Montefiore chooses orthopedic PACS optionFDA clears combined navigation system

Siemens installs dual-source CTsFonar rebrands flagship MR scanner…againBerlex aligns with Washington University

German regulators clear Siemens dealIBA provides proton therapy system

ExAblate 2000 to enter Australia, TaiwanEmageon signs MidMichigan HealthUltrasonix recruits senior execs

FDA reviewers cleared 34 radiological devices in May, the highest number for this month since 2000, when DI SCAN began tracking clearances. The stellar performance puts the industry on track for a record year.

Feds clear Siemens bid for DRCFonar opens military optionCompressus to add 3DZonare goes Nordic

Echocardiography has unearthed links among morbid pediatric obesity, sleep disorders, and potentially fatal -- often hidden -- pulmonary hypertension, according to a study presented in June at the American Society of Echocardiography meeting.

GE’s Infinia Hawkeye defines the value end of SPECT/CT devices. Until this spring, the Infinia was a single-slice. Now it’s a quad-slice hybrid that delivers thick-slice CT data competitors refer to as “nondiagnostic.” The middle ground is held by Siemens and Philips scanners sporting 16 or fewer slices. The high end of the spectrum is populated by a rarified breed of scanners more theoretical than real. Among these is Philips’ Precedence 64, cleared by the FDA but not likely to enter production until next year at the earliest.

An intraperitoneal injection of dextrose prior to radiofrequency ablation of peripheral liver tumors reduces postprocedural pain and the need for painkillers, according to two studies in the May issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology. The technique could make treatment available to a larger pool of patients by rendering RFA safer in anatomically challenging areas.

Philips equips CV center Emageon expands IT agreement

After a late night congressional session in December, Congress passed the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act, sending a shock wave that’s still reverberating through the radiology community. Referred to by many in this community as “reduction without proper representation,” this draconian act targets the so-called “freestanding advantage.”

Dual-source CT provides fast, optimal quality heart images without the need to administer the beta blockers that are often required with 64-slice CT scanners, according to a report Saturday at the 8th Annual International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT in San Francisco.

Widespread adoption of lung computer-aided detection is being stalled by obstacles such as false positives, image overload, and lack of full integration with PACS, according to radiologists reporting at the Stanford MDCT symposium Thursday.

A series of prospective, multicenter trials comparing 16-slice CT angiography with conventional angiography show results similar to single-center trials, although CTA performance in some applications is slightly lower than previously reported, according to presentations at the Stanford Multidetector-Row CT meeting on Saturday.

One by one, magnet suppliers have fallen into the corporate maws of MR vendors. First, in 2000, GE bought the clinical MR side of magnet maker Magnex Scientific. Three years later, Siemens bought the equity of its partner, Oxford Instruments, in their joint-venture partner Oxford Magnet Technology. A year after that, Varian purchased the remainder of Magnex Scientific, which had concentrated on making superconducting, including ultrahigh-field, magnets. Yesterday, Philips announced a play for its longtime magnet supplier, Intermagnetics General.

X-ray tube current modulation, a popular feature available on newer multislice CT scanners, improves image quality but may result in a higher radiation dose, according to a report at the 8th Annual International Symposium on Multidetector-Row CT meeting on Wednesday.

One of the biggest mistakes made by specialists is overuse of CT in pediatrics, according to Dr. Donald Frush, chief of pediatric radiology at Duke University. As critical as multislice CT can be in evaluating pediatric patients, it’s not the right tool all the time.

As if one CT imaging chain were not enough to swamp an IT network, Siemens Medical Solutions has added a second to its Somatom Definition, turning an everyday headache into a migraine. But the company has come up with a remedy, a thin-client server called syngo WebSpace.

Multislice CT is likely to take over and replace abdominal plain films if the CT dose can be reduced to a very low level. New research indicates that this is achievable, German radiologists reported Thursday.

More sophisticated detection methods account for a dramatic increase in thyroid cancer over the last 30 years, rather than a true change in occurrence of the disease, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Physician self-referral may also be a contributing factor.