An estimated 4 to 7 percent of nuclear and molecular imaging procedures are repeated due to poor imaging, which equates to $132 million in Medicare spending on avoidable scans, according to the Government Accountability Office. The Consistency, Accuracy, Responsibility and Excellence in Medical Imaging (CARE) bill, which would establish minimum education and certification standards for personnel who perform nuclear medicine and molecular imaging procedures, could help curb these costs, according to SNM.
Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle have received a $7 million five-year renewal grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) to continue research in molecular imaging of cancer and its response to therapy. This new award is funded through 2016.
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—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—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—“Anatomy or ischemia: Will either one of these add to better outcomes?” asked James E. Udelson, MD, chief of the division of cardiology and director of nuclear cardiology laboratory at the Tufts Medical Center in Boston, during a presentation Sept. 9 at this year's American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) scientific sessions.
Using both PET and SPECT may have the potential to provide clinically useful data to enable better stratification and favorable treatments for heart failure patients.
The 16th annual scientific session of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC), Sept. 8-11, brings together scientists, clinicians and industry to establish and discuss optimal standards of imaging care.
The global market for diagnostic imaging will exceed $24.4 billion by 2016 with a compound annual growth rate of 6 percent from 2009 to 2016, according to a report published by GBI Research.
Known to be significantly more susceptible to dementia, individuals with Down syndrome appear to display age-related increases in amyloid senile plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles that mirror those increases in Alzheimer’s patients as viewed with PET, according to a study published in the June issue of Archives of Neurology.
Shine Medical Technologies, a Middleton, Wis.-based startup, has secured an initial $11 million in venture capital funding as part of its bid to develop a manufacturing plant that will assist with the shortage of medical isotopes.
The Federal Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a bid by Saint-Gobain, a manufacturer of crystals for nuclear imaging, to overturn a District Court decision which found that Saint-Gobain had infringed on Siemens' patented PET technology.
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