September 4, 2008 - Cancer patients in Europe, and possibly worldwide, may face a longer wait for diagnostic tests and treatments as a nuclear reactor in the Netherlands that supplies medical isotopes extended its shutdown for potential safety reasons.

Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group, which operates the reactor in Petten, in northwestern Netherlands, said Wednesday it would not start up the reactor again before the end of October.

About 15 to 20 percent of Canada's medical isotopes come from overseas, including the Petten facility, according to Health Canada.

September 5, 2008 - Digirad Corp. today announced the initial clinical trial of its new SPECT imaging system incorporating new proprietary technology to correct attenuation, an inherent issue in cardiac SPECT imaging.

The new system, Cardius X-ACT, will be exhibited at the 2008 Annual Scientific Session of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (ASNC) Sept. 10-14, 2008, at the John B. Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

iVu Imaging Corp. recently received FDA clearance for its Sofia Automated Tomographic Ultrasound (ATUS), designed for rapid 3D analysis of the human body for the earlier detection of numerous abnormal anatomical features including but not limited to breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, cardiac and peripheral vascular disease, gynecological abnormalities, In-vitro fertilization pre-implantation analysis, and abdominal trauma assessment.

Faxitron X-Ray’s enhanced version of ImageAssist as part of the latest v. 1.5 SR software for DX-50, MX-20 and LX-60 Digital Specimen Radiography Systems combines automatic exposure control with an expanded post-image processing suite. Along with automatic window leveling and auto-sharpen, ImageAssist now includes automatic contrast enhancement providing improved depth and structure in images. ImageAssist provides optimal images in just seconds with a single click, the company said.

S&S Technology will showcase the MSV00 DVS DI, a solution to comparing digital images to previous analog mammography images. Mammography films are placed on the horizontal motorized viewer directly above the monitors. The motorized film belt accommodates either (400) 24 x 30 cm or (600) 18 x 24 cm films.

The challenge in radiation therapy is to deliver the optimal amount of dose with enough precision to avoid damaging healthy surrounding tissue. Add to that, the reimbursement pressures of a fiscally tight healthcare environment that forces clinicians to put a premium on patient throughput, and the window of accuracy narrows. Balancing speed and accuracy in treating patients with radiation therapy requires professionals with critical thinking and strategic planning skills who can fuse art with science.

Contouring dose with pinpoint, multidimensional accuracy, targeting a tumor without damaging surrounding tissue and destroying a tumor in one radiation session is still a lofty goal in radiation therapy, and rarely attainable. For years, radiation oncologists and physicists have longed for technology to match their need for imaging and radiation delivery methods that hit all of these objectives.

For the Memphis, TN-based Baptist Centers for Cancer Care’s Radiation Oncology Center (BCCC ROC), providing high-quality cancer treatment and customer service translates to not only leading the local and regional pack clinically, competitively and technologically but also consistently.

September 4, 2008 - Merge Healthcare launch its Managed Services initiative, the Merge Off Site Disaster Recovery, which provides HIPAA compliant back up of radiology images and information.

September 4, 2008 – In the largest-ever study to compare molecular breast imaging (MBI) to mammography, researchers have shown that MBI can detect three times as many cancers in women who have dense breast patterns on their mammogram and are at increased risk of breast cancer.

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