MRI

A new space shuttle mission reminds musculoskeletal specialists that astronauts share with bedridden patients a susceptibility to muscle and tendon atrophy. Phase-contrast cine MR at 3T provides a useful, accurate way to guide management of this atrophy, according to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Diffusion hyperpolarized helium-3 MRI could provide a noninvasive means to diagnose and manage children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, according to a study presented at the 2006 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine meeting in May.

The California State Assembly has passed a bill that would restrict sales of ultrasound machines to medical professionals. The move follows public safety concerns raised by actor Tom Cruise's purchase of ultrasound equipment to perform exams on his pregnant fiancee in November 2005.

We all make mistakes, and some cost more than others. It seems that your brain has a special compartment set aside to absorb these moments.

A top official for the American College of Cardiology says cardiologists should drive quality improvements in cardiac imaging, and that a major effort should be made to increase how imaging is used in cardiology research and practice.

Parallel imaging continues to drive MRI development as an enabling technology for clinical 3T and as the catalyst for new data acquisition strategies offering unprecedented improvements in temporal resolution.

Time-of-flight PET/CT and PET/MR are adding sizzle to the PET equipment scene, with the driving motivation being fast, faster, and fastest data acquisition.

Prostate imaging can be a lonely, thankless line of work for radiologists. Specialists are scarce, and urologists have the upper hand. Cancer screening is controversial, and imaging research has yielded a mixed bag of results. Nevertheless, prostate guru Dr. Ethan Halpern is bullish about the future.

Buoyed by highly promising preliminary results, radiologists and cardiologists are lining up to learn coronary artery CT. Interest is growing in new CCT fellowships and medical conferences offering CCT training. Record sales of cardiovascular 64-slice CT scanners, many installed in the first half of 2006, are fueling the demand.

When Jiangyang Zhang, Ph.D., picked up his Research Trainee Prize from RSNA 2005, the former biomedical engineering student was on a temporary research contract at the Johns Hopkins University radiology department. This September, his status will be upgraded to that of assistant professor. While the promotion was not due to the RSNA award alone, Zhang believes that recognition may have helped his quest for tenure.

MR imaging studies in adults and middle school children have underscored a link between the connectivity of brain white matter fibers and the ability to read. New diffusion tensor imaging data from Canadian researchers prove this relationship can be found much earlier in life than previously thought.

Diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), a new MRI-based technique, may help find hard-to-detect lesions in patients with mild traumatic brain injury, according to a study presented at the 2006 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine meeting. DKI could help understanding of persistent post-traumatic disorders affecting these patients.

A head-to-head comparison has found that MRI is more sensitive than FDG-PET/CT for assessment of N-stage non-small cell lung cancer.

The skull is often thought of as packaging for the brain, but a new study suggests that the two are linked developmentally and evolutionarily.

As the incidence of malignant melanoma increases, researchers are seeking ways to accurately and reproducibly measure tumor volume and therapy response. Computer-aided volumetry may be an answer.

The spectrum of usual and unusual primary neoplasms involving the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum is extremely wide. Our own database of digestive pathology contains a range of benign small bowel neoplasms (adenoma, leiomyoma, lipoma, familial polyposis, hemangioma, lymphangioma, and fibroma), as well as examples of malignancy (adenocarcinoma, carcinoid tumor, lymphoma, leiomyosarcoma, direct extension from extraintestinal tumors, and metastasic lesions).

State-of-the-art CT scanners demonstrate exquisite image quality. The rapid advance of multislice technology has been accompanied, however, by concerns over the increasing medical radiation burden. Radiologists concerned about MSCT dose would be well advised to learn how they can tailor their own scanning protocols to optimize the balance between radiation exposure and image quality, according to Prof. Dr. Willi Kalender, director of the Institute for Medical Physics, University of Erlangen, Germany, speaking at the European Congress of Radiology.

Future cancer management may rely on identifying healthy individuals at risk before they develop symptoms of disease, according to National Cancer Institute researchers.

MRI illuminates links between a gene variant and impulsive, violent behavior, particularly in men with a history of child abuse, according to a study conducted at the National Institutes of Mental Health. The findings highlight the potential for imaging genomics to explain the mechanisms that underlie temperament.

Brain imaging markers have emerged as important tools in the differential diagnosis of dementia. Parameters derived from brain imaging are being intensively examined as potential predictors to identify persons with only mild cognitive losses who face imminent decline and the full dementia syndrome of Alzheimer's disease. As novel disease modifying agents emerge, brain imaging markers also may facilitate drug development and help monitor drug efficacy in clinical settings.

Knee and ankle injuries vex contact sport athletes. American football players, in particular, put up with torn menisci and a condition known as high ankle sprain that usually gets misdiagnosed. Two studies presented at the 2005 RSNA meeting provide insight on the diagnosis and management of these injuries.

People may permanently store memories in their brains, even if they cannot consciously recall them, according to a study by researchers at Duke University in Durham, NC.

Functional MRI can differentiate between people who experience substantial dread about adverse experiences and those who don’t, according to a study released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Findings could provide new insights into the neurobiology underlying addictive behavior.

As the parent of two adolescent boys, I have come to know the signs of stress that accompany untruth: tiny inflections in voice; almost imperceptible widening of the eyes; increased respiration. I can say, without bragging, that I have become accomplished in telling whether homework has been done or test scores are being accurately reported.

A study by Mayo Clinic researchers suggests MR elastography could provide noninvasive diagnosis of hepatic fibrosis, potentially reducing the need for biopsy.

Stenting of the carotid artery may offer more than reduced stroke risk, especially to patients with impaired brain perfusion. Researchers have found that it improves cognitive speed, verbal fluency, and delayed recall.

Data collected by the European Association of Radiology in 2005 revealed that more than 60 centers in Europe have facilities for animal imaging research. Of these, 12 are in Germany, 10 in France, six in the U.K., and five each in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Figuring out how to treat postinfarction left ventricular remodeling using delayed-enhancement cardiac MR is not so cut and dried as it seems. Bright signal may signify dead myocardial tissue during DE-MR viability studies, but bright and dark myocardium both have stories to tell when dealing with remodeling.

British researchers have used T2* measures of cardiac iron loading to show the value of a new drug treatment for beta-thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder. The laborious clinical trial involved transporting a mobile MRI system three times from London to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia.

European radiology staff, medical imaging researchers, and manufacturers are being urged to lobby against regulations that will restrict the operation of MR scanners. Speakers at the European Congress of Radiology expressed concerns that the limits, to be imposed in all European Union member states by April 2008, have no scientific basis and could bring greater risks to patients.