Technology

Cardiac CT

Neurology CT

Oncology CT

Women's Health CT

Facility Management

Cardiac MRI

Neurology MRI

Oncology MRI

Women's Health MRI

Mammography

Molecular Imaging

Cardiac Ultrasound

Oncology Ultrasound

Women's Health Ultrasound

Ultrasound

Orthopedic X-Ray

X-Ray

News

All News

Blogs

Media

Around the Practice 

Between the Lines

Image IQ

Medical World News

Podcasts

Rad-View

Videos

Conferences

Conference Coverage

Conference Listing

DI Executive

Resources

CME/CE

E-books

Education

Interactive Tool Kits

Partners

Subscribe

Diagnostic Imaging serves as the connection to Radiology, including groundbreaking Imaging news and interviews with top Radiologists in multimedia formats.

Advertise

About

Contact Us

Editorial

Editorial Board

Do Not Sell My Personal Information 

Privacy

Terms and Conditions

Diagnostic Imaging - Radiology News, Imaging Expert Insights

Facebook

LinkedIn

YouTube

Spotlight

RSNA

Disease Spotlight: Prostate Cancer

Rad-View: Generic Contrast Agents 

Rad View: PSMA PET Imaging Recommendations

Unlock AI-Powered Imaging

Image IQ Quiz

Topics

View More

1rem

Topic

In order to address the steep learning curve with abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Emily Conant, M.D., emphasized during 

the importance of radiologists working with technologists to bolster efficiency.

“MR can be a very profitable and very obviously important study but … it’s a team approach on how to do this efficiently. Get the IVs done by a whole other group outside of the room, not the technologists who are finishing scanning a prior patient. Make sure the patient understands the positioning and the need to be still, etc. Explain it all to her and be prompt in terms of getting her off the table when the (imaging) reconstructions are done,” advised Dr. Conant, a professor emeritus with the Department of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

“Have a team working on this. That is so important in an MR suite, particularly right now. I know we're backlogged, as I said, from post-COVID resurgence (of imaging volume), and we want to be efficient.”

Stamatia Destounis, M.D., emphasized the importance of more research on abbreviated breast MRI to elucidate and standardize the protocol, which would facilitate improved clarity with reimbursement.

“I think it’s really hard to understand where to go from here because we have such a variability within our global community on (abbreviated breast MRI),” added Dr. Destounis, the managing partner of Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in Rochester, N.Y., and the chair of the American College of Radiology’s Breast Imaging Commission

A driving focus of future research should be continuing to determine what patient populations will receive the most benefit from abbreviated breast MRI, according to Habib Rahbar, M.D. He noted 

 that improved imaging biomarkers may bolster risk stratification and suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially improve efficiency with abbreviated breast MRI.

“We're really at the precipice of getting to much more individualized, personalized screening and making sure we're applying the right technologies to the right women and decreasing not just mortality, but the morbidity associated with more aggressive treatments. There's so much going on in breast cancer care, and it's really exciting for imaging to be a big part of it,” added Dr. Rahbar, a professor and executive vice chair of radiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

(Editor’s note: For related content, see “

The Reading Room Podcast: Current and Emerging Insights on Abbreviated Breast MRI, Part 1

The Reading Room Podcast: Current and Emerging Insights on Abbreviated Breast MRI, Part 2

Abbreviated MRI and Contrast-Enhanced Mammography Provide Fourfold Higher Cancer Detection than Breast Ultrasound

For more insights from Dr. Destounis, Dr. Conant and Dr. Rahbar, listen below or 

In the last of a three-part podcast episode, Stamatia Destounis, MD, Emily Conant, MD and Habib Rahbar, MD, share additional insights on practical considerations and potential challenges in integrating abbreviated breast MRI into clinical practice, and offer their thoughts on future research directions.

The Reading Room Podcast: Current and Emerging Insights on Abbreviated Breast MRI, Part 3

As a neuroradiologist and a pilot, Emanuel Kanal, M.D., noted that one of the safety principles he learned from the aviation field and has applied with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) safety is the notion that an emergency situation is a statistical inevitability. Accordingly, one must have a proactive plan for addressing the emergency before it occurs, emphasized Dr. Kanal during a 

“ … What do you do when communication goes down and you're in the middle of a scan. Do you stop the scan? Do you complete the scan? What does the boots on the ground (person) do if they lost communication? What was the last command given? What was the last thing happening? Am I supposed to continue? That's a critical part of remote MR scanning and the standard operating procedure,” emphasized Dr. Kanal, chief of the Division of Emergency Radiology and director of Magnetic Resonance Services with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Noting the importance of defined roles and responsibilities with remote MRI safety, Tobias Gilk, MRSO, MRSE, rejected the commonly espoused platitude that MRI safety is everyone’s responsibility.

