Buyers of a new computed radiography reader from Fujifilm Medical Systems USA will have the option to double capacity, if needed, with a field upgrade. The new XG2000 comes with two cassette slots but can be reconfigured to four with relatively simple hardware and software adjustments.

Radiologists' eyes can suffer physical injury from a reading environment that is not optimized for their benefit. Attention has focused on ergonomic posture and ambient light, but researchers are beginning to understand that many other factors can put a strain on visual acuity.

An ultrathin viewing station debuted Thursday at the Maxant booth during the 2007 Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting in Providence. The new addition to the MediPort product line can be configured with single or multiple displays at various color or gray-scale resolutions.

A 10-year study of imaging volume demands on a PACS archive at the Medical University of South Carolina shows how significant a factor multislice CT has become in overall image data storage.

Software to aid in the evaluation of hepatic lesions debuted June 7 at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting in Providence. The IQQA(R)-Liver Enterprise, developed by EDDA Technology, enables 4D analyses running on existing PACS workstations. The software handles the large volume of data obtained from contrast-enhanced multislice images of the liver. It automatically performs anatomic phase registration to visualize and cross-reference lesion locations and characteristics across different phases of enhancement. Segmentation and measurement tools address lesions, vascular structures, and lobes of the liver.

Hospitals with fewer than 200 beds increasingly are taking the plunge into CR and DR, while upgrading obsolete CTs with multislice scanners. Their rising load of digital data requires a PACS, but costs have been a problem. On June 7, at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting, PACS/IT vendor Emageon and personal computer maker Dell proposed a solution: a simplified PACS based on Emageon’s advanced PACS and prepackaged to run on Dell computers.

The elderly patient was a major donor to the hospital. Intraoperative ultrasound revealed an unexpected liver lesion. Color Doppler showed vascularity. If the lesion was a cancerous tumor, the entire liver would need to be removed, the surgeon told radiologist Dr. Stephen Horii. Only histology would reveal actual pathology.

Attendees of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine conference June 7 to 10 in Providence are getting a taste of Dynamic Imaging’s new IntegradWeb RIS/PACS. Available for general release, the software is optimized for ambulatory imaging centers and radiology group practices. A beta version of the RIS/PACS has been running at Liberty Pacific Medical Imaging facilities in California and Ohio.

Soon, having the latest informatics technology, such as electronic health records, will no longer differentiate one hospital from another. What will help distinguish facilities is how that technology is used, how well the data is leveraged to improve processes and patient care, according to John P. Glaser, Ph.D., vice president and chief information officer of Partners Healthcare Systems.

Agfa HealthCare unveiled today the latest version of its Impax PACS as a work-in-progress at the 2007 Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting in Providence. Version 6.3 features customizable workflows designed for multisite environments and tools that allow for data synchronization, access to reports from across the enterprise, and management of multiple distinct patient ID domains.

PowerServer PACS version 4.3, an enterprise-grade IT, is on the market. The enhanced product is appearing at RamSoft’s booth June 7 to 10 at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting. Version 4.3 now includes study bookmarking, study linking, and a smart compare mode.

The theme for the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine's 2007 Annual Meeting could be "something old, something new." The society has streamlined the meeting to mix old favorites such as SIIM University with new programs such as a live demonstration to display workflow solutions for large data sets.

A status update and news of the latest initiative launched by the Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process drew a near capacity crowd on Saturday, at the final session of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting. TRIP's mission is to identify more efficient ways for imaging informatics to deliver high-quality healthcare.

Hospitals typically add or upgrade scanners to their radiology departments without considering how the new equipment will affect PACS performance. Some administrators argue that there is no other way to do it. But Sergio Camorlinga, Ph.D., research and development manager of TRLabs in Winnipeg, Canada, may have found a better way.

A prototype system created by Canadian researchers uses data mining algorithms to automatically search, identify, and retrieve clinically relevant cases when studies are opened in a PACS.

Radiologists are failing to receive adequate clinical information about patients that could affect diagnostic decision-making, according to a survey presented Friday at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting.

Signal-to-noise ratio has long been the standard for gauging the performance of MR scanners. Its calculation, however, can be tedious, especially when several scanners are involved.

Introducing motion into the display of static images could improve detection performance and efficiency, according to a paper presented Friday at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting.

Of the $120 billion spent on healthcare in the U.S. annually, about 10% to 20% is wasted on inappropriate treatment. What if some of those funds were invested in enterprise information systems? Imagine the possibility of routinely using such systems to identify trends in medical imaging procedures and highlight potential errors, inaccuracies, and waste.

The burgeoning field of PACS administration will have its own certification and testing program under an initiative announced Thursday by the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (formerly SCAR).