Despite the FDA's reluctance to approve the use of contrast agents for diagnostic ultrasound other than for cardiac applications, clinical research in this area continues around the world. Researchers are particularly interested in validating the effectiveness of contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging for the noninvasive diagnosis of cancer.

The first announcements came at RSNA 2003, informing the radiology community that 64-slice CT would soon be available for clinical practice. Initial site installations by Siemens Medical Solutions and GE Healthcare began shortly after, in late spring and early summer of 2004. The introduction of this new technology came as a surprise to many, since 16-slice CT had been widely available only since 2002.

Hospitals that archive digital mammograms in their PACS must plan for network modifications to handle the transfer of very large data sets and prepare for significantly increased archival storage requirements.

Hybrid imaging dominated the nuclear medicine section of the RSNA exhibit floor. Philips and Siemens promoted multislice SPECT/CT, while GE, which pioneered the idea five years ago, showed an upgraded version of its Infinia gamma camera coupled to a single-slice, nondiagnostic CT for attenuation correction.

Radiologists need to communicate with referring physicians more often and listen more closely to orthopedics surgeons’ reporting preferences, according to the results of University of California, San Diego survey that were announced at the RSNA meeting.

Wide variations in patient dose may exist between and within hospitals in pediatric radiography examinations, and standardization in both equipment and techniques is lacking, according to a poster from researchers in Dublin presented at the RSNA meeting.

If ever I undergo an imaging examination of my hands and wrists, the radiologist will need to know that increased fluid in my second and fifth flexor sheaths is probably quite normal because I am a regular typist.

Digital technology is moving into x-ray-based subspecialties in ways that not only deliver better images but also offer views not typically achieved by those modalities. These new capabilities invigorated vendors on the RSNA exhibit floor.

Gone are the days when Agfa supplied just radiology products. The company has much greater aspirations now.With the acquisition of two European companies -- Symphonie on Line in October and GWI scheduled for early next year -- Agfa expects to become a vendor of broad-based medical IT products.

Good things came in small packages at the RSNA meeting -- small, wireless, and very mobile packages, in fact. One was the Orex ZR, a CR scanner on wheels. Others were Siemens’ Mobilett XP Digital and GE’s AMX 5D, portable x-ray systems with solid-state roots.

Improved productivity and the promise of fewer errors have lit a fire under manufacturers to integrate PACS with RIS and 3D. The thrust toward integration has been a long time coming. Major vendors of PACS have also offered RIS, but most of these products had been sold overseas, and early penetration into the RIS market in the U.S. was accomplished by best-of-breed companies selling stand-alone IT products.

Integration is the catalyst for innovation at Merge eFilm from a technological viewpoint as well as a corporate one. The company, which was among the first PACS vendors to come up with a RIS/PACS hybrid, announced days before the RSNA meeting that it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire AccuImage, a developer of 3D and other advanced visualization tools.

For the better part of a decade, system manufacturers have eyed the DR market with growing anticipation, focusing blockbuster hopes on it, but realizing only modest returns. Their faith in the future of this segment fueled the development of early-stage systems.

The need for increased productivity throughout radiology, from the smallest to the largest institutions, has energized vendors, leading them to integrate PACS with other information systems and postprocessing capabilities. RIS integration led the charge to turnkey integration. Specialty vendors’ products focused on community hospitals and imaging centers were joined by others from major vendors that sought to expand their reach beyond super-sized early PACS adopters.

Three- and four-dimensional ultrasound systems have generated stunning pictures, especially of the fetal face, and proffered the tantalizing prospect of offline image reconstruction. Early systems got a lukewarm reception, largely because they lacked wide clinical application, flexibility in image processing, and productivity-conscious tools. But volumetric ultrasound displayed at the RSNA meeting demonstrated the maturation of the technology with new systems for routine general radiology and for imaging complex anatomy and pathology, as well as postprocessing enhancements for presenting and evaluating data in multiple planes and user-friendly, push-button data interrogation.

Snippets of news from GE, IDX, Mercury, Orthocrat, and more

PET/CT is significantly more accurate than CT alone, PET alone, and side-by-side CT and PET when assessing the TNM stage of various malignant diseases. This diagnostic advantage translates into treatment plan changes in a substantial number of patients, according to Dr. Gerald Antoch and colleagues at University Hospital Essen in Germany.

Siemens’ fortunes in women’s health have taken a turn for the better since the company released its full-field digital mammography (FFDM) system. Only a few months after the FDA approved its Novation FFDM, Siemens executives were animated about the product.

Interventional radiologists can now kill two “birds” with just one probe. Simultaneous radio-frequency ablation of hepatic and pulmonary tumors is feasible, according to Italian researchers.

Carotid angioplasty is a safe procedure for preventing cerebrovascular disease, according to researchers in Italy.