“No, it’s not. The notion that this is some kind of collective group project that we're all working on is one of the greatest disservices that we can do to MRI safety,” posits Gilk, the founder of Gilk Radiology Consultants, a senior vice president of RADIOLOGY-Planning, and a board member of the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (ABMRS).

Gilk maintained that proactive precision with individual scopes of responsibilities and checklists is critical to bolstering safety with remote MRI scanning.

“It is in the act of defining individual roles, duties, responsibilities, expectations, and crystalizing that that we begin to build workflows that don't have gaps,” noted Gilk.

The Reading Room Podcast: A Closer Look at Remote MRI Safety, Part 1

The Reading Room Podcast: A Closer Look at Remote MRI Safety, Part 2

MRI Safety: A Closer Look at Key Factors in Managing Radiofrequency Exposure

For more insights from Emanuel Kanal, MD and Tobias Gilk, MRSO, MRSE, listen below or 

In the third of a three-part podcast episode, Emanuel Kanal, M.D. and Tobias Gilk, MRSO, MRSE, discuss strategies for maintaining the integrity of time-out procedures and communication with remote MRI scanning.

The Reading Room Podcast: A Closer Look at Remote MRI Safety, Part 3

When one considers the variety of responsibilities of an on-site magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologist, Emanuel Kanal, M.D., noted in a 

 that the availability of a remote MRI technologist actually may enhance MRI safety.

“Who today is in charge of overseeing that adverse event? The technologist. … Who is responsible for screening the patient? The technologist. Who is responsible for injecting them? The technologist. Who is responsible for answering the phones? The technologist,” noted Dr. Kanal, the chief of the Division of Emergency Radiology and director of Magnetic Resonance Services with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

“ … In so many of our sites, the MR technologist is the only line of defense. They do everything. We hold them responsible for every single thing that has to do with safety in that environment. And for the first time, we just gave them an assistant.”

Tobias Gilk, MRSO, MRSE, added that clearly defined roles for the remote MRI technician and the on-site individual working with the patient may “reduce the frequency and severity” of adverse events.

“Whether it's an adverse reaction to contrast, whether it's a projectile event, whether it's a quench, in all of those situations, we're essentially in clean-up mode, right? I think one of the things that's really interesting is the potential that by actively managing patients and screening and the physical environment, as Dr. Kanal was describing, with specialization right, one individual is specialized to operating the scanner safely and effectively, and one individual is specialized in managing the environment and the individuals who operate within it,” noted Gilk, the founder of Gilk Radiology Consultants, a senior vice president of RADIOLOGY-Planning, and a board member of the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (ABMRS).

Essential Keys to MRI Safety in the Age of Advanced Diagnostics

For more insights from Emanuel Kanal, MD and Tobias Gilk, listen below or 

In the second of a multi-part podcast episode, Emanuel Kanal, M.D. and Tobias Gilk, MRSO, MRSE, share their perspectives on remote MRI safety protocols for ensuring screening accuracy and adherence to conditional implant guidelines as well as a rapid and effective response to adverse events. 

For breast cancer detection, Habib Rahbar, M.D., said it’s well established in the literature that vascular-based studies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) provide more optimal sensitivity in comparison to X-ray based or anatomic-based studies. During a recent 

, Dr. Rahbar noted tradeoffs between breast MRI and CEM.

“We know that CEM or contrast enhanced mammography is probably a little bit more specific than MRI (with a) little fewer false positives, but at a cost of a little bit of a sensitivity hit. That's probably due to the fact that the conspicuity of some of the lesions is not quite as dramatic on CEM,” maintained Dr. Rahbar, a professor and executive vice chair of radiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

“ … (For an additional breast cancer screening test), I still prefer MRI because I think it's the best tool that we have. But CEM and other contrast-based approaches have a real role too, because there could potentially be improved access and might be cheaper for us to implement in some areas as well.”

, Stamatia Destounis, M.D., noted that a standardized protocol for abbreviated breast MRI remains elusive. While Emily Conant, M.D., acknowledged studies that shows T2-weighted MRI impacts outcomes less than five percent of the time, all of the panelists emphasized the value of T2-weighted imaging for increasing the specificity of abbreviated breast MRI.

