Medweb’s Advanced 3D Web PACS widens access to many 3D imaging functions and features previously available only on dedicated 3D workstations. With Medweb’s new product, introduced today at the RSNA meeting, users working on a standard PC can employ 3D templating and autosegmenting of image data from spiral CT scanners.

Agfa HealthCare designed its next-generation PACS, the IMPAX 6.0, to meet the specific workflow requirements of multiple users. Introduced at the RSNA meeting, the IMPAX 6.0 is a Web-deployable application that improves the planning, capture, interpretation, distribution, and archiving of images throughout an enterprise, according to the company.

The latest version of 3viseon software from 3mensio Medical Imaging gives radiologists and referring physicians real-time access to advanced 3D functionalities, such as color and gray-scale volume and slab renderings and MPR/MIPs, on an off-the-shelf PC.

A mammography upgrade to Kodak’s DirectView CR system, shown Sunday at the RSNA meeting, promises to allow hospitals and imaging centers to move toward digital breast imaging on existing computed radiography platforms from Kodak.

New productivity tools have been added to 3D diagnostic colon, lung, and vascular software products from Viatronix. Upgrades to the V3D-system, shown at the RSNA meeting on Sunday, improve PACS functionality and unify user interfaces across the company’s product line to create a more user-friendly workflow.

At a time when many radiologists are still trying to determine the best way to integrate 3D postprocessing into their workflow, it’s no surprise that they want the best of both worlds. Most radiologists want to perform their own image processing in addition to using the services of a dedicated 3D imaging lab, according to research presented Sunday at the RSNA meeting.

Myelination, the development of a protective sheath for nerve fibers, may dramatically increase when adults enter their forties before beginning to decline in old age, according to a study presented Sunday. The finding contradicts long-held beliefs that myelination is a normal process of brain maturation that is largely complete by early adulthood.

Siemens’ new Axiom Luminos TF, introduced today at the RSNA meeting, incorporates tableside fluoroscopy system enhancements suggested by company luminaries, who were an integral part of the engineering team.

Siemens is radically changing the direction of its CT program with the introduction of its Somatom Definition. The new scanner, publicly announced Nov. 17 and featured Sunday at the RSNA meeting, packs two imaging chains in a single unit, generating 128 slices per rotation. But Siemens is downplaying the number of slices in favor of the speed of the scanner and how its use might change the clinical application of CT.

Hot on the heels of favorable findings from the Digital Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial, digital mammography systems are in high demand on the RSNA exhibition floor. But buyers may have a rude awakening when they encounter problems with interoperability of systems from different vendors, according to a mammography task force.

GE Healthcare is introducing a new line of CT scanners at the RSNA, reflecting a major trend in the marketplace--miniaturization.

GE Healthcare played to high-field enthusiasts visiting the RSNA exhibit floor Sunday, unveiling three MR scanners – one at 3T and two at 1.5T.

Philips introduced its new HD11 XE ultrasound system, the HD3 portable ultrasound system, and Vision 2005 upgrades to its iU22 ultrasound system at the RSNA meeting Sunday.

OpView image processing software reconstructs breast images obtained from full-field digital mammography, as well as ultrasound and MRI, to bring clarity to challenging breast scans. The software, unveiled Sunday at the RSNA meeting by Siemens Medical Solutions, will assist interpretation of lesions in dense breasts and microcalcifications, according to the company.

Chicago at the end of November is the place to take the pulse of radiology. Each year at the RSNA meeting, forecasted trends don’t materialize, surprise trends sneak up, and the usual number of boom and bust predictions...well...boom and bust. We at Diagnostic Imaging will be in McCormick Place to document it all for our annual Webcast.

The importance of interventional oncology to the field of radiology will be evident at McCormick Place in Chicago this year during a four-day symposium held concurrently with the RSNA meeting. The Interventional Oncology Symposium, a collaborative effort with the Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation, will be the first jointly sponsored symposium to take place at the annual meeting.

Exquisite images of the brain, spine, body, and joints will adorn vendors' booths at the RSNA meeting, attesting to the benefits of clinical 3T. But, unlike the many ultrahigh-field MR scans that vendors have displayed in the past, most of these 3T images will come from systems designed for everyday clinical practice.

Computer-aided detection is evolving from an interesting technological trapping to a standard of care. Part of that process involves the ongoing iterative advancement expected to be on display at the RSNA meeting.

Manufacturers exhibiting at this year's RSNA meeting plan to upgrade x-ray's image, in more ways than one. With the transition from film to digital now in full swing, engineers are building upon existing platforms to increase ease of use, flexibility in applications, and productivity. Enhancements scheduled for the exhibit floor address portability and multifunctionality, as well as improved workflow.

Several vendors have tailored their PACS and informatics products specifically to meet the digital imaging needs of community hospitals, dedicated imaging centers, and large regional hospital groups.