May 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Columnist explores impact of healthcare reform on your practice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The phrase "thinking outside of the box" has been used enough that it has become a cliché. But it still manages to convey some meaning, and we've got a good example of such thinking in this issue. Kirk Reinitz, who contributes occasional practice management articles for us, has tackled the topic of healthcare reform and…
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May 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Coding sphinxes rain down curses New regulations rule out common sense in overzealous attempt to rein in overutilization BY ERIC TREFELNER, M.D. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Dr. Zahi Hawass, we are so thrilled that, as Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt, you have chosen our ultrahigh-tech CT scanner to look inside King Tut for new clues. Our CT tech Dave, just back from…
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May 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Case of the Month -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLINICAL HISTORY A 58-year-old man with a chief complaint of diarrhea underwent radiographic examination of the chest and abdomen. FINDINGS Figure 1. Numerous well-defined, bilateral, ovoid sclerotic foci within the epiphysis and metaphysis of the proximal femurs and within the acetabulum. Figure 2. Multiple well-defined, bilateral, ovoid, sclerotic foci within the…
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May 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. CAD provides value in spotting difficult 'flat' colonic lesions Ability of sensitivity and filter settings to increase likelihood of finding subtle cancer must be balanced against greater number of false positives John C. Hayes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer-aided detection may have a role in helping radiologists spot hard-to-find flat lesions on CT colonography, according to a pair of studies presented…
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May 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. CAD gains ground on pulmonary embolism H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Computer-aided detection may lend an extra punch to the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism with multislice and dual-energy CT scanners. Studies by French and German researchers have shown it helps detect small, hard-to-spot clots lodged in the lungs' periphery. Multislice CT angiography has become the diagnostic standard in pulmonary…
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May 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Brain stays cool as jazz man jams -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the listener, jazz improvisation is an aural flight of fancy, borne aloft by a musician's on-the-spot skill and imagination. But functional MRI results show the brain actually follows a grounded process of activation and deactivation during these spontaneous musical riffs, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Johns…
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May 1, 2008 Added padding: One solution to patient comfort Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A couple of days ago I was in the zone. Shawna's surgical mask hid her face, but I knew she was smiling. My banter was enough to make her laugh out loud a few times, so much that she paused while laying out the stainless steel instruments that soon would be probing the all too deep pockets between my teeth and gums. To say a trip to the…
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May 1, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. 64-slice CT shows value for assessment of the right heart -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The enhanced spatial resolution and speed afforded by 64-slice CT scanning allows accurate assessment of right ventricular function, according to studies from China and the U.S. released at the 2008 European Congress of Radiology meeting. Dr. Ying-kun Guo and colleagues at the West China Hospital in Chengdu looked at 48…
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April 30, 2008 Young Investigator Awards add luster to MRI’s scientific stars James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sophisticated pulse sequence developments and practical applications for diffusion imaging dominated the work of finalists selected for the ISMRM's 2008 Young Investigator Awards. The number of applications doubled this year, said Debiao Li, Ph.D., chair of the Young Investigator Award committee. Forty-four applications were…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 30, 2008 at 8:30pm —
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April 30, 2008 Diagnostic Imaging. Imaging unveils internal secrets of drug traffickers Emergency departments increasingly must deal with side effects of intestinal concealment of illicit drugs BY SABINE SCHMIDT, M.D., PIERRE SCHNYDER, M.D., AND JEAN-YVES MEUWLY, M.D. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The proliferation of narcotics use over the past decades has been accompanied by a rise in drug smuggling. Meticulous vigilance by international…
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April 30, 2008 Demand for MR scanners slumps in 2007 Greg Freiherr -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Despite expanding clinical applications driven by functional and breast imaging, MR scanners are stuck in a sales doldrums. Vendors last year sold about 850 new units to customers in the U.S., about 7% less than the year before. Their sale produced $1.3 billion in revenue, about 4% less than in 2006. Sales turned up in the fourth quarter last year,…
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April 30, 2008 Brain imaging study uncovers neurophysiology of drunken behavior Todd Bensen Society for Neuroscience -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New brain imaging research shows that social drinkers experience decreased sensitivity in brain regions involved in detecting threats and increased activity in regions involved in reward after consuming alcohol. The first human brain imaging study of alcohol's effect on the response of neuronal…
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April 29, 2008 Intensity-modulated breast therapy approach reduces radiation-induced dermatitis Shalmali Pal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Preventing adverse skin reactions during breast radiotherapy is a challenge. Attempts to address the problem with topical creams or hygiene have been unsuccessful. Instead, Canadian researchers have gone back to the source of the problem and found that using intensity-modulated radiation therapy can reduce…
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April 28, 2008 Lung ultrasound quickly spots acute respiratory failure Wendy Despain -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Specific lung ultrasound signs reliably indicate common causes of acute respiratory failure and rapidly differentiate it from similar diseases. More than 90% of patients admitted to university teaching hospital intensive care units with trouble breathing could have been easily diagnosed with lung ultrasound. Drs. Daniel A.…
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April 28, 2008 Faulty research methods raise questions about cancer trials Emily Caldwell Ohio State University Medical Center Communications -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A review covering 75 group-randomized cancer trials over a five-year period indicates that fewer than half of the studies used appropriate statistical methods to analyze the results. It suggests that some trials may have reported that interventions to prevent disease or…
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April 25, 2008 Multislice CT and D-dimer test detect pulmonary embolism without ultrasound James Brice -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Venous ultrasonography may be an extraneous step in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. A D-dimer test performed with multislice CT scan is no less sensitive than the two tests performed in combination with venous ultrasound of the leg, according to a study from Switzerland. Accepted diagnostic methods to detect…
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April 24, 2008 Novel teleradiology system allows simultaneous collaboration Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- University researchers have devised a unique 3D teleradiology viewer that allows remote radiologists to collaborate simultaneously using the same image. "This technology provides sophisticated image analysis features, enabling seamless collaboration across remote locations without any proprietary hardware and software," said…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 24, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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April 24, 2008 CT colonography CAD trial could quicken regulatory approval H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A clinical study to determine computer-aided detection's value to CT colonography could save manufacturers time and money by speeding up the regulatory approval process. If proven successful, the approach could save thousands of lives each year by enhancing early colorectal cancer detection. ACR Image Metrix, the American…
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April 23, 2008 Pittsburgh Compound B offers early proof of Alzheimer’s Yomi Wrong -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Though University of Pittsburgh Alzheimer's disease researchers believed it all along, groundbreaking research now confirms that Pittsburgh Compound B binds to the beta-amyloid deposits found in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's. The finding is a major step toward an early, definitive diagnosis of the memory-stealing disease in…
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Added by Diagnostic Imaging on April 23, 2008 at 9:00pm —
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April 23, 2008 Paper debunks SIIM certification myths Douglas Page -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So many myths have grown up around the Certified Imaging Informatics Professional process established last year by the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine that one paper has already appeared debunking the most flagrant. "Although the majority of information heard about the CIIP process is accurate, a number of myths have arisen in recent web…
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