Capital Health, a hospital network based in New Jersey, has inked a contract with GE Healthcare to install GE's Discovery NM 750b at Capital Health Medical Center - Hopewell in Pennington, N.J.

CHICAGO--Though bone metastases in neuroendocrine tumors are usually sclerotic with increased bone volume, CT alone depicts only 43 percent of Ga-68-DOTATOC/DOTANOC-positive bone lesions, according to a retrospective analysis presented Nov. 29 at the Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

CHICAGO--Image interpretation will need to include quantitative analysis in the future, according to a session on Nov. 30 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

CHICAGO—18F-FLT PET presented much higher specificity than 18F-FDG PET for detecting uterine malignant tumor, and FLT PET correlated to cell proliferation better than FDG PET, based on a small Japanese study presented Nov. 29 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

CHICAGO—Errors in interpretation of ultrasound screening of breast cancer were similar in prevalence (21 percent of misses) to errors in mammographic and MRI interpretation, based on a retrospective review of the ACRIN 6666 trial, presented Nov. 27 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

CHICAGO—Adhering to best practices and engaging end users in a project implementation does not guarantee compliance or a successful adoption of structured reporting templates, according to the scientific poster presented Nov. 27, at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

SAN ANTONIO—“If we simplify the problem, we simplify the development of solutions,” Clayton M. Christensen, MBA, the Robert and Jane Cizik Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, said Oct. 26 at CHIME11, the Fall CIO Forum.

Carestream Molecular Imaging is sponsoring a complimentary seminar on Imaging Technologies & Strategies in Pre-Clinical Small Animal Research on Dec. 6, in Cambridge, Mass.

A newer type of MRI scan, diffusion-weighted MRI, can better differentiate benign lung lesions from those which are cancerous, and therefore, could be used to prevent unnecessary surgery by enabling more accurate diagnosis of the disease, based on a study presented Sept. 25 at the European Respiratory Society's annual congress in Amsterdam.

DENVER—In the current era of nuclear stress testing, a major debate is whether pharmalogical stress testing is comparable with exercise testing. During a presentation Sept. 11 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific sessions, Brian G. Abbott, MD, medical director of nuclear cardiology at the Rhode Island Cardiology Center in Providence, R.I., said yes, particularly for diagnosing coronary artery disease.

DENVER—With the “explosive growth” of cardiovascular imaging, the focus must now center on improving quality and reducing radiation exposure, and appropriate use criteria (AUC) can help, Robert C. Hendel, MD, director of cardiac imaging and outpatient services at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, said during a presentation Sept. 10 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific sessions.

DENVER—Myocardial perfusion SPECT should be limited to women with indeterminate or abnormal test results, Leslee J. Shaw, PhD, co-director of the clinical cardiovascular research institute at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said during a presentation Sept. 11 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific session. However, as Shaw reported the results of the WOMEN trial, she concluded that in the future, more of an emphasis should be placed on guiding and evaluating patients via the accepted best practice.

DENVER—Incorporating coronary artery calcium screening (CAC) into practice can change the diagnoses and management of coronary artery disease (CAD), however, it may still be too early to tell how it will impact patient outcomes, Tim M. Bateman, MD, co-director of cardiovascular radiologic imaging at Mid America Heart Institute, Saint Luke's Health System in Kansas City, said during a presentation Sept. 11 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific session.

DENVER—Coronary CT Angiography (CCTA) is not indicated for use in atrial fibrillation (AF) patents due to the problems it causes in terms of diagnostic accuracy, Thomas C. Gerber, MD, PhD, of the division of cardiovascular diseases at the Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla., said during a presentation Sept. 10 at the annual scientific sessions of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC). However, cardiac CT may be beneficial in some instances for this patient population when the right methods are used.

DENVER—When performing nuclear imaging studies, it is important to balance benefits against potential risks, however, it is most imperative to ensure that only appropriate patients are being imaged, George A. Beller, MD, a cardiologist at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville, said during a presentation Sept. 10 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific session.

DENVER—As important players within the medical community work to reduce unnecessary radiation exposure from medical imaging, integrating protocols and strategies, such as shielding, can help reduce dose, James A. Case, PhD, of Cardiovascular Imaging Technologies in Kansas City, said during a presentation Sept. 9 at the 16th annual American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) meeting.

As part of a $4.5 million, nine-year effort to employ molecular imaging and nanotechnology in developing “theragnosis”—simultaneous diagnostics and therapeutics—partnering research teams from Purdue University’s Discovery Park and the Korean Institute of Science and Technology will hold a daylong symposium, Sept. 6, in West Lafayette, Ind.

SAN ANTONIO—According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), all non-hospital providers of advanced diagnostic imaging, inclusive of nuclear medicine, MR, CT and PET, must obtain accreditation as a condition for reimbursement by Jan. 1, 2012. Just who is authorized to offer such accreditation was the subject of a June 26 afternoon presentation at the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo.

SAN ANTONIO—How does someone who is not a medical equipment planner organize, implement and install the move of a 300-bed hospital into a brand new facility? Jeff Hooper, director of biomedical engineering at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., answered that question during a June 26 morning presentation at the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo.

SAN ANTONIO—The potential customer service value that a clinical engineering department brings to a provider is the “most overlooked aspect of a healthcare technology management program,” especially for the C-suite level, according to a presentation at the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo on June 25.