CT assisted dynamic perfusion imaging (perfusion CT, PCT) has evolved in recent years with the introduction of the multi-slice spiral technique, the use of study protocols with lower injection rates and improved evaluation programmes.
Dyssynchrony Imaging (DI), Toshiba's novel Doppler technology, is used as a quantitative clinical tool for rapid assessment of dyssynchrony in patients with suspected myomechanical dysfunction. From the parasternal short axis view, DI is applied by Toshiba's exclusive “angle-correction” technology and in apical views by standard Doppler imaging. Thus, DI permits evaluation of virtually all…
The goal in cardiac computed tomography is to obtain motion-free images of the beating heart. A newly launched software from Toshiba called PhaseXact introduces advanced features to reach this goal fully automatically.
The University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf (UKE) is currently undergoing a clinical evaluation with the first MRI/PET image software tool for the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases that should support clinicians in diagnosing the onset and type of diseases as early as possible.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a non-invasive diagnostic method has been evolving into an attractive alternative to methods associated with radiation exposure.
The department of Radiology at the LMU Munich optimizes the care of patients with LightSpeed VCT, a 64-multislice CT from GE Healthcare. The high-tech CT is perfectly suited for patients suffering from multiple trauma, who highly benefit from fast and significant CT-diagnostic.
The eleganza XC, launched at MEDICA 2006, is the most recent addition to the `eleganza´ range produced by Wissner-Bosserhoff.
Emphasis on advances in the use of computer assisted radiology and surgery (CARS) technologies in clinical diagnoses and therapies, will herald the opening of CARS this year.
Natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES - a technique that could revolutionize minimally invasive surgery (MIS) by eliminating abdominal incisions - is slowly shifting from research on animal models to human patients.
In molecular medicine - and particularly in oncology - Siemens Medical Solutions is concentrating on further development of the FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose) biomarker to improve identification of certain tumours.
Since April, there's been a new man at GE Healthcare´s global MRI division; its new Vice President and General Manager is James E Davis. Meike Lerner caught up with him during the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Congress, held recently in Berlin
Whilst Siemens AG in Germany is going through turbulent times, the medical branch of the business remains on steady ground.
Rapid diagnosis and treatment are the keys to breast cancer survival - and an elastogram mammography continues to play a central role in breast cancer detection according to research presented recently in Chicago, at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), writes Ian Mason.
When equally compressed, the tissue and structure of tumours and inflammations are harder than normal tissue. Hitachi explains that, taking advantage of these alterations, the sono-elastography technique conducts real-time measurements of elasticity ratios during minor pressure to the breast, using conventional ultrasound transducers.
Back in the 70s, when scientists first speculated on the development of 3-D ultrasound computed tomography (3-D USCT) the available technology could not equal their dreams. Now, before the end of 2007, a prototype at Germany's Karlsruhe Research Centre will be used for the first in-vivo tests.
Italy — One of the biggest RIS/PACS implementations in Europe is being co-ordinated the Area Vasta Centro (AVC) group, which runs 12 hospitals in central Tuscany. Among these, CPA Pistoia hospital (one of three in the ASL 3 Pistoia group, a sub-division of AVC) is streamlining its mammography workflow with a CR Mammography system supplied by Agfa HealthCare.
Full field digital mammography (FFDM) and computed radiography (CR) based mammography systems may bring hospitals and breast imaging services closer to gaining digital mammography, but, according to a leading systems vendor, simply buying imaging equipment does not automatically lead to a more efficient workflow.
USA - A steep drop in breast cancer rates between 2002 and 2003 correlates with the decline in hormone therapy use, according to research froma the American Cancer Society (ACS).
2D imaging - whether analogue or digital - is thought to miss detection of 20-30% of breast cancers. Early clinical results from studies using the new technology tomosynthesis indicate its potential to lower those percentages.
"Tomosynthesis is a hot topic in all the companies involved in mammography", Professor Danielsson pointed out. "But whereas they are developing more or less the same thing, Sectra has a totally different concept - photon-counting - a unique technology that, for the first time, processes X-rays one by one."
In 2002, Germany implemented an early detection programme for breast cancer. The digital Reference Centre For Mammography at the University Hospital Münster is one of five such centres in the country - and it's one of the most modern, providing digital systems for imaging and results evaluation as well as a mammo-PACS.
What next? A combination of ultrasound and tomosynthesis? By Dr Ingvar Andersson
By Thomas Mertelmeier, Principal Scientist at Siemens AG Medical Solutions
Congress President Professor Juergen Dunst MD praises major advances and multidisciplinary efforts, and outlines future hopes for breast cancer patients