MRI

Combining T2-weighted MRI to detect microvascular obstructions with delayed-enhancement imaging to measure myocardial viability offers clinicians a better way to assess myocardial infarction, according to a new study from Japan.

The American College of Radiology is predicting that imaging access will plunge and patient waiting times will soar from new Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rules that will cut Medicare payments for outpatient imaging by an estimated 16% next year.

CMS will increase the equipment utilization rate assumption used to determine the practice expense for all nontherapeutic medical equipment, including diagnostic imaging systems, from 50% to 90% under new Medicare fee schedule rules announced Friday. In a bit of good news for radiology, CMS said it remains on track to require that suppliers of advanced imaging services become accredited by 2012.

Specialties outside of radiology could benefit from unified databases and iPhone applications.

Diverse capabilities in MR reflect the corporate philosophies of individual vendors, as well as how they see opportunities in the marketplace and seek to capitalize on them

Progress in wide-bore technology precedes advances of Healthymagination initiative.

Workflow, patient comfort, image quality rise with innovative devices and applications.

Efforts to increase comfort result in speedier exams and improved image quality.

MultiTransmit technology enables customers to realize 3T benefits in breast, body imaging.

Feet-first and ‘boreless’ magnets address clinical and patient comfort needs.

A forward-looking commentary in the Journal of the American Medical Association and related news coverage in The New York Times have drawn public attention to the diagnostic limitations of mammography and prostate cancer screening and future opportunities to develop better tests.

From the Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation & Fibroid ReliefA new research center for MR-guided focused ultrasound ablation at the University of Virginia is aiming to become a leader in translational and clinical research for emerging interventional procedures.

MRI has been adopted as a definitive measure for fair play by the International Federation of Association Football, the governing body for international soccer competition. FIFA will launch a program of random MRI wrist screening to verify the age of players competing in the Under-17 World Cup hosted by Nigeria Oct. 24 through Nov. 15.

MRI, possibly employing higher field strengths and dedicated breast coils, should be used more often for detecting ductal carcinoma in situ, according to a panel convened by the National Institutes of Health.

With the goal of tailoring cancer interventions for the individual, researchers at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University have published the results of a prospective study that validates the use of a simple blood test to help doctors more reliably assess treatment effectiveness for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

On the eve of a major presidential speech on healthcare reform, medical imaging advocates weighed in with political broadsides urging Congress to set aside legislative proposals they say will harm imaging device sales and clinical practices.

A review article asserting breast MRI does not improve surgical planning, reduce follow-up surgeries, or reduce the risk of local recurrences is drawing fire in the breast imaging community.

When it comes to determining the cause of death for fetuses, parents may have another option besides conventional autopsy. Whole-body high-field MRI offers a reliable option for postmortem exams in a less invasive way, according to British researchers.

Findings from a survey of 100 imaging centers suggest that MRI scanning facilities, particularly those run independently from hospitals, lack basic infection-control procedures. Patients and staff could be at risk of contracting and spreading life-threatening diseases during MRI exams.

Honest people don't struggle with themselves about whether they should tell the truth when given the opportunity to lie, as shown in an fMRI brain study of truth telling and prevarication from Harvard University behavioral scientists.

Massachusetts General Hospital researchers are using automated MRI software to detect individuals in the preclinical phase of Alzheimer’s disease with 95% accuracy, according to a cohort study.

The window for giving tissue plasminogen activator is extended from three hours to four and a half hours after the onset of stroke under new guidelines recommended by the American Stroke Association. Results from two large multicenter trials led the group to advise expanding the time window for tPA delivery.

Diagnostic imaging is the focus of 11 of 100 priority research projects identified in an Institute of Medicine report released Tuesday that promises to revolutionize how the clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness of emerging medical technologies and treatment regimens are determined in the U.S.

Myocardial anomalies detected in long-distance runners after they cross the finish line should not be interpreted as signs of possible heart damage. Using cardiac MR, Canadian investigators have found evidence that these abnormalities are only temporary.

A study by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has confirmed what critics of in-office self-referred imaging have long claimed. Physicians who have a financial interest in medical imaging equipment are more likely to refer patients to use it, and they incur higher costs generally than physicians who do not have similar financial incentives.