The evaluation of the size and function of the left ventricle in patients with suspected heart disease is a central diagnostic problem. In contrast to other methods of evaluating left-ventricular function (e.g., angiocardiography, right-sided heart catheterization, radionuclide ventriculography or MRI), transthoracic echocardiography is a widespread and readily available procedure that is not…
Since the introduction of multi-slice computerized tomography (MS-CT), several authors have reported an increased exposure to radiation when using the manufacturer-specific protocols compared with the previous technique of single-slice computerized tomography (SS-CT). On the basis of comprehensive dose measurements conducted on a phantom, a study by S. M. Giacomuzzi et al reported that the mean…
The past several years, interventions using ultrasound for real-time image monitoring in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures have increasingly been integrated into the daily clinical routine. Limitations due to image-distorting physical effects, such as the total reflection at the soft tissue/lung boundary, are associated with the use of ultrasound. CT fluoroscopy on the other hand enables…
There has been a popular fascination with X-rays ever since their discovery by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. And this fascination shows no signs of abating. Much of the material that is of interest for the historian of radiology is transient. The term "ephemera" covers a large range of material including leaflets, trade cards and tickets. This type of material has not traditionally been kept…
The Netherlands - September '00 - A good example of one of the discussions was the general issue of dose reduction. All participants agreed that it would be a challenge to be able to realise this, although this should definitely not interfere with the image quality. An interesting challenge for the users as well as the manufacturers! Many interesting topics were presented during the seminar, of…
Impairment of left ventricular relaxation may lead to pulmonary congestion and symptoms of heart failure even in patients with preserved systolic function. Doppler echocardiography has become the non-invasive method of choice for the assessment of both systolic and diastolic dysfunction. However, Doppler-derived parameters such as mitral inflow velocity, deceleration time and isovolumic…
Case 1 50-year-old male with a colorectal cancer. Greyscale imaging clearly shows the lesion, as an echogenic 3 cm mass (Fig.l a), which must be considered as suspicious for a metastasis from his colorectal cancer but benefit of the doubt must be given. Colour Doppler (Fig. 1b) is not helpful. At 33 seconds after SonoVue injection (early sinusoidal phase), Vascular Recognition Imaging (VRI)…
Vascular Recognition Imaging (VRI) is a low MI broadband colour Doppler method that images the interactions of Sonovue with microbubbles in a non-destructive manner as perfusion images of a quality never before achieved. The perfusion image represents the low velocities of unmoving or barely moving microbubbles as green-coded tissue perfusion, while the higher velocities of the veins and arteries…
Over the last years Toshiba has actively participated in the development of Contrast Harmonic Imaging. Around 1996 one of the first agents that became available on the European market was Levovist TM (Schering AG, Berlin, Germany). This was a galactose-based contrast agent. Levovist could be used as a Doppler signal enhancer throughout the entire vascular system. With the development of these…
The Ultimax with image intensifier & CCD camera technology is already well established as a premium multipurpose digital imaging end interventional system. The addition of DynaDirect FPD technology with its exceptional high-resolution performance simply makes the Ultimax the most advanced high performance multipurpose digital imaging system available. The combination of the Ultimax and…
British researchers detected near-normal brain activity in patients who are believed to be in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) by using functional MRI. The findings may help doctors' to diagnose patients that might have a chance for recovery, but the researchers warn to over-intertpret their resulsts.
Two university hospitals in Germany and Japan were the first worldwide to receive the Aquilion 16 high resolution computed tomograph (CT) from Toshiba Medical Systems for simultaneous recording of 16 body slices with extremely high image resolution. A computed tomography Aquilion 16 was put into operation on October 7, 2002 at the central campus of Charite Berlin (Figure 1). This is the third…
65-year-old woman who had an aorta dissection in 1994. The ascending aorta and thearcus were replaced. In 2000, the patient underwent descendes replacement after suffering from an aneurysm. The patient was referred to the Aquilion 16 slice for evaluation of the aorta and measurement of the remaining aorta.
