Ultrasound

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine has updated its policy on fetal ultrasound studies performed without medical indications. Though the revised statement still targets keepsake imaging entrepreneurs, the new language looks at potential ethical violations by accredited ultrasound practitioners as well.

Ultrasound is undergoing a renaissance of sorts, as progress along familiar lines creates a critical mass of clinical capability.

Although ultrasound use in medicine continues to grow, the modality faces increasingly stiff competition from other modalities such as CT, MRI, and PET, which have undergone startling advances in the past several years. To respond to this competition, radiologists can employ several rapidly developing new technologies to enhance ultrasound's capabilities. With speckle reduction, volumetric imaging, and elastography, sonographers can reduce artifacts, improve image contrast, reduce image noise, and better gauge tissue stiffness to detect subtle hard-to-spot abnormalities. Proper use of these powerful new technologies can boost accuracy, repeatability, and efficiency to help keep ultrasound competitive with the other cross-sectional imaging modalities and perhaps open up new applications.

Multislice CT has certain advantages over ultrasound in the diagnosis of portal vein thrombosis, and clinicians are beginning to notice, according to an educational poster at the 2005 European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology meeting in Florence.

Ultrasound plus confirmatory fine-needle aspiration cytology can reliably diagnose melanoma metastases, including those less than 6 mm in diameter. Use of the technique enabled over 12% of patients with lymph node metastases to undergo immediate lymph node dissection without the need for prior sentinel node dissection, according to a German study presented at the 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Orlando.

A new contrast-based Doppler ultrasound technique can predict within the first two weeks of treatment which patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) will respond to Gleevec (imatinib) therapy, according to a study presented at the 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Orlando.

Doves like truces. A truce gives the two sides a chance to enjoy peace, if only for a short time. Maybe they’ll like it enough to stop fighting altogether, or so the thinking goes.

The shared services market for ultrasound is evolving. Practice patterns long established in Asia and Europe are cropping up in the U.S., prompting midsize and even large hospitals to buy ultrasound scanners designed for cardiological as well as radiological applications, according to Philips Medical Systems.

Doves like truces. A truce gives the two sides a chance to enjoy peace, if only for a short time. Maybe they’ll like it enough to stop fighting altogether, or so the thinking goes.

Researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have performed real-time functional cardiac MRI in fetuses. Theirs is the first report of this technique, which may represent an advance over the current gold standard of fetal echocardiography.

Doppler ultrasonography with perfusion software and contrast agent injection can be used to predict which patients with metastatic renal cell cancer will respond to treatment with the antiangiogenic drug sorafenib, according to a study presented at the 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Orlando.

Near-infrared light used with ultrasound can zero in on early-stage breast tumors, potentially reducing the number of biopsies, according to a study in the October issue of Radiology.

GE enhances ProdigyBone densitometry isn’t just for adults any more. GE Healthcare has enhanced its Prodigy bone mineral density system to support pediatric applications. New tools evaluate the pediatric skeleton relative to a child’s body size and skeletal age, as well as chronological age comparison. The upgrade was unveiled at the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research meeting in Nashville Sept. 23 to 27.

The ultrasound market in the U.S. stumbled last year, with the exception of hand-carried systems. Sales of ultrasound units were flat in 2004, but demand for handheld systems grew in the double digits, according to industry sources. The physicians driving those sales included not only radiologists but relative newcomers to the ultrasound fold such as surgeons and emergency room physicians.

Today's log at the imaging center shows 15 patients scheduled for different examinations. Most come with abdominal or musculoskeletal symptoms, and almost half of them are overweight. The daytime sonographer called in sick earlier, so the radiologist needs to make a tough call: Does she perform 15 ultrasound exams herself or does she shuttle everyone through to any of the CT or MR scanners available?

Philips has released a package of enhancements and new system configurations for its ultrasound portfolio. The upgrades, known collectively as Vision 2005, include new capabilities for the company’s latest radiology and cardiology platforms.

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Thyroid nodules with dominant central vascularization have a greater chance of being malignant. The vascularization of thyroid nodules can be a complementary criterion in indication of the nodule for fine-needle aspiration, according to studies presented at the 2005 European Congress of Radiology meeting.

Merge eMed unveils fetal 3D packageTwo-D fetal images can be reconstructed in 3D using a plug-in package developed by Cedara Software. The product, called Baby Explorer, is being marketed by Cedara’s parent company, Merge eMed. It runs on a standard PC, supports multiple image types, and exports images that can be printed on standard printers or saved on CD-ROMs.

July saw just one more FDA clearance (24) than the previous month, but the number of sophisticated submissions took a sharp turn to the north. Devices in image management and CT promise interesting twists on established offerings, while others in nuclear medicine, ultrasound, and x-ray indicate expansions of some vendors’ product lines.

China’s increasing demand for modern healthcare innovations has given a welcome boost to the makers of medical imaging equipment. With no sign of a slowdown in growth, it is little wonder that Siemens Medical Solutions is ramping up its investment in this market.

Much has happened in the year since the FDA approved the first MR-guided ultrasound device for the treatment of uterine fibroids. The pioneers of this new product area, InSightec and its imaging partner GE Healthcare, have launched initiatives to find other clinical applications. One is a pivotal trial of ExAblate 2000 for the treatment of breast fibroadenomas. Another combines two feasibility studies of the safety and efficacy of the device for ablating breast cancers and eliminating brain tumors through an intact skull.

Usually, the beginnings of great change are recognized only in hindsight. The exception to that rule may have happened Aug. 24. This was the day the developers of Cell Broadband Engine Architecture -- known informally as Cell -- flung wide the doors to the technical underpinnings of this new computing chip.

Usually, the beginnings of great change are recognized only in hindsight. The exception to that rule may have happened Aug. 24. This was the day the developers of Cell Broadband Engine Architecture -- known informally as Cell -- flung wide the doors to the technical underpinnings of this new computing chip.

Researchers in Iowa have received a $350,000 grant to assess the application of high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation for the treatment of brain tumors, according to a press release by Iowa State University.

The American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine has updated its policy on fetal ultrasound studies performed without medical indications. Though the revised statement still targets keepsake imaging entrepreneurs, the new language looks at potential ethical violations by accredited ultrasound practitioners as well, according to AIUM officials.

Controversial new data questioning prostate-specific antigen screening could lead to a surge in 3D ultrasound imaging until more accurate serum markers appear. Three-D has shown prominent gains in diagnosis, staging, and management of prostate cancer, according to recent studies.

Stentor merges with PhilipsOne month after Philips Medical Systems announced its intention to buy Stentor, the Dutch company has completed the acquisition. The merger will strengthen Philips’ position as a primary supplier of healthcare IT. Philips previously had depended on Swedish IT specialist Sectra for its PACS and workstation products (DI SCAN 7/18/05). In announcing the acquisition, Philips claimed record quarterly revenue for Stentor over the past three months, highlighting 14 new customer contracts, including a seven-year contract renewal from Henry Ford Health System.