Image reconstruction software that virtually unfolds the colon wall could shorten CT colonography's reading time without compromising diagnostic accuracy, according to researchers at the 2005 RSNA meeting.

Digital fluoroscopy is getting a boost in interventional radiology with the release of products built around flat-panel detectors. The latest, Toshiba's Infinix VC-i, is a dedicated vascular system featuring a large field-of-view created by a 12 x 16-inch solid-state detector.

Two years after its debut, multislice SPECT/CT offers a market snapshot showing gradual progress in oncology, infection, and cardiovascular imaging. Work under way by early adopters shows potential, but the market appears to be taking a cautious approach to the latest generation of hybrid technology.

Optical imaging using a blue light-sensitive optical dye illuminates a flat lesion of the bladder (right) not apparent under white light. GE Healthcare plans to begin distribution of the dye, Hexvix, in Europe in the second half of 2006. The company expects FDA approval by year's end, at which time it could begin distributing the agent under an existing arrangement with PhotoCure, the Norwegian company that developed Hexvix.

Conebeam CT (CBCT) evolved from microCT technology. The first devices, developed for nonhuman studies, allowed 3D imaging with high spatial resolution to be applied to studies of bone architecture and mineralization, adipose tissue quantification, visualization of heart valves' structural failures, quantification of radionuclide tomographic images, vasculature, and experimental endodontology.1 All of these techniques required spatial resolution in the range of 1 to 60 micron, warranting exposure times of 20 minutes to several hours.

Born in the U.S. and incubated in research facilities for more than 15 years, ultrasound elastography emerged with a splash across the Atlantic at the 2006 European Congress of Radiology. Researchers at the March meeting hailed the technique's potential to dramatically reduce benign breast biopsy rates.

Acronyms relating to PACS seem to multiply at an even more alarming rate than the viruses and other security threats designed to undermine these systems. Among the acronyms that I have encountered for the first time during the past few months are XDS-I (cross-enterprise document sharing for imaging), CCOW (clinical context object work group), P-BW (persona-based window), and TRIP (Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process).

Knee and ankle injuries vex contact sport athletes. American football players, in particular, put up with torn menisci and a condition known as high ankle sprain that usually gets misdiagnosed. Two studies presented at the 2005 RSNA meeting provide insight on the diagnosis and management of these injuries.

The advent of PACS has put radiologists at high risk of developing repetitive stress injuries. They desperately need ergonomics training, according to a study from Massachusetts General Hospital in the U.S.

Nearly one-third of the audience in a session at the recent Society for Computer Applications in Radiology meeting noted that it was their first time attending the event. As it turns out, it was also their last. SCAR has adopted a new persona and name. From here on out, it will be known as the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine.

SNM kicks off “Bench to Bedside” campaignSiemens gaze covers 10,000 devicesMR-guided US targets bone metsAgfa, Sonix connect for outpatient clinics

Philips Medical Systems will launch the latest version of its JetStream Workspace at the Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in San Diego next week.The enhanced product, Version 3.0, features new workflow and image-display capabilities. Incremental improvements have been made in cardiac, bone, renal, salivary, and brain imaging.

Next week at the SNM meeting, Hitachi Medical Systems America (HMSA) will unveil a new version of its Sceptre PET system, one dedicated to cardiac applications. The system, called SceptreC, is configured to use rubidium-82 to gauge myocardial perfusion and fluorine-18 FDG to assess myocardial viability.

CardiArc expands patentCD/DVD burner edges toward marketBuilder meets MR site challengeSiemens’ SPECT/CT base expandsVirtualScopics moves up

Rather than fight to repeal the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the American College of Radiology has chosen instead to support a two-year delay in its implementation.

Molecular imaging enthusiasts would undoubtedly like to encounter more residents like Dr. Jinha M. Park. In his last year of residency at the University of California, Los Angeles, Park completed his fellowship at Stanford, where he spent a year studying optical imaging modalities.

The pending FDA approval of FujiFilm’s computed radiography-based mammography system will radically change how the company approaches the U.S. market not only in CR but in PACS. Company strategists plan to position two CR products -- the single-plate reader ClearView-1m (mammography) and the multicasssette reader ClearView-CSm -- as dual-purpose devices capable of converting analog mammography systems to digital, while amplifying the capacity of and backing up already installed CR devices. Fuji will simultaneously market a mini-PACS for mammography that can be integrated with currently installed PACS, increase the capabilities of these PACS, and eventually replace them.

Radlink signs distributor for its CRToshiba installs new vascular unit in U.S.