Over the last few years, new legislation mandating the inclusion of breast density findings in results letters sent to women after their mammography exams has begun appearing in a growing number of states. With three states having already enacted such laws, 17 states working on similar legislation and a federal bill recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives, Frost & Sullivan expects widespread breast density reporting laws to have a significant impact on the demand for and utilization of various breast screening technologies.

Lately, it seems that breast imagers cannot go a week without reading about new breast imaging research or seeing an article on breast density, the associated risk of breast cancer and the limitations of mammography. In this article, I will summarize today’s current understanding and also provide a look into what I believe the future holds for breast screening.

As many healthcare systems consider the advantages of moving patient data to a cloud-based service, radiology and IT managers are understandably concerned about data security. The good news is that healthcare facilities of all sizes can achieve more comprehensive data security from healthcare cloud service suppliers due to their expertise and investment in advanced technologies, infrastructures and processes.

The ultrasound market appears to be going strong in 2012, with healthcare providers expressing contentment with their systems and predicting increased usage for the future. This is the general sentiment expressed in a recent report by KLAS entitled, “Ultrasound 2012: Technology Improved, Usage Amplified,” published in June.

Activity in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems marketplace this year included the appearance of several units featuring a wide bore. Despite its benefits in terms of soft tissue image quality, MRI always had a slight hurdle to overcome in terms of patient comfort, both for patients whose clautrophobic tendencies make them cringe at entering the small tube to the obese population that has difficulty fitting into a smaller opening. Systems offering another 10-14 cm of diameter make scanning easier for those groups and are attractive to providers that want to attract and accommodate as many patients as they can.