The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) testified at a U.S. House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee hearing that examined options for repealing the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and reforming the Medicare physician payment system to reward quality and value in patient care. Kim Allan Williams, M.D., ASNC past-president and a current member of the society’s health policy steering committee, testified as a witness in the hearing on May 7, 2013. Williams currently serves as the Dorothy Susan Timmis endowed professor and chairman of the division of cardiology at Wayne State University School of Medicine.

A new method of dynamic, personalized intravenous hydration significantly reduces the percentage of contrast-induced kidney injury from image-guided cardiovascular procedures, according to the results of the POSEIDON clinical trial presented as a late-breaking clinical trial at the SCAI 2013 Scientific Sessions.

Lung cancer is associated with very high mortality, in part because it is hard to detect at early stages, but also because it can recur frequently after surgical removal. The question arises as to what is the best way to follow lung cancer patients after surgery in order to spot problems early enough, before symptoms become obvious, so that patients may still be eligible for new interventions. In this study presented at the 93rd AATS Annual Meeting, investigators from the University of Toronto departments of Thoracic Surgery and Diagnostic Radiology show that minimal dose computed tomography (MnDCT) of the thorax offers much greater sensitivity at detecting new or recurrent lung cancer, with equivalent amount of radiation, compared to conventional chest X-rays.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of precision diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, announced the U.S. launch of Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) Injection for use in lymphatic mapping procedures that are performed to help in the diagnostic evaluation of potential cancer spread for patients with breast cancer and melanoma. Lymphoseek was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2013.

The Remote Mobile Anesthesia System, initially developed for use in proton treatment centers but useful in any medical setting, provides the ability to administer anesthesia to a patient before, during and after proton therapy treatment without interruption, reducing preparation and treatment time by as much as 30 percent.

Researchers at New York University and NYU Langone Medical Center have created a novel way to enhance magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by reducing interference from large macromolecules that can often obscure images generated by current chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) methods.