Known globally, the French firm Quantel Medical SAS (Lumibird Group subsidiary) specialises in solid-state and fibre technology lasers and ultrasound systems ‘with a strong emphasis on research and development resulting in many first-to-market product introductions and OEM solutions,’ the company reports. This year, the firm is showing a new range of Point-of-Care ultrasound – EvoTouch and…
Although traditionally an imaging modality, ultrasound also has applications as a measurement tool. An innovative application is to assess ear infections. Otitis Media (OM), a middle ear infection, is the number one indication for antibiotic prescriptions for children and the leading cause for surgery. This problem is global. Nearly every child will suffer at least one middle ear infection severe…
Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has proved in trials to be more accurate than computed tomography and MRI and can help eliminate the need for unnecessary biopsies and surgery. Led by Dr Richard Barr, Professor of Radiology at Northeast Ohio Medical University, the team has been using CEUS since 1999 and, for the specific study, focused on 721 patients referred for contrast-enhanced ultrasound…
Engineers have developed a new high-quality ultrasound transducer that could dramatically lower the cost of ultrasound systems. The innovation – created by a team from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada – is portable, wearable and can potentially be powered by a smartphone and the study team feel it will have benefits for making ultrasound more widely available,…
Growth! New hardware, new software, richer imaging, enhanced communication and image transfer plus artificial intelligence (AI) are all pushing the pace that medical organisations, radiologists and device manufacturers must run to keep up. We spoke with Dr Erik Ranschaert, Vice-President of EuSOMII, about today’s changing face of radiology. Alongside exceptional advances affecting radiologists,…
The new 1.5 Tesla MRI from Siemens Healthineers, Magnetom Sola, is packed with helpful algorithms and other functions. AI-supported systems monitor patients and scan parameters and ensure consistent image quality. Whilst visitors at this year’s ECR-Expo admired the new device, Prof. Ulrike Attenberger has already tested it in practice. The Vice Chair at the Institute of Clinical Radiology and…
'Image Computing, including image analysis, artificial intelligence, artificial neural networks und deep learning, is starting a revolution,’ says Dr Paul Suetens, professor of Medical Imaging and Image Processing at University Hospital Leuven. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not new – research in this field was carried out as far back as the 1950s – but, whilst in the early days AI learnt…
FUJIFILM SonoSite has recently become an Official Supplier of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship (BSB), providing point-of-care ultrasound systems to support the first-class care of riders and teams competing in the championship. The company’s robust and highly portable ultrasound systems will provide the BSB medical team with on-site imaging capabilities, complementing clinical…
Tomosynthesis is under international review, with a surprising number of enticing studies carried out in Northern European countries, among them one headed by Professor Sophia Zackrisson at Lund University, Sweden. In our interview, she not only revealed surprising trial results, but also shared her thoughts on practical implementation and unusual speed-reading methods. ‘Our institute’s…
One of the challenges for every echocardiography lab is the technically difficult patient. Conventionally, labs use contrast agents to enhance endocardial border visualization. The application of contrast agents increases the exam time, resources and costs. Additionally, the use of contrast turns a previously non-invasive exam into an invasive procedure. Hitachi Healthcare has now developed a…
Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is an increasingly important guiding tool for structural heart disease interventions – without general anaesthesia. José Ribeiro, who works in the thorax and circulation unit at Gaia Hospital Centre, Portugal, who has worked with this technology for the past two years, explained its benefits and limitations.
Experts outlined approaches to ischaemia imaging during the recent British Cardiovascular Society conference. In a ‘Detection of ischaemia by cardiac imaging in 2018’ session, comparisons were made between solid state SPECT cameras, whether spatial resolution or visual assessment was of the greater importance, if CT-FFR offered advantages over CT perfusion, and the challenges in defining a…
Intervention in ventricular arrhythmia has improved dramatically over the past three decades thanks to advances in imaging and cooperation between cardiology and radiology, according to Professor Josep Brugada MD, director of the paediatric arrhythmia unit at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona. ‘Echocardiography, CT and MRI, combined with cardiology,’ he said, ‘have revolutionised the…
Hologic’s new Viera portable breast ultrasound system is now available for purchase in the U.S. and Europe. Delivering exceptional image quality at the point of care, the Viera wireless ultrasound scanner provides physicians with the opportunity for earlier diagnoses and an optimized clinical workflow – all at a fraction of the cost of larger, mid-tier cart systems.