While emphasizing “remarkable” cancer detection with abbreviated breast MRI, standardized reimbursement will likely be the key driver for implementation, according to Dr. Conant, a professor emeritus with the Department of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. However, Dr. Destounis expressed concern that evaluation of abbreviated breast MRI for CPT coding may trigger a negative re-evaluation of full breast MRI.

“The concern is that this may turn out to be kind of a hit all across the board for many of us that have breast MRI practices in an outpatient, private setting. And I can tell you it's not a money maker. We're just breaking even because we don't get the high reimbursement from that full (breast MRI) protocol. So I think that there's some concern there about what a new CPT code may look like for us,” noted Dr. Destounis, the managing partner of Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in Rochester, New York, and chair of the American College of Radiology’s Breast Imaging Commission.

Possible Real-Time Adaptive Approach to Breast MRI Suggests ‘New Era’ of AI-Directed MRI

In the second part of a multi-part podcast episode, Stamatia Destounis, MD, Emily Conant, MD and Habib Rahbar, MD, discuss key sequences for abbreviated breast MRI and how it stacks up to other breast cancer screening modalities. 

While emphasizing the importance of site-specific standard operating procedures (SOPs) with remote magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) safety, Emanuel Kanal, M.D., said on a 

 that it is critical to define will be stepping into the shoes and role of the traditionally on-site MRI technologist.

“The most knowledgeable person about MR safety in general is the MR technologist. They're worth their weight in gold. They're the ones that that guard the site. They oversee the site. They protect the patient, health-care practitioners, the site itself and their interests. They're the most knowledgeable, almost across the board, and they've been removed from the site,” pointed out Dr. Kanal, chief of the Division of Emergency Radiology and director of Magnetic Resonance Services with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

“ … Now we’re facing the situation with the full remote operation clinical scanning … which is really going to necessitate that we figure out who that person is, what training or competencies we expect that person to have, how that new person plugs into a workflow, and as Dr. Kanal described, situational responsibility (and) situational authority in that environment,” added Tobias Gilk, the founder of Gilk Radiology Consultants, a senior vice president of RADIOLOGY-Planning, and a board member of the American Board of Magnetic Resonance Safety (ABMRS).

Dr. Kanal added that remote MRI scanning currently isn’t addressed in the Manual on MR Safety from the American College of Radiology (ACR). However, Dr. Kanal noted there will a section on remote MRI safety at the upcoming Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) conference (Nov. 30-Dec. 4, 2025) that he will be moderating as well as forthcoming announcements from the ABMRS.

FDA Clears Remote Scanning Software with MRI, CT and PET Capabilities

Kanal E. Divided liability remote MR scanning. 

In the first of a multi-part podcast episode, Emanuel Kanal, MD and Tobias Gilk share their insights and perspectives on remote MRI safety.

Pointing out that there has been a fair amount of “bloat” in many magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols over the years, Habib Rahbar, M.D., said in a 

 that abbreviated breast MRI represents a paradigm shift away from getting as many images as possible to paring down to the most essential sequences for review.

“ … Magnet time is increasingly important. MRI demands are extremely important. It's expensive. You know, time is money. Access to patients is really important. What we've learned is all those additional series probably aren't that valuable for the vast majority of patients, and that's really, overall, the overarching concept around abbreviated MRI to me,” noted Dr. Rahbar, a professor and executive vice chair of radiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Stamatia Destounis, M.D., the chair of the American College of Radiology’s Breast Imaging Commission, said she started utilizing abbreviated breast MRI in 2000, and has worked with colleagues over the years to reduce breast MRI exams from 27 minutes to 12 to 13 minutes.

“If you look at the multiple publications on abbreviated MR (with) some of them comparing even to full MR, the sensitivity is really pretty good, so I think there's a lot of room to skinny down our protocols to abbreviated or ultrafast (MRI), and still maintain our very good cancer detection rate,” added Emily Conant, M.D., a professor emeritus with the Department of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Dr. Destounis concurred, noting that abbreviated breast MRI provides more of an optimal balance of sensitivity for breast cancer detection and increased patient comfort.

“Hands down, if you can do it, (MRI is) the best test, whether it's abbreviated or full protocol, but everyone is more interested in the abbreviated protocol for patient comfort, and the ability for the patient to tolerate it,” emphasized Dr. Destounis, the Managing Partner of Elizabeth Wende Breast Care in Rochester, New York.

