April 30, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Brain and spine imaging benefit from increased field strength Jump in resolution and acquisition speed from 1.5T to 3T allows precise measurement of neurotransmitter concentrations Karen Sandrick -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neuroimaging with MRI at 3T is superior for nearly every application in the brain and spine, and it is certainly inferior for none. The technique has unique strengths for performing…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 30, 2009 at 8:00pm —
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April 30, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Best practice guidelines earn praise, criticism from radiology benefit managers By H.A. Abella A white paper on imaging preauthorization guidelines produced by the American College of Radiology and the Radiology Business Management Association has drawn mixed reactions, particularly among radiology benefit managers. The benefit managers agree that management programs may lack consistency and add costs. But they also worry the guidelines may weaken efforts to…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 30, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 29, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Breast cancer risk in young women suggests need for early monitoring By Rebekah Moan An MRI study of risk factors for breast cancer in young women, including teenagers, concluded that risk assessment and prevention should start much earlier in life than previously recommended. The Canadian study suggests using imaging techniques that avoid patient exposure to ionizing radiation. Researchers have known for years that mammographic density is a significant risk…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 29, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 28, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Whole-body CT bolsters survival hopes of polytrauma patients By H.A. Abella Seriously injured patients have a better chance of surviving multiple trauma when they are evaluated in the emergency room with whole-body CT, according to a study of more than 4500 cases from Germany. The number of early trauma centers that have added whole-body CT to their protocols is increasing worldwide. But little published evidence documents the procedure's impact on polytrauma…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 28, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 27, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Mistrust, costs reduce breast cancer screening among minorities By H.A. Abella Distrust of healthcare providers, cultural barriers, lack of information about the benefits of screening, or simply the need to cut corners might all contribute to the levels of compliance for breast cancer screening among minorities, including African American, Hispanic, and lesbian/bisexual women, recent studies show. In one of the studies, Michigan State University researchers…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 27, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 24, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Insurer wants boost for primary care at imaging’s expense By H.A. Abella The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association has recommended boosting payments to primary care physicians and paying for them with cuts to imaging services. The suggestion came during a congressional hearing on healthcare reform held by the Senate Finance Committee. Imaging proponents say they will challenge any proposal lacking evidence to support it. "To attain the goal of having everyone…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 24, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 23, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Criminal investigators search Siemens office By Greg Freiherr Investigators from the U.S. Department of Defense executed a search warrant April 22 at the Malvern, PA, office of Siemens Medical Solutions USA, seeking evidence of wrongdoing associated with a government contract between the DoD and Siemens. The search focused on a single floor of one building on the Malvern campus, according to spokesperson Lance Longwell. Information about the specific contract…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 23, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 23, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Zerhouni returns to Johns Hopkins University By H.A. Abella Dr. Elias Zerhouni, the first board-certified radiologist to serve as chief of the National Institutes of Health, will rejoin Johns Hopkins University as a senior adviser to the $4 billion Hopkins Medicine institution after a six-and-a-half year stint at the NIH. He will focus on academic medicine innovation. "With a new administration in Washington, a global economic downturn, and anticipated reforms…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 23, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 22, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. ACRIN sets sights on noncancer imaging research By H.A. Abella The American College of Radiology Imaging Network will expand its research scope beyond cancer to add applications that advance clinical care in areas such as neuro and cardiovascular imaging. ACRIN started its first noncancer imaging research in 2006 by creating the Cardiovascular Committee with funding provided by the ACR and corporate donors. In the same year, it also launched a multicenter…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 22, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 21, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Drug-eluting stents boost survival in patients with coronary stenosis By H.A. Abella Coronary artery stenosis patients age 65 and older have better survival chances when they are treated with drug-coated stents than with bare metal stents, according to findings of a study involving more than a quarter million Medicare recipients. The study, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the American College of Cardiology, is the largest to…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 21, 2009 at 7:30am —
