September 4, 2014 — Healthcare professionals will be able to access information about the latest and most complete oncology guidelines available at the point of care following an agreement between EBSCO Health and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN). Information from NCCN will be summarized along with other evidence and guidelines in the content available from the clinical reference tool DynaMed.

September 4, 2014 — Isis Innovation, the technology transfer arm at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, and the Centre for Imaging Technology Commercialization (CIMTEC) in Canada have announced a partnership to jointly develop and test a new enhanced ultrasound imaging technology.

Intelerad

Westerners want neatly drawn lines, simple demarcations, absolutes. In some cases, the lines are apparent. Others are not. Continents are easy to distinguish visibly from oceans. The boundaries between countries are not.

September 4, 2014 — Based on its recent analysis of the breast imaging solutions market, Frost & Sullivan recognized Volpara Solutions with the 2014 North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation Leadership.

Hologic
Hologic

Data from a new study of more than 170,000 examinations using 3-D mammography (breast tomosynthesis) screening technology finds significantly more invasive cancers than a traditional 2-D mammogram. The researchers also found that 3-D mammography reduces the number of women called back for unnecessary testing due to false alarms. The study was published in the June 25, 2014, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). 

Did you know that medical data on 20,000 people could be exposed to abuse today? According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HSS), that is the number of people whose protected health information was breached per day on average in 2013. While healthcare practitioners may not realize the value of the data in their care, criminals certainly do. Clinicians and nurses may feel wary of security measures that might slow them down, but there are ways to improve security that will not cost precious moments in an emergency situation. Being lax with security can have a long-lasting impact on all of your patients, not just those with emergencies.
The Business Case for VNA

One of the emerging health information technology (HIT) initiatives being considered and evaluated by providers across the country is the transformation and modernization of medical imaging strategy — or subsequently —architecture. The promise of a vendor neutral archive (VNA) or an equivalent medical image-object management solution is one of interoperability and rapid, simplified access to all medical imaging assets. This is further enhanced by the ability of the platform to act as a disaster recovery or the backbone of a health information exchange (HIE) with image management capabilities for patient data.
Allura Clarity
Siemens Artis Q.zen
IGS, Discovery IGS
Advances in Angiographic Imaging Systems

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 cardiology cath labs and hybrid ORs. These procedures include 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.

As technology continues to advance for all diagnostic imaging modalities, it sometimes reminds me of a race between vendors to build a better mouse trap. The main issue between cardiac echo, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), nuclear (SPECT and PET) and invasive angiography is that each has its strengths and weaknesses. When one test falls short, another is used to add diagnostic information, but it also adds time and cost.

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