Study: Abbreviated Breast MRI Offers Equivalent Accuracy to mpMRI for Women with Dense Breasts

Can Abbreviated Breast MRI Have an Impact in Assessing Post-Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response?

In the first of a multi-part podcast episode, Stamatia Destounis, MD, Emily Conant, MD and Habib Rahbar, MD, share their insights on the role of abbreviated breast MRI in breast screening.

Expanded capabilities with the body composition analysis software include automated segmentation of over 140 muscles, skeletal and organ structures from a 15–20-minute MRI.

Springbok Analytics Unveils Rapid MRI-Derived Precision Body Composition Analysis

Offering prospective SNR calculation derived from prescribed slices, the SNR Calculator reportedly facilitates a higher degree of accuracy with quantitative SNR values beyond that of calculators from device manufacturers.

ScanLab Unveils New Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) Calculator for MRI

The AI-powered Tempus Pixel software update provides T1 and T2 inline maps to augment cardiac MRI assessment.

FDA Clears Updated AI Software for Generating Inline Mapping with Cardiac MRI

For HER2-positive breast cancer patients with radiologic complete response on breast MRI after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), the absence of calcifications was associated with over a 13 percent higher positive predictive value (PPV) for pathologic complete response (pCR).



Post-NAC Breast MRI Without Calcifications Associated with 65 Percent Higher Likelihood of Pathologic Complete Response

Circumferential aneurysm wall enhancement on MRI was associated with a 3.8-fold higher risk of intracranial aneurysm instability within a four-year period, according to a study involving over 1,350 patients.

Study Shows Viability of Enhanced 3T MRI for Predicting Intracranial Aneurysm Instability

Welcome to Diagnostic Imaging’s Weekly Scan, which offers an opportunity to catch up on the most well-viewed radiology content of the past week.

While there has been a fair amount of hype about whole-body MRI, a 

 found the modality had a pooled cancer detection rate of 1.57 percent in asymptomatic individuals. The meta-analysis authors also noted that many of the reviewed studies had incomplete data with respect to follow-up and diagnostic outcomes.

While maintaining that artificial intelligence (AI) for breast imaging is at an “infancy” stage, Zeeshan Shah, M.D., noted in a recent 

a pathway where AI has increased capability of pinpointing negative mammography exams

, enabling radiologists to spend significantly more time on cases that are more ambiguous and concerning.

In other breast imaging news, a new study published in the 

 compared AI software to radiologist interpretation for digital mammography (DM) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). The researchers found that 

AI offered comparable negative predictive value (NPV) but significantly higher recall rates and false positive results as well

In a cohort of over 8,700 current and former smokers, the authors of a new study in 

found that coronary artery calcium (CAC) scoring derived from non-gated low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans demonstrated significant capability for 

predicting long-term cardiovascular disease mortality up to 25 years

, pediatric cardiologist Takeshi Tsuda discussed 

integrated wall stress, a product of peak systolic wall stress (PS-WS) calculated with M-mode echocardiography as well as heart rate

. Citing recently published research, Dr. Tsuda said integrated wall stress could be a key marker of pre-clinical cardiomyopathy in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Catch up on the top radiology content of the past week.

Diagnostic Imaging’s Weekly Scan: August 31 — September 6

Diagnostic Imaging's Weekly Scan: August 31 — September 6

With the end of the summer upon us, we take a look back at the most well-viewed breast imaging content of the last three months for 

, researchers found that the addition of contrast-enhanced mammography to digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) more than doubled the cancer yield per 1,000 women in comparison to DBT alone.

In a three-part podcast this summer, leading breast radiologists discussed 

the role of abbreviated breast MRI in breast cancer screening

In August, Amy Patel, MD, discussed new research findings that revealed a 

45 percent higher likelihood of mammography screening among women with Medicaid in Missouri

 due to expanded mammography coverage in the state. Here is a clip from the interview.

 revealed that mammography detected 82 percent of pregnancy-associated breast cancer in a cohort of women with a high prevalence of extremely dense breasts.

recently published study involving over 68,000 women

, researchers found that White women may be 11 times more likely than Black women to be eligible for supplemental breast cancer screening coverage in Pennsylvania.

For more insights, watch the video below.

From emerging research on disparities in breast cancer screening to the promising combination of contrast-enhanced mammography with DBT and a three-part podcast on abbreviated breast MRI, here is a look back at the most well-reviewed breast imaging content of the summer.

Diagnostic Imaging’s Top Five Breast Imaging Content: Summer 2025 

’s review of the top breast imaging content for the summer of 2025.

