetics’ subsidiary In Vivo, at the RSNA meeting.

Combining catheter-directed thrombolysis with a mechanical thrombectomy device could be more cost-effective than performing thrombolysis alone in patients with acute iliofemoral deep vein thrombosis, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers reporting on the first study of its kind.

Amicas releases enhanced PACSIT method boosts clinical data usage

FDG- and carbon-11-labeled methionine PET could narrow down the diagnosis of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors in patients with neurofibromatosis, according to a study presented at the 2006 International Skeletal Society meeting in Vancouver.

Increasing numbers of vertebral compression fracture patients are being rushed to vertebroplasty procedures, according to interventional and musculoskeletal radiologists gathering at the 2006 International Skeletal Society meeting in Vancouver. Some specialists rejoice to see patients being relieved quickly from their back pain. Others, however, warn against unnecessary procedures that could become a financial burden for healthcare and patients alike.

MRI is better than multislice CT for determining if and how far breast cancer has spread into the breast ducts, and it should be used before patients receive breast conserving therapy, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

FujiFilm Medical Systems USA has forged a key distribution agreement with iCAD to serve as a supplier of computer-aided detection products for Fuji’s CR mammography. As important as this deal is to Fuji, it may be even more important for iCAD.

Cardiologists have developed an insatiable thirst for practical information about the clinical applications of 64-slice CT, judging by the behavior of delegates at the World Congress of Cardiology held in Barcelona in early September.

The dose of contrast material can be effectively reduced by at least 10% for elderly patients undergoing a multislice CT exam of the pancreas and biliary region. When the dose is reduced, the cost of the exam and the risk of complications drop as well, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine and the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists will team up to develop and run a certification program for PACS administrators. SIIM made the announcement on Sept. 7.

Positron and MIMvista strike supply accordPhilips marks gamma camera milestoneNAS reports disappointing 3Q

Developing computer-aided detection for lung and colon images has become a priority at Siemens Medical Solutions. The decision is a consequence of Siemens’ -- and other vendors’ -- success in CT.

Philips demonstrates cardiac enhancementsDel Global names new execs