March 8, 2021 — IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A., EURONEXT) and NorthStar Medical Radioisotopes, LLC, announced a collaboration to increase global availability of technetium-99m (Tc-99m), the most widely used medical radioisotope.

March 8, 2021 — Siemens Healthineers has announced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of the Biograph Vision Quadra, a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scanner designed for clinical use as well as translational research – or the application of scientific research

From business intelligence to clinical research to product development we are learning to leverage data as a critical component of how we perform and how we improve

Robert Williams, the esteemed astronomer, took over as director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and the Hubble Telescope while it was in dire straits. It had been launched into orbit with a critical mirror, designed to capture images of the farther reaches of our universe, out of calibration.
Axial fused PET/CT image shows intense uptake (arrowhead) in the deep pelvis corresponding to the left lobe of the prostate in a 62-year-old with a history of prostate cancer treated with radiation therapy. The CT scan does not show the tumor. Image courtesy of the the Radiological Society of North America.
Axial fused PET/CT image shows intense uptake (arrowhead) in the deep pelvis corresponding to the left lobe of the prostate in a 62-year-old with a history of prostate cancer treated with radiation therapy. The CT scan does not show the tumor. Image courtesy of the the Radiological Society of North America.
Figure 1. Structure of the EMPIRE-1 study. Figure courtesy of Ashesh Jani, M.D., FASTRO and ASTRO20
Figure 2. Three years after treatment, failure-free survival rates were higher in the PET arm. Figure courtesy of Ashesh Jani, M.D., FASTRO and ASTRO20
Figure 3. This chart suggests treatment to PET-directed volumes was tolerable. Figure courtesy of Ashesh Jani, M.D., FASTRO and ASTRO20

The decision to offer radiation after prostatectomy for patients with recurrent prostate cancer is quite complex, and failure rates remain high. There is a need for more accurate radiation therapy decision-making as well as treatment planning — an area where conventional imaging has significant limitations.
Philips integrated the IntelliSpace Portal advanced applications with the Philips diagnostic viewer (from Carestream)  creating a combined radiology diagnostic workspace.
The Siemens AI-Rad Companion Chest CT provides automated visualization of chest images to support their reading and reporting.
Visage 7 has advanced enterprise imaging based on the proven ability to replace legacy PACS for imaging organizations of all sizes and local, regional or national scale.

Radiology enterprise imaging platforms and picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) have recently evolved in several ways to help improve workflows.
A discussion and analysis of the two key components of the teleradiology market — teleradiology reading services and teleradiology IT
Figure 1. The mix of company types falling into teleradiology reading services and teleradiology IT components.
Figure 2. Examples of teleradiology reading service providers.
Figure 3. Examples of strategic partnerships.

The global teleradiology market is served by a broad range of vendors, including international players with operations in multiple countries, and local vendors significant in their domestic country/sub-region, many producing 100,000+ teleradiology readings of diagnostic images annually. 

One year ago, the ITN team was literally packing our bags and preparing to get on a plane heading toward the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference in Orlando. COVID-19 had recently become a global topic of growing concern. But we held our breath.

A comparison of standard mammography imaging (left) in a woman with dense breasts and a breast MRI imaging study (right) showing a clearly defined cancer and is extremely hard to detect on the mammograms.

Dense breast tissue can hide cancers in mammograms in about half of women. Supplemental imaging is often needed to accurately diagnose these patients, avoid false positives and avoid needless tissue biopsies. Breast ultrasound and breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to see through dense tissue to better identify cancers and avoid the need for many biopsies, however, MRI offers more specificity.  
CT imaging radiation dose tracking software from Imalogix displayed at RSNA 2019.

More than a decade ago, there was an alarming, rapid rise in ionizing radiation exposure in the U.S. population that was mainly driven the increased use of medical imaging. One of the biggest drivers was the rapid expansion of computed tomography (CT). However, radiology society driven campaigns to lower doses and new technologies developed by imaging systems vendors have succeeded in cutting radiation exposure rates in the most recent assessment.
GE Healthcare introduced its artificial intelligence (AI) automation features on its Voluson Swift ultrasound platform at the 2020 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) virtual meeting. Features of this system include semi-automated contouring, auto identification of fetal anatomy and positioning on imaging. AI is seeing increasing integration in ultrasound systems from numerous vendors.

Recent advances in ultrasound image systems seen over the past year include the integration of artificial intelligence (AI), automation of functions and measurements, introduction of very specialized tool sets, the rapid growth in point-of-care systems, improved ergonomics, and on the horizon, the development of therapeutic ultrasound systems for cardiovascular and cancer therapies.
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