Demand for digital x-ray is soaring, about 10 years later than most industry insiders predicted. Better late than never, for sure, but the reasons behind the rise of this class of products are as much economic as technological. Volume sales are bringing down the price of digital x-ray systems, just as the adoption of PACS is making digital radiography more a need than a want. Vendors are responding with more powerful equipment bearing attractive prices.

Integration of medical informatics systems continues to penetrate deeper into the hospital enterprise, driven by a search for increased efficiencies and better patient care-all on a tight budget. While the integration of radiology information systems and PACS occurs at the radiology department level, the convergence of healthcare informatics reaching across departments and entire enterprises has begun. Orthopedic and women's clinics, cancer and cardiac imaging centers are all adopting digital modalities and attendant support systems.

Barely three years after the introduction of 64-slice CT, Toshiba America Medical Systems will ask the market at this year's RSNA meeting to embrace scanners capable of 256 slices. Siemens Medical Solutions will introduce a 128-slice scanner just one year after releasing its dual-beam CT. Philips will tout newly upgradable CT scanners, and GE Healthcare will demonstrate image quality enhancements that company executives say will deliver soft-tissue contrast similar to that found with MR.

It's always been about applications in MR: expanding the reach of the modality, capturing higher resolution images, doing faster scans to cut down on artifact. Developers of this modality have had little choice. While its rival CT had been progressing with logarithmic precision from base 2, MR was rooted to decimal-based field strengths classified as low-, mid-, and high.

With thousands of papers, posters, and new product introductions, the 2006 RSNA meeting was so rich in content that you could find information to support just about any argument to explain what it all means.

What topics of research occupy the minds of radiologists? Dr. Peggy Fritzsche, chair of the RSNA Research and Education Foundation, revealed the top 25 questions in biomedical imaging and radiation oncology that the radiology community wants answered during the RSNA meeting in November.

PET imaging to diagnose brain tumor and monitor recurrence after treatment is an evolving field of research. Investigators at the RSNA meeting presented studies revolving around five tracers, as well as various permutations of imaging combinations such as FDG-PET with MR spectroscopy. While results are promising, challenges remain before any of these research avenues becomes clinically routine.

The total attendance tally for the 2006 RSNA meeting falls short of prior years despite a slight increase in local and international professionals. A drop-off in exhibitor attendance accounts for the decrease.

A consumer-grade monitor made by Dell Computers may be sufficient for interpreting radiography images, one of radiology's most demanding applications, according to a presentation at the RSNA meeting on Thursday.

Radiologists could optimize their diagnoses of lung abnormalities using computer-aided detection systems, provided they develop a better understanding of the strengths and shortcomings of every factor involved in the process. Learning this could save a day or two in court, according to studies presented at the RSNA meeting.

A prototype search engine uses advanced content-specific algorithms to efficiently search databases of image files contained in public Medical Imaging Resource Center storage servers. The search engine was developed as a joint project between the Baltimore VA Medical Center and the University of Maryland. The prototype is the alpha version of a vertical search engine designed to match users with radiology-specific content.

Two new detector systems entered the marketplace at the Canon Medical Systems booth this week on the RSNA exhibit floor. The Canon CXDI-50C Portable features a 14 by 17-inch detector plate. The Canon CXDI-40EC features a 17-inch square area.

CR vendor Radlink debuted at the 2006 RSNA meeting a value-priced system designed to help physician offices convert from film to digital radiography. The Pro Imaging will leverage the company’s existing lines, which include the CR Pro computed radiography system, hardware to digitize existing x-ray films, and software for managing practice workflow and data.

Houston-based Absolute Medical Software Systems introduced its RIS product at the 2006 RSNA meeting. The company has enhanced the practice management functionality of the RIS for claim submissions, insurance, and self-pay collection. The new features are designed to boost efficiency by eliminating duplication of data input and maximizing returns on claims processing, according to the company.

Nuclear medicine specialist Numa showed at the 2006 RSNA meeting enhancements for NumaLink, a cross-vendor data translation product, and NumaStore, a gamma camera and PET/CT image management system. The products promise greater connectivity within the nuclear medicine department and between nuclear medicine and radiology. Among NumaLink’s enhancements are DICOM translation capabilities for proprietary PET data sets, including those generated using Siemens and GE PET systems. The NumaStore upgrade supports Siemens’ preclinical microPET and the Inveon Dedicated PET small-animal imaging systems.

If you want to boost your chances of scooping up a coveted Magna Cum Laude (MCL) award at future RSNA meetings, you should submit an education exhibit in the multisystem/special interest category. That’s the conclusion many people will draw after two of the six top prizes went to presenters in this category, which attracted only 63 posters. Both winners hail from Asia.

The timing and place were perfect to let a larger audience hear what ultrasound insiders knew all along: Contrast-enhanced sonography could boost targeted biopsy’s power to detect prostate cancer and do away with the need for sextant or saturation-type biopsies, according to a study presented Tuesday at the RSNA meeting.

A virtual reality system unveiled this week allows neurosurgeons to walk through planned interventions step by step and radiologists, other specialists, and educators to discuss specific cases.

A natural gas leak in the western addition under construction at Chicago’s McCormick Place snarled traffic Thursday morning as city fire and police officers halted access to the popular north and south building of the massive complex.

Neurostar Solutions introduced at the 2006 RSNA meeting enhancements, including an expert opinion consulting service, a portal enabling online sign up, and the means to customize configurations of its Virtual Radiology Network (VRN).