May 30, 2008 If CT stumbles, blame Mom Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just as Old Faithful will gush like clockwork every hour on the hour, CT procedure volumes will grow year after year—or so I thought. Earlier this month, the Discovery Channel burst my bubble about Old Faithful, noting that the timing, length, and height of its eruptions vary from day to day, year to year. A scant few days after this geothermal epiphany, while…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 30, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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May 30, 2008 FDA considers national breast cancer ablation registry Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A national registry for thermal ablation treatment for breast cancer is under consideration by the FDA. The agency opened a six-month public comment period this week on the proposed registry, which would compile information on all thermal ablation devices and therapies for small carcinomas. The FDA is looking to determine if a registry…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 30, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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May 29, 2008 Thrall becomes American College of Radiology chair H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dr. James H. Thrall, radiologist-in-chief at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been chosen as the new chair of the American College of Radiology Board of Chancellors. He was appointed during the college's 2008 annual meeting in Washington, DC. Thrall, an ACR fellow and a professor of radiology at Harvard University, had just finished an…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 29, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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May 28, 2008 One-year mammographic follow-up recommendations fall short Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Short-interval follow-up is most often suggested for women whose diagnostic mammograms are flagged as probably benign. But this second look at 12 months has a low sensitivity for detecting cancer, according to a study in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Erin Aiello Bowles and colleagues at several U.S. institutions evaluated…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 28, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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May 27, 2008 Study recommends standardized image reject methodology Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Digital radiography systems are in common use for medical imaging, yet few studies have examined computed radiography quality performance in terms of reject rates. This lack is due primarily to difficulty in obtaining the data required to calculate reject statistics. "This problem has been further compounded by the lack of software…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 27, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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May 26, 2008 Optic nerve sonography reliably indicates intracranial pressure Wendy Despain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultrasound measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter can gauge intracranial pressure in patients who cannot tolerate invasive assessments. Sonography has proved useful in brain-injured pediatric patients, and a recent study confirmed that optic nerve sheath diameter correlates with intracranial pressure in adults with brain…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 26, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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May 23, 2008 Regulation: the case for global harmony Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Congress is scared. It should be. In deference to a global economy, U.S. safety regulators have allowed in tainted pet food, medical supplies, toothpaste, and toys. Now Congress is getting tough. Unfortunately, it's planning a solution that has a much simpler fix. Legislators are considering legislation, the FDA Globalization Act of 2008, which…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 23, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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May 23, 2008 Fallen MRI pioneer’s legacy shines beyond the world of science H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When physicist and inventor Herman Yaggi Carr, Ph.D., died, his survivors remembered him in two ways: First and foremost, as a staunch pacifist and humanist. Second, as the unsung hero of MRI. Carr believed wholeheartedly in serendipity, humility, and world peace, said his daughter, Amanda C. Sozer, Ph.D. In a curious stroke of…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 23, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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May 23, 2008 Angio embolization staunches GI hemorrhage when surgery fails Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Angiographic embolization is deployed routinely for colonic hemorrhage and hemobilia, but it has received limited attention for treating upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding. An international group of surgeons and radiologists evaluated the safety and efficacy of angiographic embolization for GI hemorrhage and found that it can…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 23, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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May 21, 2008 CMS commences national coverage analysis for CT colonography Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is now accepting public comments on national coverage for CT colonography. Comments will be accepted through June 18, 2008, at the CMS web site. Currently, Medicare does not list CTC as a possible coverage option under the colorectal cancer screening benefit. But the inclusion of CTC…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 21, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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May 20, 2008 Multislice CT pops the cork noninvasively Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It may be too soon for a television series called "CSI: Radiology," but multislice CT technology is finding uses beyond the realms of clinical or even forensic medicine. Swiss researchers have devised a way to detect smuggled dissolved cocaine using MSCT scanners (AJR:190, May 2008). Smuggled dissolved drugs, particularly cocaine, in bottled…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 20, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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May 20, 2008 Long Island radiology group files antitrust lawsuit against CareCore National H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jericho Specialty Imaging, an imaging facility based in New Hyde Park, NY, has filed an antitrust complaint against CareCore National, a radiology management service company that contracts with major health maintenance organizations. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of accusations of unfair competition by…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 20, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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May 20, 2008 Debate over who controls PACS, IT or radiology, spices SIIM meeting John C. Hayes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In truth, the choices may not be all that stark, but there remains a debate over who controls the PACS — radiology or IT — and it was played out Saturday between two able advocates. Much of what is considered PACS today is already under control of the IT department, said Dr. Paul Chang of the University of Chicago.…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 20, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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May 20, 2008 ACR, ARRS seek partnership, possible merger H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The American College of Radiology and the American Roentgen Ray Society are looking into collaborative efforts, possibly including a merger, according to ACR officials. The potential relationship would seek to leverage the best services and offerings from both organizations to better meet the needs of radiologists and medical physicists,…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 20, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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May 19, 2008 Canadian agency pulls plug on molybdenum reactors James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atomic Energy Canada has halted development work on twin reactors at Chalk River, ON. They were the planned successors for an aging research nuclear reactor that is the source of molybdenum-99 isotope used in 19 million nuclear medicine imaging procedures annually. Atomic Energy Canada (AECL) announced May 16 that work on the reactors would…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 19, 2008 at 10:30pm —
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May 19, 2008 CAD helps spot smaller cancers but may not change detection rate John C. Hayes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer-aided detection will probably help radiologists detect small cancers earlier but will not increase the cancer detection rate, according to a CAD expert. Yulei Jiang, Ph.D., of the University of Chicago, a leading CAD research center, presented the results of an analysis of multiple trials that have examined the…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 19, 2008 at 10:30pm —
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May 19, 2008 Brit Systems unveils PACS bundles, remote reading services Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brit Systems reached out to imaging centers, clinics, and offices at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting with PACS bundles. The company also unveiled a package to support outsourced radiology reading services. The PACS bundles feature "right-sized" configurations designed for operations with restricted budgets…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 19, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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May 19, 2008 Ultrasound elastography quickly identifies malignant thyroid nodules Wendy Despain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ultrasound elastography provides an accurate diagnosis for malignant thyroid nodules about eight out of 10 times, according to Italian researchers. Elastography has previously shown promise in the diagnosis of breast and prostate cancers. Dr. Carmela Asteria and colleagues at the Policlinico MultiMedica, IRCCS, in Milan…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 19, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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May 19, 2008 Siemens showcases TrueD, PACS Greg Freiherr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Siemens Healthcare in its booth highlighted syngo TrueD, a multimodality application for oncology. TrueD registers data sets obtained using PET/CT, SPECT/CT, CT, and MR, allowing exams of patients scanned at different times — before and after therapy, for instance — to be compared. Differences found in these comparisons may inform decisions about whether to…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 19, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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May 19, 2008 Report from MDCT: Morphology sorts out benign and malignant lesions in pancreas Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cystic lesions of the pancreas tend to be a phenomenon of aging. By and large, these lesions are benign, but sorting out the small number that have potential for malignancy is important. Dr. R. Brooke Jeffrey, chief of abdominal imaging at Stanford University, shared his approach to incidental small pancreatic…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on May 19, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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