August 2017 Blog Posts (12)

Six months after his death, pathologists determined Jordan Parsons to be the first MMA fighter to suffer from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Parsons wasn’t an outlier; many boxers and mixed martial arts fighters sustain long-term brain injuries, which can result in behavioral and personality changes. Although CTE develops over years after repeated injuries, a new…

Radiologists should carefully consider the reasons why they’re injecting gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) before administering the drug, suggests a new study. According to researchers at Case Western University, physicians should evaluate a series of…

Researchers at Case Western University are making MRI multicolored as a way to conduct more comprehensive and precise disease diagnosis. Introduced by Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield in the 1980s, and considered “one of the greatest medical breakthroughs of the 20th century,” MRI traditionally uses one single contrast agent to illuminate images in the brain. This new…

Reading something we don’t understand happens more often than we’d like. Reports laden with confusing and complicated language are challenging to get through, and when MRI and CT scan interpretations are written with dense and disconcerting terminology, it can be challenging to then relay that information to patients. This is particularly true for cancer cases.…

Working on the weekends has become the norm for many physicians, and burnout rates have skyrocketed across many specialties. For radiologists, increased expectations and reimbursement policies are just a few of the main stressors that contribute to burnout. A new article…

Approximately 40,000 years ago, early homo sapiens in Europe interbred with Neanderthals. Remarkably, Neanderthal DNA remains present in humans today, and has influenced co-localized cranial and brain morphology, according to a recent study published in Nature.



Researchers at…

Researchers from IBM and the University of Alberta have collaborated to bring new AI technology that can predict symptoms of schizophrenia with 74 percent accuracy. With their findings recently published in Schizophrenia, the researchers monitored activity in different regions of the brain to determine the severity of individual symptoms.…

There’s room for improvement when it comes to radiologist-referrer communication — according to a new study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Eugene Won, MD, and Andrew B. Rosenkranz used New York University Langone Medical Center’s electronic medical records to…

Kimberly MM Isakov didn’t always want to become a physician. During her formative years, she pursued chemistry, cinema studies, and engineering. Her interests led her to the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, where her love of visual art propelled her to pivot her career toward medicine. This summer, she graduated from the Yale School of…

In preparation for an MRI, a patient is usually injected with a gadolinium contrast media, a substance that aids in illuminating certain features in the brain. Although the agent is generally considered safe for most, it can result in serious adverse side effects for young children and people with weak kidneys. A new…

Stanford Medicine is turning neuroimaging into a virtual reality game. The teaching hospital has developed a new software system that uses MRIs, CT scans, and angiograms to project a 3D model that physicians and patients can interact with.



The Virtual Reality system functions as both an educational and clinical tool for physicians, surgeons, and patients. Through…

Last month, Baltimore Ravens offensive lineman John Urschel announced his retirement from the NFL. His decision came after the release of a study that found all football players demonstrate signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease. Although the dangers of concussions have been a heavily discussed topic for the last several years, we…