June 8, 2011 – Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky., has introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that will set federal minimum education and certification standards in the Medicare program for the technical personnel providing, planning and delivering all medical imaging examinations and radiation therapy treatments.

June 8, 2011 – Research introduced at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's 58th annual meeting this week may lead to much-needed cardiovascular disease screening for diabetic patients at risk of ischemic heart disease. The disorder is marked by significantly reduced blood flow in the heart. Ischemia of the myocardium can signal diminished oxygenation of the heart tissue and trigger a heart attack if left untreated.

June 8, 2011 – “Jomo,” the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s 19-year-old silverback, western lowland gorilla underwent a cardiac ultrasound as part of a preventative study. A team of human cardiologists, technicians and corporate partners made the house call to the Cincinnati Zoo’s Gorilla World exhibit recently to perform the echocardiogram to identify any problems.

June 7, 2011 — Research presented at SNM’s 58th annual meeting is taking targeted molecular imaging to a new level by combining two commonly used imaging agents into one molecular imaging procedure. The combination of these agents creates a comprehensive examination of the extent of cancer spread within a variety of organ systems in the body.

June 7, 2011 – Radiology & Imaging Specialists of Lakeland needed to create a single radiologist workflow to improve productivity across multiple hospitals. The Florida-based group announced their decision to invest in Centricity OneView from GE Healthcare.

June 7, 2011 – At SNM 2011, Siemens Healthcare demonstrated how users of the Symbia S and Symbia T series, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and SPECT•CT systems, respectively, are taking advantage of IQ•SPECT, to dramatically reduce the length of imaging protocols. A field-upgradeable combination of hardware and software, IQ•SPECT is helping nuclear cardiologists cut the cardiac imaging protocol from approximately 20 minutes to less than five minutes. These shortened exams enable a sustainable approach to nuclear cardiology that potentially enables decreased radiation dose to patients, assists to make the procedure more tolerable for the elderly, provides high quality diagnostic information, and allows users to better utilize an imaging resource that is hampered by limited availability of the key radiotracer.