MRI

Hitachi Medical Systems formally launched its 1.2T vertical field open MR scanner at the RSNA meeting. Oasis, shown as a work-in-progress at last year’s meeting, cleared the FDA in September.

Magnetic resonance arthrography (MRA) and ultrasound bring different strengths to imaging and treating joint injuries and stresses, according to research presented at the RSNA meeting. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound is a superior method of assessing of neovascularity in patients with lateral epicondylitis, while MR can detect signs of recurrent carpal tunnel syndrome after surgery. A combination of MRI and ultrasound may be the most effective solution for imaging medial elbow pain.

Esaote introduced S-SCAN, a dedicated joint and spine MR scanner derived from the company’s earlier released G-SCAN system. It includes improved electronics, new coils for lumbar and cervical spine, new pulse sequences, and a modified magnet.

Fonar featured a new scoliosis application for its Upright MR scanner. New software and a receiver coil produce coronal, sagittal, and axial views of the entire spine.

A wide-bore 3T scanner small enough to fit in the same footprint as a 1.5T system debuted at Siemens RSNA booth. At 170 cm, Verio is the shortest 3T on the market, according to the company, but the 70-cm bore diameter may be of greater interest to prospective buyers.

HIV-positive patients could benefit from the ability of MR diffusion tensor imaging to reveal microscopic changes in their spinal cords before abnormalities show up on conventional MR imaging. The early warning could identify those who would benefit from antiretroviral therapy.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging could one day become a routine exam for noninvasive characterization and staging of uterine tumors, replacing unnecessary catheter or surgical biopsies, according to several studies released Sunday at the RSNA meeting.

Public policymakers have long sought valid scientific evidence linking lung disease and secondhand smoke. Their wait ended Monday at the 2007 RSNA meeting, when Chengbo Wang, Ph.D., announced clinical trial results using hyperpolarized helium-3 diffusion MRI to make the connection.

The massive American College of Radiology Imaging Network 6666 trial shows that adding ultrasound to the initial screening protocol for high-risk women could help detect 30% more cancers. The cost, however, could be many more needless biopsies of benign lesions.

In a novel approach to cervical spine trauma, researchers have found that changes in diffusion tensor imaging parameters are most marked at the spinal cord injury site and also reflect the severity of cord injury.

New CT perfusion scanning techniques that are safer and faster than older CT protocols could offer a practical imaging alternative to MR perfusion for stroke patients, according to two studies presented at the 2007 RSNA meeting. Findings also emphasize a new trend for widening the window for thrombolysis.

Executives at Siemens Medical Solutions are out to give competitors, including those selling reburbished MRs, a run for their money. Listing below $1 million, the company’s new Essenza MR scanner is the most affordable 1.5T system in the industry.

Research presented at RSNA 2007 bolsters the role of MR imaging for preoperative surgical planning in patients with known breast cancer and in working up the challenging invasive lobular carcinoma.

Diffusion-weighted MR imaging could one day become a routine exam for noninvasive characterization and staging of uterine tumors, replacing unnecessary catheter or surgical biopsies, according to several studies released Sunday at the RSNA meeting.

Of the 6000 scientific abstracts submitted to the RSNA this year, four major areas stand out, according to Dr. Gerald Dodd III, chair of the RSNA’s scientific program committee.

The inability to turn off certain brain regions, rather than decline in the ability to turn them on, could be the clue to diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease, according to Duke University researchers. Findings from a 4T functional MR imaging trial suggest this brain marker, not structural ones such as atrophy, could help diagnosis and management of AD patients.

Published clinical studies are expanding the diagnostic limits of multislice CT and other modalities for cardiovascular applications. A meta-analysis in the November Radiology offers a powerful argument in favor of its use for diagnosing lower extremity disease. Other, more preliminary, studies suggest that multislice and dual-source CT will eventually help evaluate in-stent restenosis and the quantification of left ventricular function. New applications are emerging for cardiac MR, echocardiography, and PET/CT as well.

Researchers have discovered a unique biomarker for neural progenitor and stem cells detectable with 3T proton MR spectroscopy. It noninvasively establishes the presence of the cells and their decreasing prominence with age in the brains of children, adolescents, and adult humans.

Imaging advocates fear the adoption of a bundled approach to Medicare reimbursement for contrast media, radiopharmaceuticals, and the technical component of medical imaging could lead to substantial payment cuts from the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System.

Incidental findings in brain MR imaging of asymptomatic subjects show a high prevalence of low-risk meningiomas and small aneurysms. Researchers suggest a review of management guidelines for such findings, with an eye toward reducing radiological intervention.

Long-standing suspicions about noncontrast T1-weighted MRI’s usefulness as a biomarker for multiple sclerosis have been confirmed in a study showing that hyperintense plaques revealed with the technique are associated with brain atrophy, disability, and an advancing course for the disease.

Independent diagnostic testing facilities have only until the end of the year to dissolve imaging equipment leasing arrangements with referring physicians to comply with new rules in the 2008 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule that becomes effective Jan. 1.

The competition is fierce on the way to Wimbledon-just how fierce has been elucidated by British researchers who found a significant number of spinal abnormalities in otherwise healthy adolescent tennis players.

Despite its widespread use as a tool that provides rapid diagnosis at a relatively low cost without the need for bulky equipment or ionizing radiation, ultrasound faces mounting competition from modalities such as CT and MRI, which combine short acquisition times with the ability to rapidly generate multiplanar and 3D images. That may change with volume ultrasound, a technique that lets clinicians and sonographers scan the patient and rapidly analyze data from a volume of interest.

Conventional static MR angiography techniques create high-spatial-resolution structural studies but fail to image physiological information inherent in the delivery of blood or contrast. MR scanner gradient enhancements now enable repetitive data capture over time in the attempt to depict vascular dynamics and physiology in a method similar to that routinely used with conventional catheter x-ray angiography.