Dr Paul Klein, team doctor of the Bundesliga football club 1.FC Köln for over 11 years, has recently taken advantage of the loan of a Fujifilm SonoSite Edge point-of-care ultrasound system to monitor players during a training camp in the United States. The ten-day trip to Orlando, Florida, was in preparation for the second half of the football season, and Dr Klein was keen to have a diagnostic…
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…
Nine out of 10 hospitals in western Europe have a fully operational picture archiving and communications systems (PACS) to manage and exchange medical images. The integration has become so routine that now other physicians are asking why they can not as easily share with others the images they generate with non-radiology devices. Report: John Brosky
The European Congress of Radiology (ECR), Europe’s largest medical imaging conference, took place on March 4–8 in Vienna, Austria, with an all-time high number of participants and various innovations. ECR 2015 also marked the 10th anniversary of its organiser, the European Society of Radiology (ESR).
Before 2013, when Professor Dietmar Dinter became partner of Radiologie Schwetzingen, a multi-discipline group practice specialised in radiology and nuclear medicine, he was senior resident at the Institute of Clinical Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at University Hospital Mannheim (2003-2012) and head of its Nuclear Medicine Department (2009-2012). Was his work in nuclear medicine altered by the…
Seeing a substantially increasing importance of the cardiac MRI procedure, cardiologists have developed a specialist cardiac MRI training programme for their colleagues.
At ECR 2015 Esaote, a world leading manufacturer of medical diagnostic systems, introduced Evolution’15 (EVO’15) as the latest upgrade in its dedicated MRI Evolution program. EVO’15 combines software updates and new hardware features to provide superb image quality and increases productivity by almost 50%.
Injecting toxic chemicals into the body to kill cancer cells is a physically and mentally brutal experience for patients. The treatment cost is equally brutal for healthcare systems. Yet, often after six months of difficult treatment, patients may hear that the chemotherapy did not stop or kill the cancer. There is now a way to find out, in just 30 days and at a cost of just €183, whether the…
The ‘MRI of the Adnexa, Essentials and Beyond’ session from at the MR 2015 symposium held in Garmisch, Austria, presented tips and tricks in clinical routine before moving to research that combines imaging and genomic data to better evaluate ovarian cancer. Report: John Brosky
Molecular profiling is transforming brain cancer management and radiologists must get to grips with the upcoming paradigm that will affect the way they report findings. Renowned neuroradiologist Professor Anne G. Osborn from the University of Utah, School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, unveiled the latest advances in brain pathology during the Nikola Tesla Honorary Lecture last week at ECR…
The appetite for mobile information technology (IT) seems insatiable. Boosted by the sales of the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple generated a record $18 billion profit in 2015’s first quarter alone. Social media use is exploding, and dedicated professional platforms, such as Figure 1, a sort of Instagram for doctors, increasingly emerge. These changes are affecting our daily lives, and this is also true…
MRI is increasingly relevant to cancer management, especially to detect breast carcinoma. Professor Christiane K Kuhl from the department of diagnostic and interventional radiology at the University of Aachen, Germany, strongly advocated in favour of MRI in breast cancer screening during a dedicated Satellite Symposium organised by Bracco at ECR 2015. Report: Mélisande Rouger
For medical ultrasound it’s quick, easy and portable – and so popular with Professor Christoph Dietrich, chief of Medical Department 2 at Caritas Hospital, Bad Mergentheim, one of the first physicians worldwide to test the M9 in clinical routine. ‘The compact Mindray colour Doppler system is about the same size as a notebook computer. The imaging suite comes to the patient,’ the…
ECR 2015 evoked Shakespeare´s repertoire as delegates were asked to ponder the ethical implications of incidental findings in large population imaging studies in Vienna. Report: Mélisande Rouger
Clinical routine would be inconceivable without MR Imaging. Without exposure to radiation, doctors can make a patient’s organs and tissue structures clearly visible. However, pathological changes in the early stages, degenerated cells or small areas of inflammation, have so far remained almost invisible on these images. In 2014, for the first time, a team of cell biologists, chemists and…
Ask about UltraFast ultrasound and you might expect a technical answer explaining why the ultrasound is faster. However, for Stéphanie Franchi-Abella MD, fast means just fast, an ultra-quick acquisition she can take of a squirming, agitated new-born in the blink of an eye. ‘These babies are small and breathing rapidly, the organs are moving fast in the image and it’s sometimes difficult to…
It is tough enough to be a clinician reading dozens of mammograms every day to detect early signs of breast cancer. Now those same radiologists must become statisticians in order to decrypt dozens of studies, challenging whether it is worth reading mammograms in the first place. Report: John Brosky
Women over the age of 50 are not only at higher risk of developing breast cancer but also osteoporosis. Would it not be practical to use the same method to detect both diseases early on? Definitely, decided Sectra, the Swedish company specialising in PACS and mammography systems.
SOFIA is the new automated breast tomography system developed by iVu Imaging and presented at ECR 2015 by Hitachi. The system, beyond its charming name, offers some very charming features indeed which may make SOFIA the most comfortable scanner currently available on the market.
The fourth Management in Radiology (MIR) Symposium to be held during the ECR will focus on key issues in the profession, including quality and safety.
Delegates were asked an increasingly vital question during ECR 2015: do they rather want to be imagers or doctors? “This will probably be one of the most interesting sessions of this meeting and, after this congress, maybe even your career,” said Jim Reekers, professor of interventional radiology at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as he kick started the eponymous Professional…
Launching in March, Optima is the latest offering from the French R/F specialist Apelem. Based on the firm’s Platinum technology, Optima is reported to provide nearly all the benefits of the Platinum in a cost efficient, robust mechanical package, the firm points out, adding that Optima ‘…is the ideal choice for centres looking for the advantages of digital in an easily accessible price…
Spring can be felt, though many visitors of ECR 2015 probably only have time to enjoy the floral decorations in the conference center. The program of the conference is packed full of topics that promise exciting days and many discussions.
During an exclusive European Hospital interview, in the run up to ECR 2015, Professor Lluís Donoso-Bach MD PhD, incoming President of the European Society of Radiology (ESR), outlines his plans to tackle challenges facing radiology in Europe – and anticipates a brighter future in Spain.
Integration of imaging biomarkers in Europe is a challenge, and a number of issues must be overcome so that the full potential of quantitative imaging can be realised, renowned researchers will show in a session today at the ECR.