Lawmakers in the commonwealth of Virginia are debating the implications of breast density notification legislation.

Revised criteria for the diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) could compromise the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD) dementia, according to an analysis published online Feb. 6 in Archives of Neurology.

The Texas Department of State Health Services-Radiation Control Program has granted Positron's wholly owned subsidiary, Manhattan Isotope Technology, approval of its radioactive materials license amendment.

Shine Medical Technologies, a developer of medical isotopes and cancer treatment elements, intends to build a new manufacturing plant in Janesville, Wis. Plant completion is planned for 2015, with more than 100 permanent employees and potential for further employment growth.

The diagnostic imaging market will be marked by an expansion of hybrid modality technology, the growth of imaging in emerging markets and negative growth due to reimbursement cuts in the U.S., according to a report by GBI Research, a business information company, distributed by Industry Review.

The Florida State Senate has refused to consider HB 1329, which would have required imaging centers, along with other healthcare providers, to publish and post a schedule of charges for services provided to patients paying out of pocket, effective Jan. 25.

The global PACS market, valued at $2.8 billion in 2010, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10 percent to reach $5.4 billion by 2017, according to a MarketResearch.com report titled “Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (PACS) – Global Opportunity Assessment, Competitive Landscape and Market Forecasts to 2017.”

Bioscan, a developer of preclinical imaging systems, has established a subsidiary in Dijon, France, Bioscan Molecular Imaging France.

An internal audit published in late 2010 showed that University of Missouri Health Care was providing unrequested radiology services, according to the Columbia Tribune.

As the healthcare system abandons fee-for-service reimbursement models for the potential savings of value-based reimbursement models, IT services firm CSC suggested that incentives for patients and providers need to more closely resemble each other for the transition to work.

The CHEST Foundation has awarded a Roswell Park Cancer Institute research team a $100,000 grant to develop a blood test to help diagnose lung cancer in patients before they undergo a biopsy.

Siemens, the Munich-based conglomerate, is planning to cut up to 1,000 jobs in its healthcare division.

Positron has received a nuclear pharmacy license from the Indiana Board of Pharmacy for its Crown Point, Ind., manufacturing facility.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has confirmed the recent downward trend in Medicare spending and utilization on medical imaging procedures and said imaging services declined by 2.5 percent in 2010.

The European Research Council has awarded a team of researchers from the University of Southampton a €2.8 million ($3.6 million USD) grant to support research into enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), which could lead to brighter and more precise MR images.

Roberto R. Gil, PhD, and Rongchao Jin, PhD, of Carnegie Mellon University of Pittsburgh have used nuclear MR to analyze the structure of infinitesimal gold nanoparticles, which could advance the development and use of the tiny particles in drug development.

Oncology clinicians may soon have hundreds of biomarker tests available to them to assist in developing personalized cancer treatments, but some healthcare professionals believe that novel funding approaches for biomarker tests’ studies—a systematic process to move biomarker tests through regulatory agencies and a body of evidence supporting biomarker tests’ benefits—will all be necessary before healthcare system stakeholders accept their use.

The University of South Florida (USF) has opened the Center for Memory C.A.R.E. (Clinical Assessment, Research and Education), on the second floor of the six-story USF Health Byrd Alzheimer’s Institute, to support patients and their caregivers.

Molecular imaging company Positron has signed a letter of intent to buy Manhattan Isotope Technology (MIT), a strontium-82 (SR-82) product specialist, for an undisclosed amount.

The Image Gently campaign and the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) have launched the “Go With the Guidelines” campaign to encourage community hospitals, academic hospitals and clinics to observe new North American Guidelines for Nuclear Medicine Radiopharmaceutical Dose in children.