Image quality has been the most important criterion in CT scanner development for both radiologists and manufacturers, due to the diagnostic value of these systems. Recently, considerable concern has been expressed about the radiation dose to patients from CT examinations because: - CT delivers a higher dose than conventional film-screen examinations - Technological advances in CT have…
In recent years, interventional procedures using realtime image control by means of Ultrasound have been increasingly integrated into the clinical routine as diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. However, a series of limitations in ultrasound result tram physical effects that interfere with the image. Combining fluoroscopy with a computed tomograph (CT) results in a procedure that enables…
In Johns Hopkins therapeutic radiology, we perform 2,600 procedures in neurointervention and 14,000 peripheral interventions each year, totalling over 16,000 image-guided procedures a year in 14 rooms. We changed our approach to image guided therapy in June 2001, when we installed a new O.5 mm multidector CT (Aquilion, Toshiba America Medical Systems) and two 3D visualization workstations (Vital…
In May 2001, the world's first CT-XR hybrid suite for image guided therapy in paediatrics was put into operation. The new Centre for Image Guided Therapy (IGT) at The Hospital for Sick Children allows surgeons and interventional radiologists to do something that's never been done before - work side-by-side when diagnosing and treating children. A total of 4 interventional suites were equipped…
Multislice computed tomography (MS CT), which was introduced to clinical imaging as fourslice detectors in 1998 has fully proven its superior performance over conventional scanner technology. For example, it provides optimized resolution of detail and increased scan speed. Simultaneously, this technology has opened new indications for computed tomography, for example, in heart imaging. However,…
The Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham in Kent is an acute general hospital with a catchment population of 340,000 and has a very busy multi-specialized radiology department undertaking about 160,000 examinations a year. The department has recently acquired a new Toshiba Aquilion Multi-slice CT scanner. With this came the opportunity and demand to increase its use particularly outside normal…
The Ultimax with image intensifier and CCD camera technology is already well established as a premium multipurpose digital imaging and interventional system. The additional DynaDirect FPD technology with its exceptional high-resolution performance simply makes the Ultimax the most advanced high performance multipurpose digital imaging system available. The combination of the Ultimax and…
Ultrasound scanning has been shown to cause a wide range of work related injuries. Indeed, according to recent studies, 70 - 80% of sonographers suffer work related pain (The Society of Radiographers, 1997, Arrowsmith, 2000) and industry standards suggest that 20% of sonographers in the UK are actually forced to end their career (Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, 2003). Poor equipment…
Most babies are born healthy, but there is still a small risk for all women to give birth to a baby with some type of anomaly. Ultrasound has proven to be one of the most reliable procedures to prenatally diagnose some of these conditions. Ultrasound can be used during the entire pregnancy, but in the first trimester ultrasound examinations are, as a rule, used to exactly calculate the pregnancy,…
Without doubt, the B-mode imaging is the most important examination method in prenatal ultrasound. Well over 90% of detectable congenital anomalies can be recognised using the two-dimensional realtime imaging method. Hence, paramount importance is certainly ascribed to the quality of the B-mode image in an ultrasound system. In addition, other ultrasound modalities help us to considerably enhance…
It has long been known that remaining at high altitudes leads to an increase in pulmonary arterial pressure caused by hypoxia. Its effects on cardiac function have also been considered well documented. The increase in pressure in the pulmonary circulation causes an enlargement of the right ventricle and thereby causes a displacement of the left ventricle that is accompanied by a relaxation…
Tissue Doppler Imaging (TDI) and contrast echocardiography open up new possibilities for exactly representing and assessing functional cardiac disturbances. This was the topic discussed by Dr. Harald Becher of John Radcliff Hospital, Oxford, and Dr. Jörg Strotmann of the University Clinic Würzburg in the framework of the Toshiba workshop “New approaches in echocardiography” at the European…