Samsung launches 'SmartTechnology' in medical imaging
The newest player in radiology, Samsung revealed at RSNA 2012 its vision for leveraging formidable strengths in IT to enhance radiology platforms with a new level of intelligent functionalities.
MRI
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.
MRI powerhouse breaks new ground in medical research
At RSNA 2012, Siemens is launching its new MRI addressing academic research centres and university hospitals. According to Bernd Ohnesorge, the Magnetom Prisma 3.0 T enforces the company’s major commitment to advancing research, bearing testimony to Siemens’ innovation leadership in the field. In Chicago, the CEO of the Siemens MRI business unit presented the 3 T system for which the company…
Small patients, big challenges
Children are not small adults. General radiologists are increasingly aware of the very special needs of young patients since frequently they rather than specialized paediatric radiologists perform initial diagnostic imaging and thus play a crucial role in the therapy decision. No mean feat as children may present with very different types of diseases and symptoms than adults, knows Dr. Christoph…
Image guidance and robotics in the OR improve precision in the OR
Key trends in computer-assisted surgery and robotics dominated the agenda of the annual congress of the German Association for Computer- and Robotics-Assisted Surgery (CURAC), reports Michael Reiter.
China’s manufacturers are re-engineering their business
United Imaging is a young company: it was established in 2007 by two experienced R&D executives who came from leading Chinese medtech manufacturers.
Ultrasound-MRI fusion advances prostate therapy
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death among men yet remains one of the most frustrating for physicians to find and treat. Merging the strengths of imaging modalities helps, but does not solve all the problems, says John Brosky
UK researchers are working on a new MRI technique
UK researchers are working on a new MRI technique called hyperpolarised MRI – or Dynamic Nuclear Polarisation (DNP) – that can utilise more of the available nuclei than traditional MRI, helping to overcome some of its limitations by increasing sensitivity 10,000-fold or more. DNP is part of a longer-term aim to improve cancer mortality with the help of novel cancer imaging tools.
Top billing for cardiac MRI
Today, magnetic resonance imaging receives top billing in cardiology next to the co-star computed tomography while much hailed single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) plays but a minor role.
CIED patients can have MRI examinations
A new generation of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) includes the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Defibrillator (CRT-Ds) and Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Pacemakers (CRT-Ps). Professor W R Bauer at University Hospital Würzburg has been significantly involved in their development, EH Editor Ralf Mateblowski to ask him about…
Learning from the deceased
The case-based approach holds considerable promise for medical science. In a way, it’s a return to the roots, since this approach was common at the dawn of modern medicine. A case serves as a narrative that can be explored interactively in order to draw a conclusion, determine a course of action, or debate issues in a realistic context. Spanish cardiac imaging consultant Dr Rafael Vidal Perez,…
MRI brings a new beat to rhythmology
More anatomy details, real-time visualisation of catheter movement, and reduced exposure – MRI has promising potential in rhythmology, explain Professor Matthias Gutberlet and PD Dr Christopher Piorkowski, at the Heart Centre, University Hospital Leipzig, Germany.
Article • The future of radiology
Viewing the lung in 2022
To avoid any misunderstanding, ten years from today CT and MRI will still be the pillars of lung imaging. However, Hans-Ulrich Kauczor, Professor of Radiology and Medical Director of the radiology clinic at Heidelberg University Hospital, is convinced the emphasis will have changed.
Predicting the future of neuroradiological imaging
As this decade ends we’ll be watching the brain think. Although anticipating very important technical developments, Professor Olav Jansen MD (right), President of the German Society for Neuroradiology (DGNR) and Director of the Institute for Neuroradiology at Schlewwig-Hostein University Hospital in Kiel, Germany, foresees even more important crucial advances in stroke therapy
Future radiology infrastructures
When asked about his vision of imaging in the year 2020, Professor Bernd Hamm MD, director of the three radiology clinics at the Charité University Hospital in Berlin, qualified his focus: ‘Technology is always only a vehicle. When we talk about road traffic, we don’t talk about the design of cars but about structural issues’
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…
The digital broadband MR experience
Ingenia 3.0-T, the digital broadband MR system launched by Philips at RSNA 2010, is today used in almost 200 hospitals worldwide. Eight months after the installation of an Ingenia at Germany’s Bonn University Hospital, the radiology department’s managing physician Dr Winfried A Willinek sums up her experience with this new technology that is increasingly competing with whole body CT and pet-CT…
Lung screening will come – maybe even with MRI?
After breast screening and prostate screening there is currently a lively discussion around the introduction of a lung cancer screening programme in Europe. Study results from the US appear to back up the supporters of this early detection of cancer for smokers. Prof. Dr Jürgen Biederer, Consultant and head of the Division of Pulmonary Radiology at the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional…
Against all odds: MRI does well in lung imaging
At first sight magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) does not seem to be particularly well suited for lung diagnostics: too much air, too much movement and too little water make image acquisition a real challenge. Nevertheless, MRI is useful and in certain cases even superior to CT say the members of HTIP (Heidelberg Thorax Imaging Plattform), an association of the radiology departments of the…
The future of thoracic imaging
Will MRI become routine modality? Today, thoracic MRI is rarely performed in Europe. But this will change over the next decade, predicts Professor Hans-Ulrich Kauczor, Medical Director of the Radiology Clinic at University Hospital Heidelberg. He expects Germany to be at the forefront of this development because MRI technology, despite the high costs, is already widely used here and because CT…
Looking beyond the lungs: don’t forget the cardiac structures!
So close yet so far away! A fitting description of many diagnostic examinations of heart and lungs. Modern imaging modalities allow these two neighbouring organs to be evaluated together, nevertheless it is rarely done.
Shared standards critical in lung cancer screening
Findings from the landmark National Lung screening Trial (NLST) continue to make waves in the United States, and increasingly around the world. The principal investigator for the component of the NLST sponsored by the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN), Denise Aberle, MD, said the NLST can provide a road map for public policy regarding lung cancer screening, though she cautions…
MRI scans help to define chemotherapy's effect
Faster assay for targeted chemotherapy's success against deadly liver cancer saves lives, and could speed lifesaving switch to alternative drug therapies for well-known pancreatic cancer.
3-T MRI is now more accessible
A new competitively priced scanner promises to make 3-tesla MRI more accessible to a wider range of institutions, according to Siemens Healthcare.