Amid increased scrutiny over medical imaging scans and the use of radiation, a new survey reveals that awareness and familiarity with medical imaging tests lead to clearer decisions for U.S. adults about their healthcare. The survey, released by the Siemens Radiation Reduction Alliance (SIERRA) – an expert panel established to advance the cause of dose reduction in medical imaging – evaluated…
Siemens Healthcare is the first medical engineering company to offer a Low Dose Information Center on the Web. This English-language platform for continuing education and information around the topic of dose reduction is aimed at doctors and clinical personnel. The range of topics covered includes basic information on X-ray radiation, technical innovations relating to dose reduction and sample…
Ziehm Imaging’s C-arm is a general X-ray unit. It’s what hospitals really need, says Timo Ihamäki, the firm’s business manager, because ‘It’s a mobile unit that can be moved to the OR, out of the OR, to the trauma room, A & E, or wherever needed -- it’s always in the hallway. Whoever needs it, takes it.’
Following the acquisition of an Elekta Axesse system, which provides 3-D image guidance technology for conventional and stereotactic radiation therapy techniques, Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH) in Finland reports that, after eight months its image guided radiation therapy (IGRT) of lung, brain, pelvis, head and neck tumours has increased by up to 30 patients daily.
Embolisation – the blocking of vessels - is a key procedure in Interventional Radiology. It plays a steadily growing role in the treatment of various tumour lesions, with hepatic cellular carcinoma and uterine fibroids the main focus.
Dr Helmut Prosch, at the University Clinic for Radio-Diagnostics, Vienna, Austria, is examining the role of imaging in lung cancer diagnosis and staging. The key message of his presentation in the session EUS and EBUS vs. CT, MR and PET-CT in the staging of lung cancer is that the modalities do not compete with one another – as the title suggests – but are perfectly complimentary in the…
Postmortem examination by means of computed tomography and other imaging techniques is still a novelty in many countries. But at the forensic institute of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, scanning the bodies is daily routine. By Irène Dietschi
How low? During the GE Healthcare Lunch Symposium of GE Healthcare at this year’s ECR in Vienna, Michael Maher, Professor of Radiology at the University College, Cork, provided an answer: 1.2 millisievert – at least for abdominal CT scans in patients with Crohn’s disease.
CT-PET is the child of a forced marriage between nuclear medicine and radiology. A shared session at ECR 2011 in Vienna did little to assure there is a growing consensus between the two partners.
Innovative mobile C-arm solutions by Nuremberg-based Ziehm Imaging are quickly conquering interventional radiology. At this year‘s European Congress of Radiology in Vienna, Martin Herzmann, Director of Global Marketing at Ziehm Imaging, met with EH correspondent Karoline Laarmann to discuss developments.
Medical imaging has recently advanced so rapidly that it should halt. Applying more power to computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners is becoming too dangerous for patients and healthcare workers. Magnets for the next-generation MRIs are so powerful that they must be moved to a separate building on hospital campuses, while CT radiation levels have risen to alarming…
Michael Maher, Professor of Radiology at the University Collage, Cork, Ireland, produced an answer to during a GE Healthcare Lunch Symposium at the European Congress of Radiology this March. It is 1.2 millisievert – at least for abdominal CT scans of Crohn’s disease patients.
Toshiba Medical Systems introduced the Aquilion Prime CT scanner, the latest member of the CT family Volume CT Aquilion ONE. Equipped with cutting edge technology for dose reduction and a gantry bore of 78cm, the innovative 160 multislice CT Aquilion Prime defines the next generation of CT scanners.
USA - Although it is well know that the speed of diagnosis and treatment for stroke victims is of paramount importance (4.5 hours), not all US hospitals have stroke expertise. The Joint Commission, the organisation responsible for accrediting US non-government hospitals, has certified only about 500 out of several thousand hospitals as primary stroke centres.
Looking at the 5th dimension of a CT image is old hat. Back in the 1980s there were many installations with rapid kV switching, a dual energy procedure, which were mainly used for bone density measurements. Basically, the 5th dimension is the ability to determine the atomic number as well as density of materials, which facilitates tissue differentiation even when there is the same attenuation.
Computed tomography (CT) is emerging as an imaging modality set to play an important role in cardiac intervention or surgery. Not only can it be used to plan complex revascularisation procedures and assess the outcome for the patient, but also might help to identify the more dangerous lesions -- so-called ‘culprits’ -- in the future.
"One size fits all" – the phrase is a fact of life in terms of the drugs available to treat cancer patients today. This solution can bear tragic results. Only 25% of cancer patients currently respond to this ‘one size’ drugs administration. In addition, 100,000 patients die annually, in the USA alone, from the side effects of those drugs. Personalised therapies that are devised to suit…
The risk of developing radiation-induced cancer from computed tomography (CT) may be lower than previously thought, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Increasing access. Improving quality and efficiency. Lowering costs. When GE launched its healthymagination initiative last year, these were the long-term goals and at RSNA 2010, GE Healthcare highlighted a variety of technologies developed to support this strategy and help improve patient care worldwide.
Philips is ushering in a new era in radiology science with Imaging 2.0, a concept fueled by integration of technology, clinician and patient. Showcasing its commitment to pioneering innovative, cost-effective solutions, Philips is highlighting technologies that focus specifically on the patient, in addition to advanced networking tools that facilitate greater collaboration between radiologists…
During RSNA, Philips announced the new Philips Ingenuity CT platform, an innovative technology that will help redefine low dose imaging. The Ingenuity CT features iDose4, Philips’ next-generation iterative reconstruction technique, designed to provide equivalent diagnostic image quality at up to 80 percent less dose; improve spatial resolution by up to 35 percent with up to 50 percent less…
When planning radiotherapy the combination of positron emission tomography (PET) and Computed tomography (CT) can provide a better outcome than CT alone. Michael Krassnitzer asked Terri Bresenham MSc BSc, Vice President for Molecular Imaging at GE Healthcare, for her views on the value of PET/CT, the new EANM guidelines, novel tracers and the future of other hybrid imaging technologies.
PET/CT is an established clinical tool especially for cancer-related diagnosis. This involves both initial diagnosis and follow-up examinations. There are other procedures, like CT/MRT, bone scan, or mediastinoscopy, all of which are also costly. Given the fact that PET/CT is widely used anyway, the question arises whether it is medically responsible and financially favourable to focus solely on…
Malignant diseases rank second in mortality rates in Germany. These patients thus receive a major proportion of ambulant and hospital care, with apparent socioeconomic consequences. To optimise treatment planning, for all solid tumour entities it is mandatory to delineate or stage the primary extent of tumour invasion and spread prior to therapy as precisely as possible.
Late in 2009, GE Healthcare’s 64 slice PET/CT Discovery 690 began its use in the University Clinic for Nuclear Medicine in Innsbruck, Austria. Apart from routine clinical examinations for treatment control via FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose), the scanner is also employed in clinical research - particularly for Gallium 68DOTA PET/CT examination.