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April 17, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Frequent CT surveillance of endovascular aneurysm repair may be unjustified By H.A. Abella More than eight years of data from nearly 500 patients suggest that frequent monitoring with CT to look for complications after endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms is unnecessary and that it could be done instead with ultrasound. While open surgery remains the standard of care for patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm, studies establishing the comparative…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 17, 2009 at 1:00pm —
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April 16, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Laser ablation plus MR thermometry boosts survival rate for cancer patients By Rebekah Moan Colorectal cancer patients are known to survive longer if their liver metastases are removed. New research shows one method for killing cancer cells -- laser ablation guided by MR thermometry -- is safe and effective and leads to a better survival than other methods. If liver metastases from colorectal cancer cannot be removed surgically, other options include laser…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 16, 2009 at 1:00pm —
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April 15, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Report from ISMRM: Organizers emphasize clinical themes By James Brice Innovation has always been the name of the game for the annual meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. The 17th annual meeting beginning Saturday in Honolulu again showcases MRI science in action. But for this meeting, organizers added new features emphasizing MRI's clinical applications and capitalizing on new communications technologies to encourage…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 15, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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April 14, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Radiology’s shine fades a bit among medical students By H.A. Abella Radiology may no longer be the fairest of all the possible specialty choices for U.S. medical school seniors, according to results of the 2009 National Residency Matching Program. Still, it remains within the top 10 most popular medical specialties. Radiology was the fifth most popular specialty back in 2007 among U.S. senior med students who participated in the NRMP program. By 2009, the…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 14, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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April 13, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. CT use in pregnant women skyrockets at Rhode Island hospital By Rebekah Moan The CT imaging rate for pregnant women at two hospitals affiliated with Brown University's medical school grew at an explosive 25.3% annual rate from 1997 and 2006, while medical imaging involving ionizing radiation for this population more than doubled. A study that in appeared in March on the online edition of Radiology raised concern among radiologists who have suspected that…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 13, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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April 10, 2009 Easter Bunny appears in vascular ultrasound exam By James Brice Dr. Greg Rose has uncovered radiological proof that the Easter Bunny is more than a figment of the popular imagination. Mr. Bunny appeared while Rose, a radiologist and CEO of NightRays, was performing early morning preliminary readings via teleradiology on Feb. 21 for Clear Lake Regional Medical Center in Webster, TX. The medium of choice for the appearance was a vascular ultrasound study performed on a 36-year-old…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 10, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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April 8, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. CT reveals Queen Nefertiti’s nose job By Rebekah Moan Plastic surgery may have some early roots. German physicians have scanned the bust of Queen Nefertiti of Egypt with CT, showing marked differences between an inner core -- that more accurately depicts the queen -- and the outer layer where her nose bump is smoothed and her wrinkles are erased. …
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 8, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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April 7, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Report from HIMSS: Laptops and mobile communications devices create security nightmare By Greg Freiherr Procedures to ensure patient privacy don't do much if the patient data end up on portable electronics. This happens more commonly than might be expected, according to a survey reported at the 2009 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society meeting in Chicago. Credant Technologies, a Dallas-based firm specializing in data protection solutions,…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 7, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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April 6, 2009 Medicare approves coverage of FDG-PET for 11 cancers By H.A. Abella The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has opened a new chapter in the practice of positron emission tomography with the announcement for a national Medicare payment policy that expands coverage of PET scans in the initial treatment strategy of most solid cancers and for myeloma. Nuclear physicians immediately praised the long awaited decision. According to the decision memo published April 3, CMS will…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 6, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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April 6, 2009 Diagnostic Imaging. Broader Medicare PET coverage promises to cut costs, streamline patient management By H.A. Abella Nuclear physicians praised the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' decision to expand Medicare coverage of PET scans in the initial treatment strategy of most solid cancers and myeloma. More than a third of Medicare patients will now be able to get PET scans without going through the National Oncologic PET Registry. "The vast majority of Medicare patients…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 6, 2009 at 1:30pm —
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