Can portable low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have an impact in detecting amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIAs)?

In a study recently presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC), researchers assessed the use of portable low-field MRI (Swoop Portable MR Imaging system, Hyperfine) within one week of a corresponding clinical MRI exam for 31 people being treated with lecanemab (Leqembi, Eisai/Biogen) for Alzheimer’s disease.

The researchers found that low-field MRI demonstrated 100 percent sensitivity for mild and moderate ARIAs that were detected in 25.8 percent of the cohort.

“ … To our surprise, we found that actually all of the cases that had edema on the standard MRI, you could see the finding on that low field (MRI),” noted study co-author Tammie Benzinger, M.D., Ph.D., in a recent interview with 

. “What surprised me was, honestly, in some of the cases, you could see it better on the low field. I think that just has to do with the fact that low field is … a blurry image. It's not high resolution so an abnormality stands out a little bit more to the radiologist eye.”

Emphasizing that low-field MRI cannot detect microbleeds, Dr. Benzinger said the research shows the modality has potential for facilitating appropriate triage (for standard MRI examination) and safety monitoring.

For future research, Dr. Benzinger noted ongoing studies looking at the ease of use of portable low-field MRI in infusion center settings and the viability of more frequent monitoring with the modality. Another area of study is evaluation of low-field MRI in higher-risk patients, including those with the APOE ε4 allele (ApoE4), prior concussions or brain surgery.

“ … Those are all people that weren't allowed in clinical trials, but we're willing to think about treating them if we had more frequent monitoring.” added Dr. Benzinger, the Hugh Monroe Wilson Professor of Radiology and chief of the MRI service with theMallinckrodt Institute of Radiology and the Washington University School of Medicine.

“How can we achieve that? We think that this low-field (MRI) technology will do that. So again, assessing it for these higher risk patients to see if, with more frequent surveillance, can we extend this care to new groups of patients?”

Can Portable Low-Field MRI Facilitate Viable Triage and Health Equity for Patients with Suspected Alzheimer’s Disease?

Can Deep Learning Enhance Low-Field MRI for Multiple Sclerosis Assessment?

Study Says Low-Field MRI Offers Sufficient Diagnostic Quality for Detecting Spinal Pathology

For more insights from Dr. Benzinger, watch the video below.

In the second part of a recent interview, Tammie Benzinger, M.D., Ph.D., discusses recently presented research from the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) that showed the ability of portable low-field MRI to detect mild and moderate amyloid-related imaging abnormalities (ARIAs).

What New Research Reveals About Portable Low-Field MRI and Patients with Suspected Alzheimer’s Disease

 published research revealed that having PSMA PET/CT scans before salvage radiotherapy resulted 

in higher rates of survival and biomechanical recurrence-free survival at one, three and five years

neuroradiologist Tammie Benzinger discussed the utility of low-field MRI

 in facilitating appropriate triage and health equity for patients with suspected Alzheimer’s disease.

In a new digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) study published in the 

78 percent malignancy rate when DBT images showed a combination of architectural distortion with highly suspicious m

Reading Room Podcast on emerging trends in theranostics for prostate cancer

, Jeremie Calais, M.D., Ph.D., discussed the potential of alpha-emitting therapies. Here is a clip from the podcast.

510(k) clearance for the NeedleVue LC1 ultrasound system

. While traditional ultrasound guidance for interventional procedures can be thwarted by complex calibration and reduced sensitivity, the multidirectional design with the NeedleVue LC1 Ultrasound System reportedly allows high-fidelity tracking from a variety of orientations.

Diagnostic Imaging's Weekly Scan is your chance to catch up on the latest radiology content, from new research and device news to the latest interviews with key opinion leaders in the field of radiology.

Diagnostic Imaging's Weekly Scan: August 11 — August 17 (Video Version)

Catch up on the latest news, research and insights in radiology with our Weekly Scan.

Access to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facilities is a significant challenge for many patients with suspected Alzheimer’s disease who may be viable candidates for newer anti-amyloid therapies, noted Tammie Benzinger, M.D., Ph.D., in a recent 

While noting that she works within a network of facilities spread out over a five-hour driving radius, Dr. Benzinger said some patients may live two or three hours away from the closest facility.

In a recent interview, Tammie Benzinger, M.D., Ph.D., discussed the utility of portable low-field MRI to help identify patients in remote settings who may be viable candidates for subsequent MRI workup and consideration for new anti-amyloid therapies in treating Alzheimer’s disease.

Women's Health MRI

Latest News