MR Fingerprinting and Compressed Sensing are two procedures that will facilitate much faster MR sequencing than currently possible – and more. ‘MR Fingerprinting will revolutionise MRI scanning,’ according to Dr Siegfried Trattnig, head of the Centre of Excellence for High-Field MRI at the Medical University of Vienna in Austria. ‘It will completely change the way MRI scans are currently…
Confirming or infirming hypotheses has long driven scientific research; however, this traditional and costly approach is giving way to data-driven initiatives, according to Prof. Laure Fournier, a leading radiologist at Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris. “Usually we formulate the hypothesis first, then take an image and analyze it. We like that in France, it comes from Descartes. The…
With the launch of the new Aplio a-series, Canon Medical Systems extends their product portfolio across all existing market segments. Aplio a550 and Aplio a450 are completely new ultrasound systems, designed for the Aplio a-series product line-up. These systems build upon the Aplio i-series architecture, allowing clinicians to benefit from premium imaging performance during daily routine…
With UltraDrape, Parker Laboratories, Inc. announces the launch of a uniquely designed dressing for use during Ultrasound-Guided Peripheral Intravenous (UGPIV) procedures. The first-of-its-kind dual-action dressing was engineered to address the challenges that often accompany UGPIV: extended procedure times, securement failure – a result of inadequate gel removal, and, as a result, increased…
Confidently scanning patients varying in size is one of the main difficulties in ultrasound imaging. With their new system Acuson Sequoia, Siemens Healthineers respond to this challenge. We spoke with Thomas Hartley, Senior Director of Global Marketing and Communication for Ultrasound at Siemens Healthineers, about the new device which aims to tackle some of the most pressing challenges in…
Hitachi’s Fusion imaging combining MRI and Real-time Virtual Sonography (RVS) showing a cervix lesion with color Doppler Fusion imaging techniques are being trialled to help advance the diagnosis of cervical cancer and endometrial cancer.
A new software to calculate the pressure drop and vFFR value (vessel Fractional Flow Reserve) in the coronary artery non-invasively was presented to interventional cardiovascular experts at EuroPCR 2018 in Paris. The software called CAAS vFFR (Cardiovascular Angiographic Analysis Systems for vessel Fractional Flow Reserve) was developed by Pie Medical Imaging (Esaote Group). The vFFR calculation…
What do customers say? To answer this question, medavis, a provider of radiological workflow solutions, regularly conducts a customer survey of its users. The aim is to review the company's own quality standards and internal key figures and to consistently place the results of the survey at the centre of future trade. The Karlsruhe specialist for radiology workflow solutions keeps all values at…
Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and end-users in the field of dynamic radiology can now benefit from new detectors and imaging solutions to further enhance patients’ examinations. The digital technologies produce greater quality images at a lower dose for end-users and patients, which helps OEMs to make their systems more attractive on the market. Thales is driving the shift from…
The overall UK radiology equipment market spend for the six months to the end of March 2018 is down by around 30% compared to the same period in the previous year. This is according to latest figures from AXREM (the Association of Healthcare Technology Providers for Imaging, Radiotherapy and Care), which represents all the major medical imaging manufacturers active in the UK. Commenting on the…
Point-of-care ultrasound is playing an important role in the anaesthesiology department at Spain’s Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Dr Xavier Sala-Blanch, Senior Doctor and Head of Section in the hospital’s Department of Anaesthesiology and Resuscitation and Associate Professor of Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Barcelona, discussed how the use of ultrasound technology…