Proton therapy is an exciting modality in radiation oncology. It is the target of both positive and negative perspectives — the positive related to the technology itself and the ability of proton beams to deposit energy mostly within the tumor being treated. The negative opinions generally result from the historically high cost to build and maintain a center and the lack of access for patients worldwide. The Provision Center for Proton Therapy has not only embraced proton therapy, but also the concept that it must be used in conjunction with other advanced technologies that will assure treatment accuracy.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gathered public comments on its Stage 3 Meaningful Use (MU) requirements through May 30. The third and final set of MU rules are a core part of the plan to reform American healthcare by leveraging health information technology (IT) to help reduce costs, eliminate redundancies and convert from a fee-for-service to a fee-for-performance reimbursement system.
There has been growing discussion and excitement surrounding the possibility of personalized medicine and targeted radionuclide therapy (TRT) in recent years.1 TRT refers to the use of one or more radionuclides that may be incorporated into a conjugate or attached to a ligand for targeted therapy at the cellular or molecular level. Radioimmunotherapy refers to targeted therapy with a radiolabeled monoclonal antibody. TRT has actually been part of routine medical therapy for several years.
While most women understand the importance of health screenings, an estimated 72 million have missed or postponed a ...
Today, treatment planning — the heart of radiation therapy systems — is almost entirely computer based, and is designed to help increase productivity by simplifying data for clinicians, making workflow smooth and seamless. This is key to helping improve patient outcomes. As technology progresses, so do treatment planning systems.
As one might expect, pediatric imaging presents a unique set of challenges compared to working with adult patients. Patient size, growth and development, and a distinct set of injuries and diseases all enter into the equation for pediatric radiologists.
SPONSORED CONTENT — Fujifilm’s latest CT technology brings exceptional image quality to a compact and user- and patient ...
In the world of imaging, we typically look at medical imaging equipment as being a valuable tool for identifying and rooting out disease. However, it also has many other scientific uses that often seem a little off the beaten path.
Fujifilm’s APERTO Lucent is a 0.4T mid-field, open MRI system addressing today’s capability and image quality needs ...
Candelis Inc. announces availability of the latest version of its ImageGrid OS.
GE Healthcare introduced a new in-field upgrade program for 1.5T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems in most regions globally. A currently installed GE Healthcare 1.5T LCC magnet may be upgraded to the new Signa Explorer Lift so customers can benefit from the modernized patient comfort, workflow efficiency and diagnostic quality of this system. By upgrading, customers can potentially benefit from cost savings in multiple ways: up to 50 percent savings in construction cost, up to 50 percent savings in equipment cost in comparison to a new 1.5T system, and up to 30 percent increase in procedures due to potential increased throughput and referrals.
Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Materialise announces the launch of the latest Mimics Innovation Suite, including the Mimics 18.0 and 3-matic 10.0 software solutions. The new and improved tools increase user-friendliness, reduce segmentation time and make design and modeling even more realistic. It’s also possible to 3-D print the results in full color. In addition, the visualization capabilities have been expanded with a fluoroscopy view and virtual X-ray simulation.
SPONSORED CONTENT — Fujifilm’s latest CT technology brings exceptional image quality to a compact and user- and patient ...
Mirada Medical and Nautilus Medical have announced their agreement to provide the portable Mirada PET/CT viewer to existing and future Nautilus Medical customers for their CD/DVD DICOM distribution systems.
Doctors from the Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Health System are the first in the United States to treat osteoid osteoma using an experimental magnetic resonance-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (MR-HIFU) method. Two patients, 16-year-old Alfredo Coreas and 10-year-old Niyati Shah, have been treated successfully in a research study aimed at testing the safety and feasibility of this noninvasive and precise treatment option.
Nuance Communications Inc. announced the general availability of PowerScribe 360 Reporting version 3.0, delivering the industry’s first integrated computer-assisted reporting solution at the point of clinical documentation for radiologists. The PowerScribe 360 radiology reporting and communication platform enables radiologists to create higher quality reports supported by real-time, evidence-based clinical guidance using content developed by the American College of Radiology (ACR).
SPONSORED CONTENT — EnsightTM 2.0 is the newest version of Enlitic’s data standardization software framework. Ensight is ...
New research has found that esophageal cancer patients treated with proton therapy experienced significantly less toxic side effects than patients treated with older radiation therapies. The research was conducted by scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have developed a highly sensitive and accurate imaging technique for non-invasive screening of lymph nodes for metastatic cancer. Current practice calls for invasive surgical biopsies to determine whether deadly metastatic cancer cells have invaded the lymph nodes. The new imaging technique — so far tested in mice — offers a rapid and effective tool to noninvasively identify very small numbers of these cells, known as micrometastases, thus detecting cancer’s spread at its earliest stages, which is critical for timely treatment.
SPONSORED CONTENT — EnsightTM 2.0 is the newest version of Enlitic’s data standardization software framework. Ensight is ...
EchoPixel’s True 3D Viewer shows a virtual representation of a patient’s body in open, immersive 3-D. Using stereo glasses, a stylus and a zSpace monitor, doctors can see and manipulate imagery obtained from computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR) or ultrasound scans as if the objects were on a table in front of them. This helps expand diagnostic and surgical planning.
Non-calcified arterial plaque is associated with diabetes, high systolic blood pressure and elevated “bad” cholesterol levels in asymptomatic individuals, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) has evaluated synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on pediatric cases to study and clinically validate its use on children. Results from the first part of the evaluation, which used SyMRI software, shows the synthetic images are diagnostically satisfactory in comparison with conventional sequences.
With more than 60 years’ experience in the field of radiology, Zwanger-Pesiri is one of the largest non-hospital based radiology practices in the United States today. Committed to investing in only the latest technology, its 12 Long Island sites serve 2,000 patients a day. Its staff of 60 radiologists comprises a number of specialties including vascular imaging, interventional radiology, neuroradiology, musculoskeletal imaging, abdominal radiology, cardiovascular radiology and breast imaging. With such a diverse and large patient base and so many radiologists to manage, workflow is a key consideration, which is why the DX-D 300 DR system, with its Cesium Iodide detector technology and immediate image availability, was its solution of choice.
Two all touch-screen interface Carestream Touch Ultrasound Systems have received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance and are now commercially available in the United States. The Touch Prime Ultrasound System and the Touch Prime XE Ultrasound System are both premium systems designed for general diagnostic imaging use in radiology.
Researchers from the Canada North Concussion Network in Manitoba examined neuroimaging studies obtained in children and adolescents with sports-related concussions (SRCs) and found that the images appeared normal in 78 percent of cases. Detailed findings of this study are reported and discussed in “Neuroimaging findings in pediatric sports-related concussion” by Michael J. Ellis, M.D., and colleagues, published online, ahead of print, in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.