Although it’s relatively new to coronary artery disease (CAD) detection, computed tomography angiography (CTA) is already facing some competition. New studies are pointing to magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) as equally effective in doing the same thing, without exposing patients to ionizing radiation.

As the medical imaging market grows rapidly, so does the size of image data sets. These huge data sets have in turn given rise to new workflow tools and techniques to better process these studies, moving 3-D visualization into the realm of data quantification and analysis.

People are impressed by new gadgets. When I say gadgets I mean inventive, often small, mechanical or electronic devices that may or may not be useful and are usually fun to play with. Gadgets that light up to musical rhythms are everywhere, but the one by Yamaha takes it a step further with a touchscreen grid of white LEDs that lets you play or compose music. Then there are the gaming helmets designed for video game players to use their thoughts instead of joysticks to control on-screen characters. Of course, robots have cornered the market for cool consumer thingamajigs.