We want your input. From time-to-time, the Imaging Technology News (ITN) editorial team reaches out to its valued readers for input on what matters most to you. We would like to learn more about your editorial preferences.

Mindray Medical International Limited announced a definitive agreement to acquire Zonare Medical Systems, Inc., an ultrasound technology leader in the high-end radiology segment for US$105 million. Mindray’s management expects the deal to strengthen its high-end ultrasound R&D and U.S. sales capabilities, furthering the company’s goal of becoming a leading provider of high-quality imaging products to markets worldwide.

Radiation oncology research received 197 grants, totaling only 1.6 percent ($85.5 million) of the $5.4 billion in cancer research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013, according to a study available online and in the June 1, 2013, print issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) was a National Cancer Institute sponsored trial that began in 2002. This randomized controlled trial examined more than 50,000 patients who were classified as being at high risk for the development of lung cancer — they had smoked at least 30 pack years (one pack per day for 30 years or two packs per day for 15 years); they were between 55 and 74; and they were either current smokers or former smokers who had quit within the past 15 years. The trial aimed to see whether screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) improved outcomes over screening with chest radiography. It was halted early in October 2010 when a 20 percent mortality benefit was observed in the low-dose CT arm.