McKesson has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Medcon, an Israeli developer of Web-based cardiology PACS and IT. The proposed acquisition, valued at $105 million, reflects the strategy of McKesson. The IT provider is aggressively promoting integrated healthcare systems that stretch across medical specialties including radiology, gastroenterology, ophthalmology, and cardiology.

Molecular imaging has been wending its way slowly into the vernacular of nuclear medicine. Now it appears this term may someday supplant nuclear medicine altogether, at least if the recent action by Siemens Medical Solutions is any guide.

Merger fever has again gripped the imaging community. The megamergers, like the Philips and Marconi union, are done. The big vendors are now looking for small fry to fill their needs. And there are plenty of small and medium fry around.

Vendors managed to clear just 21 radiological devices through the FDA in May, one fewer than April. Most of the cleared devices were relatively simple. Several addressed dental imaging or low-level image management.

Mercury Computer Systems is making a bid for the German software development firm Sohard, which supplies PACS through OEMs as well as distributors and dealers. The two companies have signed an agreement detailing the acquisition, pegged at 19 million euros ($23 million).

The pace of PACS adoption in Russia is lagging behind other industrialized nations. Overall, the medical informatics picture there remains largely a cottage industry, according to a research paper presented Thursday at the Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery conference in Berlin.

Enterprise-wide integration has become the driving force behind many healthcare IT projects. Planners should include the operating room in their digital workflow schemes, according to participants in a joint CARS/International Society for Optical Engineering workshop on surgical PACS and the digital operating room.

One of the pioneers of digital mammography, Fischer Imaging, is exiting the market. The company has signed a definitive agreement to sell Hologic the intellectual property and customer lists of its mammography business and products. The cash purchase price of $32 million includes the rights to Fisher’s SenoScan digital mammography and MammoTest stereotactic breast biopsy systems.

The Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise initiative has released a series of new guidelines that should help secure its role in the move toward electronic health records. Medical information technology is tackling a growing list of issues related to this effort, according to a panel presentation Thursday.

Basic technological and organizational problems in PACS have been solved, and it is time for the imaging community to incorporate image processing technology, an advocate said Friday.

Few radiologists would disagree that computer-assisted detection in the colon has a long way to go before it is ready for routine clinical implementation. But once the remaining technical challenges have been overcome, advocates for CT colonography screening will have a far stronger case, speakers said Friday.

The pace of PACS adoption in Russia is lagging behind that of other industrialized nations. Overall, the medical informatics picture there remains largely a cottage industry, according to a research paper presented Thursday.

Growth in imaging volume is often attributed to growth in patient volume. But the new capabilities that result from upgrades to imaging modalities, especially CT, can be an even greater factor, according to a presentation Thursday.

A series of presenters saluted the Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery conference Wednesday and offered their prescriptions for the future as the meeting celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The transition from hard copy or even partly digitized radiology to a filmless workflow is rife with potential difficulties. Careful project planning and extensive consultation are the keys to success.

Multisite PACS/RIS/HIS linkage among a group of London hospitals has increased radiological reporting efficiency considerably. But realizing these gains has required much more than simply integrating the software.

Successful pregnancies following uterine fibroid embolization are debunking the theory that the procedure should not be recommended for women who want to conceive despite having heavy fibroid volume. Among a cohort of more than 1200 embolization patients at an English hospital, 43 of 98 women who tried to conceive have been able to do so.

Residual questions about vertebroplasty's safety and efficacy were put to rest at the 2005 ECR. Dr. Giovanni C. Anselmetti, medical director of the Interventional Radiology Service of Candiolo in Torino, Italy, announced results of a seven-center trial that included 1580 vertebroplasty patients.

The U.K. government promoted its effort to wire 150 English hospitals into the digital age as one of the largest PACS efforts in the world. But a year after the announcement of five successful tender offers to PACS vendors, two key contracts have yet to be signed. Questions have also arisen about whether the installation of these PACS will deliver the promised cost savings.