Philips Medical Systems has introduced at ECR a motorized radiography system featuring battery technology that promises all-day scanning without recharging.

Nuclear medicine physicians have suspected since the advent of PET/CT that the hybrid technology would outperform PET or CT for staging cancer. Those suspicions were confirmed Tuesday by a study of 260 patients at the University of Essen, Germany, which showed that PET/CT is substantially more accurate for staging carcinoma than PET or CT alone and PET and CT viewed side by side.

Siemens Medical Solutions has introduced at ECR a lightweight, mobile C-arm designed as an adjunct for cardiac and abdominal interventions. The Arcadis Avantic features a 20-kW generator with a continuous digital 1K by 1K image chain and a 13-inch image intensifier. The imaging chain can deliver 30 frames per second.

The need to deliver as little radiation as possible to patients was evident during a Monday scientific session on CT imaging of the urinary tract. Researchers presented studies that ranged in dose from 20 mAs to 200 mAs. Those on the high end were sure to be grilled.

When Dr. Peter Kullnig offered patients at his imaging center in Graz, Austria access to their images, his intent was to protect their privacy. With private logins to the center’s Web-based PACS, patients controlled access to their records. They could open those records to their own physicians and doctors to whom they were referred.

Directives to decrease radiation exposure have galvanized researchers in Belgium to start a multicenter study to assess patient doses in interventional radiology. The data could lead to future auditing parameters.

Sectra hopes to strengthen its position in women’s healthcare with the availability of osteoporosis testing as part of its digital MicroDose mammography system.

Studies so time-intensive that they have thus far been impractical may soon enter the mainstream as a result of enhancements to GE Healthcare’s Excite data pipeline.

Precise evaluation of cardiac and thoracic anatomy is mandatory for planning safe minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass. Three-D images obtained with CT angiography can help avoid surgical complications, minimize the need to switch to the standard surgical approach, and help determine the best surgical access.

Cardiac CT is moving closer to competing with MR in imaging damage to the myocardium caused by infarction.

If Prof. W.C. Roentgen were alive today, he would recognize the need for university hospital medical managers who can eliminate bureaucratic burdens, appreciate the heterogeneity of research, and preserve the freedom that creativity requires. He would heartily approve of managers who are committed to training physicians and scientists, focusing on improving patient care, and investing in the infrastructure of medical centers.

Two months after its acquisition of information technology specialist GWI, Agfa Healthcare was promoting its consolidation at the ECR as a decisive step in its transformation into a global healthcare IT company.

Although fundamental research in biomedical imaging remains a relatively obscure field, some observers believe the future of radiology depends largely on developments in this area.

Hormone replacement therapy is known to carry a risk of cardiovascular events. Researchers in China, however, have found that women taking HRT have significantly lower coronary calcium scores and significantly less coronary artery stenosis. They recommend cutting the standard HRT dosage by half so women can retain the positive benefits against osteoporosis, as well as reduce the risk for coronary heart disease.

Residual questions about vertebroplasty’s safety and efficacy were put to rest in Vienna Saturday. Dr. Giovanni C. Anselmetti, medical director of the Interventional Radiology Service of Candiolo, Italy, announced results at the ECR meeting of a seven-center trial covering 1580 vertebroplasty patients.

Primovist improves MR detection of liver lesions and can change the surgical management of patients in a substantial number of cases, according to the results of two studies presented at the ECR Friday. The data were part of a symposium sponsored by Schering, the developer of the liver-specific agent.

Being a specialist in cardiovascular imaging, I have followed the development of cardiac topics at the ECR since 1991. Tremendous changes have occurred over this period.

Provided cost-effectiveness issues can be resolved, whole-body imaging appears destined to enter everyday clinical practice as a comprehensive initial scanning method in oncology and other areas, according to an ECR presentation Friday.

Europe is debating the acceptance of a common legal framework, a single constitution, for all European nations. This is a challenge, as was the free circulation treaty and the introduction of the euro as a common currency. Through alternating moments of shake-up and tranquillity, Europe is advancing in stages toward unification.

Adding contrast media to high-energy digital mammography studies can generate clearer images of difficult-to-spot breast masses. The use of contrast and digital subtraction algorithms led to results similar in clarity to breast MR in a small investigational study by German researchers.