The overall success of MRI in diagnosing breast cancer and the exploding demand for breast MRI, in particular, have caused a scanner shortage in much of Europe. Dr Jean-Pierre Pruvo, Chairman of the French Society of Radiology, recently raised the alarm: ‘We have hundreds of thousands of women in France at risk for breast cancer, yet we do not have the means to provide a breast examination by…
The limitations of mammography are well documented, yet it is still the gold standard in breast cancer detection - particularly due to the positive cost-benefit ratio. Due to prohibitive costs, MRI exams are performed only in well-defined cases. The HIGHREX project (www.highrex.eu) aims to evaluate Single Shot Spectral Imaging (SSSI) technology for use in mamma diagnostics.
First introduced at ECR 2010, Agfa HealthCare’s DX-M is a CR solution able to handle both needle-based detector plates (NIP), as well as standard phosphor plates (PIP). The solution’s ability to read NIP for Mammography requirements as well as NIP for general radiography means that the solution meets a market demand for high quality diagnostic images across needs, and offers potential dose…
At this year’s ECR, new developments will be outlined during the Contrast agents: Experimental and Clinical session. Mark Nicholls spoke with the session moderator Professor Peter Aspelin, Professor in Diagnostic Radiology at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, about their potential.
Professor Roger Tsien, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry 2008 for the ‘Discovery and Development of Green Fluorescent Proteins’, was one three* Keynote Speakers at the opening ceremony of the Medical Physics and Bioengineering World Congress 2009, held in Munich this September.
Especially in times of increasing cost pressure and sinking earnings at constantly increasing quality demands, it is essential to exchange successful internationalisation strategies with international experts. During the MCC hospital world 2009 you can think outside the box and learn from the experiences of your colleagues. Even this year, there will be more than 20 renowned international…
In a symposium organised by Bayer Schering Pharma at the 2009 European Congress of Radiology (ECR), the audience heard a series of four presentations on the potential advantages of high-signal-intensity contrast agents for MRI, focusing on gadobutrol (Gadovist). During the discussion, several claims made by the speakers were challenged and debated by ECR delegates.
Although its standard description is simple: Photo detection at low light levels where single photon absorption events are counted, according to an internationally renowned medical imaging scientist, in terms of X-ray imaging, counting photons may really be the way to see the light.
With 16 years’ experience in developing contrast media power injectors, Medtron AG recently launched the Accutron HP-D, which, the firm reports, is the only totally wireless, high pressure double-head injector dedicated to all vascular diagnostic and interventional procedures.
The Accutron HP-D - the first dual head contrast media power injector for angiography, intervention and computed tomography.
What was initially viewed with scepticism developed into an integral and indispensable part of modern imaging diagnostics
Early suspicions of cancer, either from clinical evidence or medical imaging, are often followed up on biopsy. However, the removal of tissue for histological analysis can be uncomfortable for patients.
Last October the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) added a black box warning on ultrasound (US) contrast agents used in echocardiogram imaging examinations, around 200 reports of serious allergic reactions were received. Problems included cardiac arrest as well as breathing difficulty and seizures; seven of the cases resulted in death.
The belief that iodinated contrast agents can induce nephropathy has been held for many years, even though most of the clinical literature has not been able to distinguish contrast-induced nephropathy from other causes of the condition.
The idea of measuring tissue stiffness using ultrasound is nothing new. But lately the field sets a rapid pace. “Real-time, hand-held elastography is now a commercial reality,” asserts Jonathan Ophir from the University of Texas Medical School.
Tiny lipid-shelled microbubbles injected in vessels may serve as an new ultrasound contrast agent to evaluate microvascular blood flow. By this microbubbles US-researcher devised a ultrasound imaging technique that can spot early signs of PAD.
Andrea Martini and Joerg Larsen, of the Institute for Roentgendiagnostics, Braunschweig Teaching Hospitals, Germany, discuss nanotechnology, hybrid imaging and the quest for a personalised medicine.
Molecular imaging aims at the in vivo quantitative visualisation of molecules and molecular events that occur at cellular level. The potential towards clinical translation is huge, because the same modalities used in medical imaging are used in molecular imaging investigations.
Apart from spending a year at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, USA, the professor has never worked anywhere other than at the Radiology Department at the University Hospital of Cattinara Hospital, Trieste, of which she is Chairman. Daniela Zimmermann asked her about what women can achieve in this field, as well as the professor's own multifarious roles and research activities.
By Professor Robert D Speller, Head of the Radiation Physics Group, University College London, and Dr Alessandro Olivo, of the Medical Physics & Bioengineering Dept. University College London
ulrich medical, established 25 years ago, is an independent medium-size medical technology firm with worldwide sales. Among its products are contrast agent injectors for contrast agents used in computer and magnetic resonance tomography.
Early functional evaluation of new treatments in oncology is of major importance. Overall survival rate is the best criterion for assessing treatment, but unfortunately it calls for lengthy follow-up whereas treatment efficacy must be ascertained as soon as possible. The morphological criteria normally used (WHO or RECIST) do not lend themselves easily to new therapies which often induce lesion…
The use of state-of-the-art helical CT scanners allows for ultra fast examination of larger regions of the body. Due to the short examination time, optimum utilization of the intravenous contrast medium bolus is of extreme importance. The Sure Start function grants this in a very simple way.
There are a number of problems in contrast imaging using LevovistTM contrast agent. In Doppler mode, the problems are poor resolution and large areas of blooming. In 2nd harmonic imaging and pulse inversion imaging, there are problems related to tissue harmonic imaging (THI) because Levovist requires a high mechanical index (MI). THI increases under high-MI conditions, and THI interferes with…
