News • Social Media
Twitter offers insights into the experience of MRI patients
Tweets can give medical professionals a window into the minds of patients, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences.
MRI
News • Pediatrics
3D printed fetal head helps manage care for baby
Megan Thompson was about 30 weeks pregnant when an ultrasound showed a walnut-sized lump on her tiny, unborn child’s face that could prevent him from breathing after birth. Thompson was referred to the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital where doctors had to decide whether baby Conan could be delivered safely through a C-section or needed a rare and complex lifesaving…
Sponsored • Comfort
Value in an open platform
As Hitachi deploys its new generation of Oasis 1.2-T MRI scanners throughout Europe, our Madrid correspondent asked Dr Manuela Jorquera Moya about her experiences with the new scanner over the past few months.
Article • MR vs. biopsy
MRI technique could reduce need for breast biopsies
A magnetic resonance (MR) breast imaging technique that uses no ionizing radiation or contrast agent could reduce unnecessary biopsies by providing additional information about suspicious findings on X-ray screening mammography, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
News • Parkinson’s Disease
First patients treated with focused ultrasound
Researchers at the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia have performed the first focused ultrasound treatments in the United States for dyskinesia associated with Parkinson’s disease.
Article • DTI
Diffusion tensor MRI
During a session focused on innovations in cardiovascular imaging, at the British Cardiovascular Society annual conference (Manchester in June), Professor Dudley Pennell, Director of the Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) Unit, and Director of Non-Invasive Cardiology at Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, outlined the background to diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
News • MS patients
Linköping University Hospital installs SyMRI NEURO
Linköping University Hospital in Sweden installs SyMRI NEURO from SyntheticMR in order to improve the follow-up of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). SyMRI enables objective follow-up of brain atrophy through automatic calculation of Brain Parenchymal Fraction (BPF). After an initial pilot project, the aim is to take SyMRI into clinical use in Region Östergötland during 2016.
News • ESC Congress 2015
Biotronik presents its CRT-Ds approved for full-body MRI scanning
Biotronik, manufacturer of MR conditional cardiac devices, has announced CE approval for full-body MRI scanning for its last two generations of ProMRI cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator* (CRT-Ds) systems.
News • Pediatrics
Spines of boys and girls differ at birth
Looking at measurements of the vertebrae – the series of small bones that make up the spinal column – in newborn children, investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles found that differences between the sexes are present at birth. Results of the study in the August issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, suggest that this difference is evolutionary, allowing the female spine to adapt to the…
Article • Multi-parametric MRI
Prostate MRI: “Yes, we scan!”
One in six men will develop prostate cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death amongst men in both the US and the EU. Definite diagnosis at an early stage is vital for survival and early treatment minimizes the risk of adverse effects, such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction, or impotence. While there is no preventive screening there is a ray of hope. Prof. Jelle Barentsz,…
Imaging glucose uptake inside single cells
Researchers at Columbia University have reported a new approach to visualize glucose uptake activity in single living cells by light microscopy with minimum disturbance.
Article • Prostate radiological
‘We need more feedback’
What you see is what you get - unfortunately, this doesn’t always apply in cancer imaging. Why is it that something which looks conspicuous on an image later turns out not to be a tumour? Why, on the other hand, are things overlooked that later turn out to be cancer? Pathological findings are extremely important to help improve diagnostic precision in radiology. Both disciplines therefore…
Article • Big data
Multiparametric imaging
The vast amounts of data accumulating in breast diagnostics require new methods to extract clinical information in a practical way. When dealing with large amounts of data that is too big or too complex to be analysed with traditional data processing applications, the talk today is of ‘Big Data’. The data volume accumulating in breast diagnostics has become increasingly complex over recent…
Imaging could improve treatment of COPD
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) provide important information on the symptoms and exercise capabilities of people with mild-to-moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. Researchers said the findings point the way to better treatment for some COPD patients.
Fructose produces less rewarding sensations in brain
Fructose not only results in a lower level of satiety, it also stimulates the reward system in the brain to a lesser degree than glucose. This may cause excessive consumption accompanied by effects that are a risk to health, report researchers from the University of Basel in a study published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE. Various diseases have been attributed to industrial fructose in…
Article • Open platform
Hitachi powerfully expands Oasis 1.2T MRI
Hitachi has double-down its bet on the advantages of open-platform MRI by introducing a new generation of the Oasis 1.2T scanner this year at RSNA. The jump to new processing power and the new Origin 4.0 MR Operating Software effectively enhances capabilities with a range of new applications for neuro, orthopedic and vascular imaging as well as enhancing routine exams for women's health and…
Cell density remains constant as brain shrinks with age
New, ultra-high-field magnetic resonance images (MRI) of the brain by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago provide the most detailed images to date to show that while the brain shrinks with age, brain cell density remains constant.
New imaging technique pinpoints changes in brain connectivity following mTBI
A new imaging technique can identify the specific changes in neural communication that can disrupt functional connectivity across the brain as a result of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
News • Call for papers
Ultrahigh Field MR: Cutting Edge Technologies Meet Clinical Practice
The tremendous progress of ultrahigh field magnetic resonance (UHF-MR) is a powerful motivator to transfer the lessons learned from basic research into the clinic. These efforts are fueled by the quest for advancing the capabilities of biomedical and diagnostic MRI, today. With this in mind momentum is gathering for broader clinical studies and applications. Realizing these opportunities, MAGMA -…
MRI - prostate cancer screening for the future?
A screening method that combines a traditional PSA test with an MRI detects a significantly greater number of prostate cancer cases and improves diagnostic accuracy. The study was conducted as part of the largest international research project on prostate cancer. The method will now be tried with 40,000 subjects in Gothenburg.
Article • Cancer diagnostics II
New nanoparticle could enhance MRI scanning
Scientists in the UK have designed a new self-assembling nanoparticle that targets tumours and could lead to quicker diagnosis of cancer. Researchers at Imperial College London report that a new self-assembling nanoparticle can adhere to cancer cells, thus making them visible in MRI scans and possibly eliminate the need for invasive tissue biopsies. Report: Mark Nicholls
Article • Head and Neck Radiology
The Radiologist’s Fear of Spaces
Imaging the head and neck is only rarely practised in radiology training and is highly complex and particulate, which is why, during our discussion with Professor Birgit Ertl-Wagner, Head of MRI at the Institute for Clinical Radiology at Grosshadern Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, she pointed out that many radiologists are not comfortable with orientation around this area. When…
Article • Black-blood
Seeking time-efficiency and high contrast
Black Blood Imaging may not sound helpful – but it is. The MRI specialist can work with clearer contrasts and gain greater certainty in tumour diagnosis as well as the detection of inflammatory changes in tissue.
Article • Influential innovations
Unfolding new vistas for MRI, PET and PET/CT
The importance of cardiac imaging is increasing, but nuclear medicine procedures are by no means obsolete, observes Okan Ekinci, during our EH interview with the Siemens Vice President for Healthcare Consulting & Clinical Affairs about the latest innovations for cardiology.
MRI may replace biopsies
Imaging tests like mammograms or CT scans can detect tumors, but figuring out whether a growth is or isn’t cancer usually requires a biopsy to study cells directly. Now results of a Johns Hopkins study suggest that MRI could one day make biopsies more effective or even replace them altogether by noninvasively detecting telltale sugar molecules shed by the outer membranes of cancerous cells.
