We have entered a time in this country when more powerful is not necessarily better, when we can do more than we need to, but to do so is narcissistic nonsense. I was reminded of that by one of this nation’s wannabe leaders, Newt Gingrich, while he was campaigning in Florida before that state’s primary.

February 1, 2012 — The IT and medical technology company Sectra will demonstrate the latest version of its pre-operative planning system and visualization table at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) February 2012 meeting in San Francisco, Cali.

February 1, 2012 — Toshiba America Medical Systems announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance of the Aquilion prime computed tomography (CT) system, the latest addition to the Aquilion CT product line.

Southern Ohio Medical Center (SOMC) is a 222-bed, rural, nonprofit hospital in Portsmouth, Ohio, that serves approximately 120,000 patients in the Appalachian area. The computed tomography (CT) department is a 24/7 operation.

You can drive the 90 minutes to the small town of Poulsbo on the Kitsap Peninsula in Washington State. Or better yet, just jump on a ferry from Seattle and head directly across Puget Sound. Poulsbo is home to InHealth Imaging. In July 2011, InHealth was featured on television and in local newspapers for being the first imaging clinic on the West Coast to purchase a Selenia Dimensions breast tomosynthesis system, which also doubles as a stereotactic system for performing breast biopsies.

On average, PACS systems are being replaced every five to seven years. When a facility must choose a new system, there are many factors to take into consideration.

A picture archiving and communication system (PACS) comprises a multitude of different devices working together to eliminate the use of physical films generated by different imaging modalities by digitizing them. This brings ease and convenience in the economical storage and transmission of these digital images, as the need to file, retrieve or transport the physical films is eliminated.

If you missed seeing Watson (IBM’s artificial intelligence computer system, capable of answering questions posed in natural language) on the television show Jeopardy! last year, he outplayed, outlasted and outperformed his game show counterparts, besting his nearest challenger by $53,147. And while winning a game show is not quite the same as accurately diagnosing and treating a patient, the potential opportunities and applications of Watson in healthcare, and in radiology specifically, appear bright.

Intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) emerged as a new way to treat patients in the late 1990s and garnered attention because it offered the possibility to avoid radiating healthy tissue with more accuracy than conventional radiation therapy techniques. As a highly conformal 3-D therapy, its precise targeting of a tumor allows higher radiation doses to be delivered more safely.
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