EH 1_2016

Vitrea® | Advanced Visualisation VitreaView® | Universal Viewer Vitality SolutionsTM | Imaging Intelligence VioSuiteTM | Data Management and Interoperability Join the conversation. www.vitalimages.com Unleash the power of imaging by ensuring the right person has the right images at the right time. Vital’s enterprise imaging solutions facilitate streamlined access to images at relevant and meaningful points of care, driving better patient outcomes and improved imaging operations. W W W. H E A LT H C A R E - I N - E U R O P E . C O M 2016 ECR @ S P E C I A L I S S U E F O R T H E E U R O P E A N C O N G R E S S O F R A D I O L O G Y V I E N N A • A U S T R I A • 2 - 6 M A R C H 2 0 1 6 Myth or reality? Your ECR 2016 Focusing on personalised radiology Report: Mark Nicholls With precision imaging playing a greater role in daily radiology prac- tice as patients receive ever more personalised care, the detail and extent of that shift is outlined in the ECR session ‘Personalised radiolo- gy: myth or reality?’, which includes a presentation from renowned radi- ologist Professor Gabriel Krestin, chairman of the radiology and nuclear medicine department at Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, entitled ‘From After last year’s success, with about 25,000 visitors, 2,000 more than in 2014, the extensive programme matches the demands of the inter- national radiological community. There are three state-of-the-art sym- posia, nine Professional Challenges sessions, 15 Special Focus sessions, over 70 refresher courses and three multidisciplinary sessions, which feature radiologists, oncologists, gynaecologists and surgeons. The Education programme cov- ers educational issues, from under- graduate medical education to sub- specialised continuing professional development. A major addition this year is ‘The voice of EPOS’, a new poster presentation format. Also, for the first time, posters will be avail- able in digital form as well as pre- sented by the authors themselves. Hybrid imaging - In quite a few European countries the distinction is clear. Generally nuclear medi- cine specialists read PET images and radiologists read CT or MRI images; however, at Riklund’s uni- versity all physicians working with hybrid imaging are dual licensed in radiology and nuclear medicine. Reason: particularly in cancer cases, hybrid imaging gives more informa- tion than only structural or only molecular/functional imaging. The hope is that treatment will become more effective and prognoses more accurate. Hybrid imaging is defined personalised to precision imaging: the impact on clinical practise’. Speaking ahead of ECR, Professor Krestin told European Hospital: ‘Personalised medicine and per- sonalised imaging means the cus- tomisation of the whole healthcare continuum tailored to the individual patients – it’s the right treatment to the right patient at the right time. In this context many radiologists would say radiology has always been personalised because what is more personalised than an image?’ To demonstrate this, he will offer as the fusion of two or more imag- ing technologies into a single, new form of imaging. Typically, this new form is synergistic – i.e. more pow- erful than the sum of its parts. The importance of this discipline is underlined by the official launch of Europe’s latest subspecialty soci- ety, the European Society for Hybrid Medical Imaging (ESHI). ‘We hope that this new society will help to stimulate a much closer collabora- tive relationship between radiol- ogy and nuclear medicine, and will provide a framework for the future development of training, education and standards in hybrid imaging,’ explained ESR President, Professor Luis Donoso Bach (Barcelona, Spain). ‘It’s very important that this unique field is represented by its own European body.’ six images showing very differ- ent diseases all manifesting with the same leading symptom - right lower quadrant abdominal pain. ‘The image gives a very personal- ised diagnosis, but also allows us to personally stage the disease and see how extended it is and which organs are involved and also to show whether the disease is homog- enous or heterogeneous, where exactly disease is located and what structures are involved,’ Krestin explained. In this context imaging facilitates personalised treatment, with monitoring and adjustment, and optimal treatment choice and route of access for surgery. But that is taken a stage further with preci- sion imaging. Defined as stratification medi- cine, Krestin – awarded the Gold Medal of the European Society of Radiology at this year’s ECR – said it revolves around the idea that individual characteristics, molecular or otherwise, can improve medical research and daily practice. ‘For that, molecular methods and also imaging should be standard- ised, structured and quantitative Gabriel P Krestin is full professor of radiology and chairman of the radiology and nuclear medicine department at Erasmus MC, University Medical Centre Rotterdam, NL. Graduated at the University of Cologne, Germany, he completed his residency in radiology in 1988 and was later appointed radiologist and head of the MRI centre at Zürich University Hospital, Switzerland, where he became associate professor of radiology and head of the clinical radiology service, before moving to his present position. Continued on page 6 Placing a foot in two disciplines Katrine Åhlström Riklund from the Medical School at Umeå University, Sweden, is this year’s congress president. Congress president Professor Katrine Åhlström Riklund, Deputy Head of the Department of Radiation Sciences and Director of the Medical School at Umeå University, Sweden, as a representative of two profes- sions – radiologist and nuclear physician – has shaped the face of the congress V I E N N A • A U S T R I A • 2 - 6 M A R C H 2016

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