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.
Thinking of the future of imaging, inevitably PET-MRI springs to mind. The fascination of this novel hybrid technology is great, seeing how it combines the best from three imaging areas: anatomy, function and metabolism. The further development of functional procedures in oncology is raising particularly high expectations. However, how extensive the use of this potentiated image information will…
Held near Kobe, Japan, the Joint Meeting of the International Workshop and the Japanese Society of Pulmonary Functional Imaging drew in more than 250 international researchers and clinicians who work at the forefront of pulmonary functional imaging
Although developments in molecular imaging still do not reach the high expectations placed upon them, the change in imaging is very obvious. Having been limited to the imaging of morphology, nowadays information on tissue characteristics, blood vessels or the metabolic behaviour of tumours provide many more insights, for example into response behaviour.
Anti-seizure medication is not successful in all patients, while in others such medication can have side effects. In recent years significant technical advances have delivered better imaging results, which, combined with growing demand for a surgical solution from patients whose medications do not control seizures, or those not wanting to take medication constantly, has led to an increase in…
This March, Dräger Medical will bring to the bedside of respiratory patients an innovative new monitor that vividly shows, breath-by-breath, their response to treatment. After shifting a patient’s position, or adjusting the respirator setting, or delivering a drug to open airways, physicians and nurses will be able to watch in real-time the response inside the patient’s lungs.
Based in Silicon Valley, CA, NDS Surgical Imaging (NDSsi) is the global leader in designing and manufacturing medical imaging and informatics systems. NDSsi technology solutions have led the way in re-defining the modern surgical OR, radiology rooms, endoscopy suites and minimally invasive environments.
Turfing is a subversive activity based on a variety of economic and prestigious interests. It is opposed to the trend in modern medicine towards harmonisation, ordinate formation and QA processes. Usually, ‘highjacked’ services are characterised by uncontrolled training processes, the absence of an official syllabus, no board exams, a lack of formal (registered) practice supervision and…
Whole-body hybrid PET-MR scanners are emerging on the market and are expected to have a significant impact in diagnostic imaging particularly in oncology applications and also in other clinical domains, such as cardiology, inflammatory and infectious disease, as well as in neurological applications.
Rapid advances in medicine and technology have led to a change in the job description for radiologists. With image acquisition and evaluation increasingly carried out by machines, there is a need to find new fields of activity. However, the required rethink is happening far slower than the pace of development in science and technology, believes radiologist and healthcare management expert…
There are several reasons why turf battles for imaging occur: 1) Medical imaging has become essential for the diagnosis, treatment planning and patient follow-up. 2) Interventional radiology provides efficient procedures that are a credible alternative to surgery, challenging the surgeons who want to survive. 3) Radiologists are currently facing an explosion of the demands and, paradoxically at…
'What can we do about the lack of young radiologists in Europe?’ ECR 2010 congress president Professor Małgorzata Szczerbo-Trojanowska will discuss the background to this shortage and suggest ways to avert this occupational crisis, although pointing out that the problem does not exist in Poland.
A leading radiologist is forecasting a ‘paradigm shift’ in breast imaging. Dr Peter Brader, from Department of Radiology, Division for Molecular and Gender Imaging, Medical University Vienna, envisages that diagnosis and treatment will move from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to one of personalised molecular medicine by 2025. He also foresees greater use of theranostics with combinations…
Molecular Imaging (MI) emerged in the early 21st Century as a discipline at the junction of molecular biology and in vivo imaging to enable the visualisation of the cellular function and the follow-up of the molecular processes in living organisms. Modalities available for MI encompass MRI, CT and ultrasound, PET, as well as Optical Imaging, and are by nature frequently experimental.
Molecular imaging (MI) appears as an unavoidable challenge for the future of imaging, because MI is able to characterise cellular and molecular processes and will serve as a guide for new targeted or personalised therapies. However, MI appears as hype for many radiologists because it is too far from clinical practice. In reality, MI is already part of clinical practice using PET and targeted…
Siemens has incorporated three further healthcare products into its environmental portfolio: The Somatom Definition Flash computer tomograph, the Axiom Luminos dRF fluoroscopy system and the Ysio X-ray system have successfully completed both internal evaluation and an external audit. Backing up their clinical performance and energy efficiency, the devices present a convincing case thanks to their…
Breast cancer screening programmes are helping to reduce the mortality rates of women by finding cancer in its early stages when it is easier to treat. Sweden was one of the first countries in the world to introduce a screening program after succesful clinical trials in the 1980s. However x-ray radiation is also a risk factor for inducing breast cancer, meaning that a low radiation dose is…
Imaging is an indispensable tool in modern medicine, yet very few patients know just how important it is. From cancer detection and therapy to diagnosing stroke or serious trauma in time, radiologists contribute to saving lives by covering every field of medicine. To raise public awareness, the European Society of Radiology will launch the 1st European Day of Radiology on February 10, in memory…
At the Austria Centre, Vienna, the next European Congress of Radiology (ECR) from 3 - 7 March will again provide an expert-led programme, trade fair and range of unique peripheral services, and the European Society of Radiology (ESR) annual meeting will also present top radiological science, education and technology.
"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…
Hologic announced the signing of an exclusive partnership agreement with SuperSonic Imagine, S.A., an innovative producer of diagnostic ultrasound technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Hologic will sell, install and service SuperSonic Imagine's Aixplorer ultrasound technology platform to the breast care community in the United States.
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.
Sectra has been recognized by Frost & Sullivan for its unique photon counting mammography system, Sectra MicroDose, with the Product Quality Leadership, Women's Health Imaging Europe 2010 award.
At the 96th annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Philips showcased Philips Ingenia, the first-ever digital broadband magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) solution. Driven by Philips’ commitment to developing innovative patient care solutions, Ingenia MR delivers exceptional image clarity, scanning efficiency and scalability. The Philips Ingenia MR system is…
