GE invests in technology to tackle challenges in healthcare
Times may be tough, but GE Healthcare takes a longer term view, believing innovative technologies can transform healthcare delivery and help improve patient care.
Breast cancer
X-ray and ultrasound combo on a mammo platform
A first in medical imaging is still unknown for Kit Vaughan, who is ready to simultaneously scan with X-rays and ultrasound for breast screening. Stay tuned for the results at RSNA 2013, says EH Correspondent John Brosky
Transforming Care Together
Philips is showcasing the company’s mission of “Transforming Care Together” by featuring several of its latest solutions developed with customer insights in mind, demonstrating the company’s commitment to keeping pace with the changing needs of radiologists at RSNA.
Laser-light test helps show whose cancer is spreading
Using advanced microscopes equipped with tissue-penetrating laser light, cancer imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have developed a promising, new way to accurately analyze the distinctive patterns of ultra-thin collagen fibers in breast tumor tissue samples and to help tell if the cancer has spread.
Girl builds artificial ‘brain’ to detect breast cancer
An artificial “brain” built by a 17-year-old whiz kid from Florida is able to accurately assess tissue samples for signs of breast cancer, providing more confidence to a minimally invasive procedure. The cloud-based neural network took top prize in this year’s Google Science Fair.
Tackling cancer information overload
Cancer specialists everywhere increasingly face new findings from molecular biology. Genetic profiling of tumours opens up entirely new perspectives on the disease. How to cope with and integrate new insights into cancer diagnosis and treatment was among key issues discussed at the 2nd European Forum on Oncology, held in Berlin this May
German breast screening
Germany’s mammography screening programme, introduced in 2005, was rolled out across the country in 2009 for women between the ages of 50 and 69 years. The mammo screening coordination office, which heads up and monitors the country’s 94 screening units, has published for the first time an evaluation report with follow-up examinations after a twoyear period.
Breast MRI The (non-)beloved gold standard
Magnetic resonance imaging is a long-established, highquality and safe examination tool. Why, therefore, do German gynaecologists and radiologists question its value in breast cancer diagnoses? Indeed the question ‘Breast MRI - yes or no?’ has split the medical community. One ardent champion of breast MRI is Professor Christiane Kuhl MD, director of the diagnostic and interventional radiology…
E-Cube 9 convinces with powerful features, outstanding transducer technology and value for money
Following 13 years at the University Hospital Erlangen, in January this year radiologist Dr Boris Adamietz became a partner in the radiological group practice at Herkomerplatz in Munich. So far he has no regrets about his role change. Along with more intense patient orientation and the end of weekend and night shifts, he is pleased with the innovative ultrasound solution in the practice, which is…
Study proves benefits of ShearWave Elastography
The multinational, multicentre Breast Elastography 1 (BE1) study – launched in April 2008 and led by Professor David Cosgrove of Imperial College of Medicine, London – has shown the clinical benefits of ShearWave Elastography in ultrasonic diagnoses of breast lesions.
The vicissitudes of breast screening
The benfit of breast cancer screening for women over aged 50 is beyond doubt. However, what does a systematic search yield for breast cancer in women aged between 40 and 49? This question, which remains controversial, was raised again at ECR 2012.
Controversies in breast imaging
Breast cancer screening for women between 40 and 49 years – yes or no? This is one of the most controversial issues as this year’s European Congress of Radiology (ECR) in Vienna. For Professor Dr Andy Evans of the Centre for Oncology & Molecular Medicine at the University of Dundee the answer is clear: “Yes. There is good evidence that breast cancer screening for women in their 40s is…
Multi-disciplinary team approach offers better breast cancer care
A multi-disciplinary team approach is crucial if healthcare professionals are to offer breast cancer patients the best possible care in the years ahead. That was the opinion voiced by three experts at an ECR 2012 session on Saturday afternoon with delegates addressed by a radiologist, surgeon and an oncologist.
European Congress of Radiology (ECR) 2012 opened
The European Congress of Radiology (ECR), the annual meeting of the die European Society of Radiology (ESR), started on Thursday in Vienna. 20,000 visitors are expected to participate in the congress which is one of the largest healthcare events worldwide.
Europe’s first Positron Emission Mammography
Early this year the radiology and nuclear medicine practice of Doctors Andreas Blynow, Frank Muller, Jorg Kowalski in Ludwigshafen, Germany, began to offer breast examinations using Europe’s first Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) scanner. With 15 years experience with Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Dr Muller introduced the new PEM scanner to the partners’ practice to detect and assess…
What´s new in high-resolution radionuclide imaging?
This technique is increasingly used to detect breast cancer and has been shown to improve diagnosis in many clinical situations. It is also allowing clinicians to detect previously unknown areas of breast cancer in women with newly diagnosed disease.
MedAustron is becoming a reality in Wiener Neustadt
Currently there is a truly enormous hole in the ground in the city of Wiener Neustadt, Austria, but by summer 2012 MedAustron, one of the most modern centres for ion therapy and research in Europe, is to be built here.
What´s new in breast MRI, tomosynthesis and elastography?
MRI: Although an area of constant debate, this is becoming a widely accepted clinical modality in Europe. However, researchers in The Netherlands have shown that performing pre-operative breast MRI in all women with invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) can reduce the need for re-excision.
Improved specificity in breast ultrasound
Sonography is the most important non-invasive supplementary procedure to mammography, the current gold standard in breast cancer diagnostics. High-resolution ultrasound can reliably distinguish cysts and solid lesions.
Finding early stage cancers that could have been missed
In Europe, 350,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer annually. About 90% of them can be cured if the cancer is detected at a very early stage. To improve early detection almost all European countries have gradually initiated regional screening programmes, even though the benefits are discussed controversially from time to time.
Eucomed statement on PIP breast implant incidents
The European medical technology industry association Eucomed notes with great concern recent press reports that the French firm Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP) may have violated the regulations by using unapproved industrial-grade silicone in some of its implantable products and by allegedly falsifying or withholding documents.
RCT offers general guides for cancer patients
Reliable Cancer Therapies (RCT) celebrates the first anniversary of its website in style. The Swiss non-for-profit organization has completed comprehensive guides for cancer patients and their relatives, which are now available on its website.
Tomosynthesis proves advantageous in breast imaging
Two years ago Dr Michael Michell and team at King’s College Hospital, London, set out to explore the benefits of tomosynthesis over conventional 2-D mammography. Their study has shown advantages in diagnostic accuracy and indicates that tomosynthesis could help to reduce the number of patient recalls for further examination and thus anxiety among women.
The Acuson S2000 ultrasound system
Siemens Healthcare reports that the firm’s new Acuson S2000 system includes the new multifunctional transducer 6C1 HD (high density) specifically designed for abdominal examinations, displaying even the smallest lesions at greater depths. At Medica, the company is also demonstrating its Virtual Touch Tissue Analytics technology, a proprietary implementation of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse…
Breast screening in the UK
Expert warns that breast screening across the country needs to undergo a dramatic transformation over the next 15 years, Mark Nicholls reports.
