CT

Hybrid imaging dominated the nuclear medicine section of the RSNA exhibit floor. Philips and Siemens promoted multislice SPECT/CT, while GE, which pioneered the idea five years ago, showed an upgraded version of its Infinia gamma camera coupled to a single-slice, nondiagnostic CT for attenuation correction.

Radiologists eagerly expecting a clear winner to emerge from the RSNA session on CT colonography interpretation technique walked away disappointed Tuesday afternoon. A series of four presentations provided no clear consensus on which method would increase sensitivity for polyp detection.

Hybrid imaging dominates the nuclear medicine section of the RSNA exhibit floor. Philips and Siemens are promoting multislice SPECT/CT, while GE, which pioneered the idea five years ago, is showing an upgraded version of its Infinia gamma camera coupled to a single-slice, nondiagnostic CT for attenuation correction.

Perforation rates for a CT colonography, while still low and acceptable, are fast approaching those of traditional optical colonoscopy.

Proponents of CT colonography may lower the bar in measuring the imaging modality against conventional colonoscopy. After a wave of mediocre sensitivity results, many experts are asking whether it should be compared instead with optical colonoscopy or air contrast barium enema.

PET pioneer acquires micro-CT firm CTI Molecular Imaging plans to acquire ImTek, a provider of micro-CT systems for imaging laboratory animals used in medical research. The $3.75 million cash deal is expected to close by the end of November. Financial performance and milestone achievements hold the potential for future incentive payments. The acquisition of ImTek, which designs and manufactures the MicroCAT scanners, would complement CTI Concorde, a business unit of CTI Molecular Imaging dedicated to the manufacture of micro-PET scanners.

CT angiography can identify patients with subclinical atherosclerosis who may be inaccurately diagnosed as normal by traditional catheter angiography, according to a study from South Carolina.

Providing attenuation correction in SPECT/CT is no longer enough for GE Healthcare. The company that pioneered hybrid imaging five years ago with its Hawkeye Infinia will release a multislice version of the system a few weeks from now at the RSNA meeting. The reason is not so much the market as GE’s competitors.

A lull enveloped September, as FDA reviewers cleared just 25 new radiological devices -- a slight dip from August and well below the earlier summer months, which rode into the high 30s. The industry was still well ahead of last year, however, in the total number of devices cleared for marketing in the U.S.

Radiology's cardiac turf losses are legion: cardiac catheterization, cardiac angioplasty, echocardiography, and nuclear cardiology. Today, another turf battle is taking shape: control of cardiac CT and MR.

Taking a cue from breast imaging, an international working group has developed a standardized reporting system for CT colonography. The step could help it win wider acceptance as a screening strategy for colon cancer.

Philips cuts deal with healthcare enterpriseMarietta Memorial Hospital and Philips have struck a multiyear strategic agreement to bring advanced medical technology, clinical support, and staff education to the southeastern region of Ohio. Marietta and Philips have worked together for more than 10 years to outfit Marietta’s Cancer Center with digital x-ray and CT simulator systems.

Weakness seen in the CT market during the preceding two years continued in the first half of 2004. And the second half is starting out worse than the first.

Philips Medical Systems has followed the launch of its private practice cardiology CT system with a cascade of unveilings, each aimed at a distinct segment of the CT marketplace.

If you think cardiology is the only opportunity for niche CT, think again. CT could well be on the verge of a major change in usage fomented not by technology but by perspective. And MR might not be far behind. As happens so often, history will guide the way.

Cardiologists can make money owning CT scanners and performing coronary CT angiography, according to a presentation given at the North American Society for Cardiac Imaging meeting this week in Amelia Island, FL.

Cardiology fellows may find their cardiovascular MR training inadequate compared with nuclear and vascular imaging, according to a study by the American College of Cardiology Foundation. The lack of CMR equipment and/or curricula concerns the ACCF because recently revised training guidelines require a minimum exposure to the modality.

Cardiology fellows may find their cardiovascular MR training inadequate compared with nuclear and vascular imaging, according to a study conducted by the American College of Cardiology Foundation. The lack of CMR equipment and/or curricula concerns the ACCF because recently revised training guidelines require a minimum exposure to the modality.

When radiologists look back on how ultrasound and nuclear medicine evolved, some lament battles lost. Once firmly in the grip of radiologists, these modalities slipped from their grasp into the hands of other specialists, notably those of cardiologists. It’s about to happen again-this time in CT.

When radiologists look back on how ultrasound and nuclear medicine evolved, some lament battles lost. Once firmly in the grip of radiologists, these modalities slipped from their grasp into the hands of other specialists, notably those of cardiologists. It’s about to happen again-this time in CT.

Philips Medical Systems has developed a 16-slice CT scanner designed specifically for private practice cardiologists. The new system, which will be unveiled this week at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference in Washington, DC, is restricted to the analysis of cardiac and peripheral vasculature and cannot be used to perform radiologic exams.

Visitors to June’s Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting in Philadelphia may have glimpsed the future of SPECT imaging with news of systems from Philips and Siemens that marry multislice CT and SPECT (DI SCAN 6/28/04). But it takes two modalities to build a hybrid, and while GE Healthcare’s own offering still relies on single-slice CT technology, the company is ramping up the metabolic imaging end of its SPECT/CT system.

Customers in the market for a PET/CT may soon have a new choice. The FDA is reviewing Hitachi Medical Systems' Sceptre P3, an LSO-based rotational PET scanner outfitted with a quad-slice CT. Hitachi is planning a fourth-quarter commercial release of the

The rising popularity of nuclear medicine imaging has spurred several organizations to develop DICOM standards for seamless transmission of the complex dynamic images in the digital world of PACS.The Society of Nuclear Medicine DICOM working group and

If not for the advent of PET/CT, the nuclear medicine market would be going nowhere. Gamma cameras have slipped into a very long life cycle. Industry executives estimate that customers are holding onto gamma cameras for eight to 10 years, and for good

GE Healthcare announced at this month's Society of Nuclear Medicine meeting the development of a system to help produce a derivative of the fluorine positron radioisotope. The 18F-F2 isotope is a critical starting point for the production of F-DOPA,

Slightly more than one of every 10 patients with moderate-to-severe kidney disease who undergo coronary angiography enhanced with iopamidol or iodixinol contrast media will die or experience another major adverse event, such as stroke or myocardial infarction, in the year following imaging because of contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) associated with the procedure.

Display groups images by acquisition time Call it information overload. Call it the price of progress. But don't call it a done deal.The flow of data from multidetector CT scanners has challenged radiologists since the first MDCTs