Breast imaging is no longer a single modality specialty. Although mammography continues to lead the pack as the most accurate, accessible and cost-effective screening modality, magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound are quickly becoming elevated to the same standard of care, particularly for women at high risk.

Most notably, the American Cancer Society released recommendations last year that women at high risk of developing breast cancer should receive annual screening MRIs in addition to mammograms.(1)

The ACS panel recommended breast MRI for women who:


There are many types of cancer, where the severity of symptoms depends on the site and character of the malignancy and whether there is metastasis. A definitive diagnosis usually requires the histological examination of tissue by a pathologist. Most cancers can be treated and some cured, depending on the specific type, location and stage.

CHICAGO – Three-digit-slice and high-definition computed tomography may have turned heads at The Radiological Society of North America’s annual meeting and exhibition at Chicago’s McCormick Place during its usual post-Thanksgiving holiday berth (Nov. 25-30, 2007), but souped up CT scanners didn’t necessarily overshadow some of the key – and newsworthy – technology trends at the show.

RSNA 2007 stressed several themes that have become quite familiar in the last few years.


The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) left its mark on outpatient imaging center operators. There is no denying that the imaging industry has changed forever. Some may think that the 10 percent of operators on the brink of bankruptcy or in default on payments to finance vendors is a mere market correction for years of overgrowth. But do the math. With more than 11,000 imaging centers nationwide there are approximately 1,100 failing facilities.

March 24, 2008 - Researchers have developed a three-dimensional scanner that combines positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), in which PET spatial resolution and signal sensitivity are not compromised and MRI images are not substantially affected.

March 25, 2008 - ScImage will bring to ACC the latest additions to its Web-based cardiology viewing suite, PicomEnterprise, reportedly allowing gated SPECT and nuclear stress test images to be viewed from anywhere, eliminating the need for dedicated workstations in routine clinical viewing.

March 25, 2008 - Radon Medical Imaging Corp., Gaffney, SC, and Amerinet GPO, St. Louis, MO, entered into a three-year group purchasing agreement for Radon, a veteran reseller of Barco systems, to supply Barco display products to Amerinet members.

Amerinet has entered the deal providing a specific line of products to its informatics group offerings.

March 25, 2008 - Radon Medical Imaging Corp. and Amerinet GPO of St. Louis completed a Group Purchasing Agreement for Radon to be a supplier of Barco display products to Amerinet members for a three-year period.

Radon has been a value-added reseller for Barco display products for a number of years. Radon's knowledge in the area of digital imaging products and support contributes to its ability to also advise customers as to model and feature selection needed for particular applications.

March 25, 2008 - General Hospital Vienna of Vienna, Austria, successfully completed its first Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) treatment, reportedly one of the first to use this treatment option, designed to give simultaneous control of the linear accelerator gantry position, and speed the leaves and angle of the multileaf collimator and dose rate.

March 25, 2008 – MRI findings may be able to calculate the chance of cancer returning or spreading after treatment in patients about to partake in radiation therapy for prostate cancer, according to a new study published in the April issue of the journal Radiology.

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