The Society of Nuclear Medicine's recently launched Lifelong Learning and Self-Assessment Program offers online modules to help physicians comply with new maintenance of certification requirements, including 20 nuclear medicine-specific CME credits every year.

Physicians who plan to perform cardiac CT are in for a surprise. Neither radiologists nor cardiologists are qualified to render diagnoses from multislice CT studies without undergoing more training. The supply of qualified teachers and training slots falls far short of the demands of users to learn this new technology.

Radiology in Asia is booming. The demand for radiology services is growing, and investment made by governments and private hospitals and companies in imaging equipment and radiology departments is increasing rapidly every year. This includes investments in PACS, RIS, and teleradiology networks.

With its roots firmly anchored in mammography, computer-aided detection has proved it can flag lesions that might otherwise be missed and, in the process, help improve the detection of breast cancer.

Optical imaging has lumbered along for decades, employed by specialists of body areas typically accessible through a natural opening. Only modest improvements, such as CCD chips for recording analog images, have been made until recently. The development of fluorescent imaging agents promises to uncork new diagnostic potential in optical imaging. Among the first to benefit may be GE Healthcare.

Voice recognition technology has been around for more than a decade, yet it has hardly made a dent in medical transcription. VR has penetrated less than 10% of the potential market, capturing only about 900 installations out of some 4200 hospitals and 5000 imaging clinics in the U.S. that transcribe medical reports. But executives at Nuance are betting that will change.

Amicas unveils Web-based integration tools A new toolkit developed by PACS/IT vendor Amicas uses XML (extensible markup language) technology to link the company’s Vision Series PACS to third-party applications. Amicas demonstrated its XML-based technology at the HIMSS conference. The company’s partners, including Dictaphone (dictation), Hyland Software (digital document management), and PeerVue software (teaching file), are already using the toolkit to integrate such applications as digital document management, speech recognition, digital dictation, and teaching file applications.

Siemens Medical Solutions and Toshiba America Medical Systems displayed new C-arm products at the RSNA meeting. Siemens showcased the latest entry in its Arcadis product line, and Toshiba unveiled the latest iteration of its digital angiography platform.

An insider’s view of the world’s largest integrated delivery network can be had for the price of admission this week at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society meeting in San Diego. The Department of Defense exhibit at HIMSS showcases the healthcare IT programs that consolidate and manage an IDN comprising 70 hospitals, 800 clinics, 60,000 medical professionals, and more than nine million patients.

Voice recognition software developer Nuance has cut a deal to acquire Dictaphone. Nuance executives say they expect the all-cash $357 million agreement to accelerate the adoption of voice recognition as a replacement for manual transcription.

Football coaches can’t foresee when their players might get injured. But musculoskeletal radiologists may predict who is going to hurt the most, and where.

Thirty years ago, radiology residents were urged to meet all patients presenting for imaging. As the workload increased, this emphasis on communication continued, though trainees tended to see only outpatients. Residents had to speak with these patients prior to imaging and, when possible, explain the subsequent results. If the diagnosis involved difficult or bad news, these discussions required great care.

In 2004, much of the talk swirling around CT colonography focused on whether 3D views were better than 2D for primary interpretation. In 2005, presentations at key meetings revolved around interpretation using 2D, 3D, and 360 degrees dissection. That last option was just one of several techniques illustrated during a case review session at the Sixth International Virtual Colonoscopy Symposium in Boston where physicians using six different vendor products highlighted the myriad ways that exist to interpret virtual colonoscopy scans.

The digital era that has changed the face of radiology has brought with it a plethora of data to manage. Increasingly, departments are turning to custom digital dashboards to keep track of workflow and the many data systems that now pepper radiology departments.

Mercury Computer doesn't make scanners or information systems, it just makes them go faster. CT and MR systems, PACS, and other imaging equipment operating at installations around the globe have depended for years on hardware and software developed by the Chelmsford, MA, company. Its computer boards rapidly process the signals acquired during scans or the data needed for volumetric reconstructions. The data appear in a split second on consoles and workstations, partly because of Mercury Computer technologies. Soon a new breed of Mercury components will make the process even faster.

It is an established principle in medical and scientific publishing that a journal or magazine is only as effective as its editorial board. Diagnostic Imaging Europe relies heavily on its 28 board members to generate ideas, suggest topics for future coverage, and recommend authors. Although there is no formal peer-review process, an annual strategy meeting of the board takes place, usually during the European Congress of Radiology.

A controversy simmering since last year's meeting of the Society of Interventional Radiology resurfaced during the RSNA meeting when Yale researchers presented evidence that a particular type of polyvinyl alcohol particles, used to embolize bleeding uterine fibroids, is less effective than other products. They concluded that the use of Contour SE could lead to greater fibroid recurrence and repeat embolization procedures.

High-field scanners have much to offer proponents of MR angiography. Moving from 1.5T to 3T should theoretically double the signal-to-noise ratio, which can boost the all-important spatial resolution. Acquisition of images with a 3T magnet also means longer T1 tissue relaxation times. This in turn should translate into stronger signals from contrast agents.

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority, which manages all 43 public hospitals in the region, has enabled widespread image distribution by integrating PACS into its electronic medical record.

Just months after Hurricane Katrina devastated its city, the radiology department of the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center at New Orleans passed along valuable lessons about PACS disaster recovery.