July 31, 2008 Whole-body PET/CT and 3T MR perform equally well for lung cancer staging Don Rauf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No clear winner has emerged in a head-to-head comparison of whole-body FDG-PET/CT and whole-body 3T MRI for non-small cell lung cancer staging. Unenhanced PET/CT proved better for detecting metastatic lymph nodes and soft-tissue involvement, while MR was more sensitive to the presence of brain and liver metastases.…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 31, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 31, 2008 Radiologists bemoan limited access to patient data Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lack of pertinent clinical patient data is a critical element limiting the accuracy of radiologic interpretation. A recent paper addresses radiologists' perceived need for additional clinical patient data, both at the time of interpretation and in follow-up of imaging examinations (J Digit Imaging 2008 May 6 [Epub ahead of print]).…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 31, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 31, 2008 Nailing budgets and equipment in tough times Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In uncertain economic times, there is always one sure thing. Prices are more likely to fall than rise. The bulls pull in their horns. Conservatism wins the day. And budgets usually—but not always— drop. Results from a survey by the medical information division of market research firm IMV, however, indicate that hospitals with fewer than 200…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 31, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 30, 2008 Proponents praise radiopharmaceutical reimbursement overhaul, with caveats H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bexxar and Zevalin have become the poster children of inadequate reimbursement for radiopharmaceuticals. Despite recent Congressional action to freeze their payment rates until January 2010, advocates for these radioimmunotherapic agents say more should be done to support the application of these clinically…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 30, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 29, 2008 MRI zeroes in on medial meniscal tears H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Studies from Korea and the U.S. show that MR imaging of the knee is a reliable and accurate test for the detection of specific subtypes of medial meniscal tears. Good understanding of MR-depicted anatomic features helps identify false-positive injuries of the menisci and avoid unnecessary surgeries. Radial tears are a common type of medial meniscal…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 29, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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July 28, 2008 ACR wins contract to accredit government radiation oncology facilities From the American College of Radiology -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a three-year contract to the American College of Radiology to serve as the accrediting organization for 33 VA hospital radiation oncology facilities across the country. The purpose of accreditation is to set quality practice standards and…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 28, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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July 25, 2008 Ultrasound serves as eyes of robotic surgery Richard Merritt Duke University Office of News & Communications -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Robotic tools that could one day perform surgery on battlefields, in space, and at remote locations with minimal human guidance use 3D ultrasound as a key component. Engineers at Duke University call the results of feasibility studies conducted in their laboratory the first concrete steps…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 25, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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July 24, 2008 Contrast-induced nephropathy fears ease H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ten years of clinical data from more than 30,000 patients suggest the estimated risk of sustaining renal damage from iodinated contrast media may have been blown out of proportion, according to Columbia University researchers. With proper scientific validation, contrast may be used even in patients with renal failure. Iodinated contrast agents used…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 24, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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July 23, 2008 MRI breast cancer staging proves benefits, shortcomings H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A metastudy by Australian and European researchers indicates that MR staging identifies additional disease in nearly one of five women previously diagnosed with breast cancer. It also suggests that women may undergo more extensive surgeries than originally planned because of false-positive MR findings. Evidence of MRI's value as an…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 23, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 22, 2008 CT radiation causes implanted devices to malfunction James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The FDA cautioned healthcare CT users July 16 that ionized radiation generated during CT exams may cause some implanted and external electronic medical devices to malfunction. Though rare, the incidence of radiation-induced pacemaker and implantable device malfunction has risen with increased multislice CT use, said Dr. Daniel G.…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 22, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 21, 2008 NetMeeting software enhances collaboration with oncologists Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A new use for an old tool has been enlisted to ameliorate some collaboration difficulties. Researchers in the U.K. have adopted Microsoft's NetMeeting, along with a commercial virtual simulation package called ProSoma (Oncology Systems Limited, Shrewsbury), to provide closer collaboration between radiologists and oncologists in…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 21, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 21, 2008 GAO recommends preauthorization to slow explosive Medicare imaging growth H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the chagrin of imaging advocates, a Government Accountability Office study has found that preauthorization may be best way for Medicare to slow the rapid growth of outpatient MR, CT, and other high-tech imaging services. The June 2008 report confirmed findings of a 2005 Medicare Payment Advisory Commission study…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 21, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 17, 2008 Proponents hail passage of Medicare bill as triumph for physicians, patients H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A showdown between President Bush and Congress over Medicare physician payments concluded Tuesday when the House and Senate overrode the president's veto of HR 6331. The aftermath brings relief to physicians until 2009 and could have significant long-term implications for radiologists and imaging practice. The…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 17, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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July 17, 2008 Dawn of the Tera Era Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was only a few years after I had bought my first desktop computer in 1983 — a dual floppy with RAM so low I can no longer remember its size — that I watched my next- door neighbor install a memory card on the motherboard of his new PC. This top-of-the-line system had a hard drive with half a megabyte of storage. But the memory card that cost $750 held twice that…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 17, 2008 at 9:30pm —
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July 16, 2008 Palpation fails to reduce breast cancer mortality H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Experience compiled from nearly half a million women suggests that breast self-examination has a negligible effect in reducing breast cancer-related deaths. The practice may even be putting an unnecessary strain on breast care resources, according to researchers in Denmark. Reputed medical institutions as well as patient advocacy groups…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 16, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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July 16, 2008 iTunes plays radiology storage management song Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One of the hidden powers of iTunes is its ability to organize and manage portable document format files as conveniently and efficiently as it does music files, according to researchers in China. PDFs are widely used as a standard file format for electronic publications as well as for online medical documents. "Unfortunately, there is a lack…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 16, 2008 at 10:00pm —
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July 15, 2008 Fewer students take ARRT exam Yomi Wrong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The number of students taking radiography and radiation therapy examinations for the first time slowed in 2007, signaling that educational programs are scaling back admissions and the pool of qualified technologists is meeting practice demand. Only nuclear medicine saw a sharp increase — 17.1 % over 2006 — although those numbers too are expected to decline,…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 15, 2008 at 1:00am —
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July 15, 2008 Congress overrides White House veto of physician payment bill H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- President Bush vetoed the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 Tuesday, giving the green light to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to start processing physician payment claims with a 10.6% cut. But backers of the legislation rapidly orchestrated a response in the House and Senate to…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 15, 2008 at 1:00am —
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July 14, 2008 Use of nighthawk services fails to match expectations Yomi Wrong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contrary to concerns about teleradiology encroachment, a Yale University survey finds that use of external after-hours services accounts for a small percentage of radiology practices' total interpretations. Interpretation by foreign-trained radiologists is not widespread. The survey, published in the June issue of the Journal of the…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 14, 2008 at 1:30am —
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July 11, 2008 White House makes moves to veto Medicare physician payment bill James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- White House officials urged Republican senators Friday to reverse their support of a Senate bill that would set aside an impending 10.6% physician payment cut from Medicare, allowing President Bush to veto the legislation. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (HR 6331) passed the Senate July 9 by a…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on July 11, 2008 at 1:30am —
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