A new era of telehealth has arrived. According to HIMSS Analytics 3rd Annual Mobile Survey, 83 percent of physicians use mobile technology to provide care. Because doctors are so mobile, patient information has to be mobile as well. The goal of telehealth is to eliminate geographic constraints and deliver quality patient care at any time, in any location.¹ Many healthcare providers have shown an increasing interest in telehealth because of the benefits it can provide, among them, greater access to patient data and images, lower costs and higher quality of care. Offerings of telehealth include consumer online access to providers for diagnosis and treatment of common ailments, real-time video-based virtual consults between providers and patients, in-home monitoring of chronically ill patients, and primary care physicians’ access to specialists for consultation and diagnosis.

Angiographic imaging system vendors have developed several new technologies to address emerging cath lab trends, including the need to reduce radiation dose, improve image quality and enable advanced procedural image guidance. All three of these points have become increasingly important as more complex procedures are attempted in interventional labs and hybrid ORs. These procedures include embolic coiling, neuro-interventions, thrombectomy, aortic repair, transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), mitral clip valve repairs, left atrial appendage (LAA) occlusions, atrial and ventricular septal defect closures, and new interventions for both electrophysiology (EP) and heart failure.

The exhibit floor at RSNA 2014 reflected a new era of austerity, one in which efficiency and effectiveness ruled. From South to North halls — Toshiba America to Siemens, Hologic to Samsung — new products and works in progress were distinguished by how they improved the lot of medical imaging among the various “ologies”.