Before the introduction of 3-D digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) imaging, 2-D full field digital mammography (FFDM) systems were the gold standard for breast cancer screening. However, during the past few years, DBT has become the new gold standard.



In May 2016, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) published a startling statistic. The prestigious journal pegged medical error as the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Because medical error reporting is not well-tracked, the paper’s authors needed to scour the medical literature and extrapolate the incidence of errors based on the best available data.



From streamlining your workflow to maximizing your return on investment (ROI), there are numerous benefits to having image integration with your electronic medical record (EMR). Below are three EMR integrations found to be very helpful to imaging centers. 


For all the benefits of medical diagnostic imaging, radiation exposure to both the patient and the operator remains a major safety concern. Various studies have illustrated the harmful effects of excess radiation dose, but much is still uncertain as to its precise impact.



Advanced imaging and hybrid modalities, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET)/CT and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/CT are showing significant growth and will continue to do so, despite some slowdown in overall imaging volume due to the changing reimbursement landscape.


A new proton therapy center at Centre Antoine-Lacassagne (CAL) in Nice, France, will soon begin treating patients with IBA’s ProteusOne system and the RayStation

treatment planning system. The facility is one of only two proton therapy centers in France, and the first in Europe with the ProteusOne, IBA’s compact pencil beam scanning proton therapy system.  


The global proton therapy market hit a major milestone in 2015, eclipsing the billion-dollar mark for sales orders and more than doubling the previous year’s total, according to market intelligence firm Medraysintell. This boom was evidenced by new proton therapy centers springing up all over the world, including 11 just since November 2015 — eight in the United States and three abroad in Hong Kong, Belgium and the Netherlands.


Erlanger Health Systems in Chattanooga, Tenn., purchased a CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System in December 2010 to develop a stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) program in its Radiation Oncology Department. The CyberKnife System included the Lung Optimization Treatment (LOT) function, which provides fiducial-free SBRT of early-stage lung cancer patients. 


Cardio-oncology is an emerging field that combines the expertise of both cardiology and oncology to assess and treat cancer patients for the second leading cause of death among cancer survivors — cardiovascular disease brought on by their treatments. Specific types of chemotherapy and chest directed radiation therapy are known to cause cardiac dysfunction, mainly due to cardiotoxicity — the symptoms of which may not present until months or even years after cancer treatment.


Melinda Taschetta-Millane, Editorial Director

Submitted by mtaschetta-millane on Wed, 09/07/2016 - 13:38
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