July 13, 2018 — Follow-up imaging for women with non-metastatic breast cancer varies widely across the country, according to a new study led by researchers at UC San Francisco.

iSchemaView has signed Diagnostic Imaging Australia (DIA) to be the exclusive distributor for the RAPID cerebrovascular imaging analysis platform in Australia and New Zealand. Hospitals and clinics that treat ischemic stroke in these countries will now have access to RAPID’s automated computed tomography perfusion (CTP), magnetic resonance (MR), CT angiography (CTA) and ASPECTS solutions, with support from DIA’s customer service specialists in the region.

2019 Proposed Physician Fee Schedule Appropriate Use Criteria Summary

On July 12, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed rule for the 2019 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). This year’s proposed rule also includes updates to the Quality Payment Program and a few other items. You can find the proposed rule in its entirety here.

The primary Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) section runs from pages 438 to 459. Here are a few quick takeaways:

July 12, 2018 — Siemens Healthineers recently announced the launch of its new ultrasound system, the Acuson Sequoia. The general imaging ultrasound system was developed in response to what the company calls one of the most prevalent challenges in ultrasound imaging today: the imaging of different sized patients with consistency and clarity. With its new Deep Abdominal Transducer (DAX), a new high-powered architecture, and updates to elastography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound, the Acuson Sequoia produces penetration up to 40cm.

EchoNous has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for the EchoNous Vein, an ultrasound-based tool designed specifically for nurses to improve peripheral IV (PIV) catheter placements. Developed for usage across a wide range of patients including both adults and children, EchoNous Vein provides immediate, clear images at depths from 1 to 5 centimeters for quickly visualizing superficial and deeper veins with just two-button controls. EchoNous Vein will integrate with the company’s existing intelligent medical tool, Uscan, to form the EchoNous platform.

Randomized clinical trials are the gold standard of cancer research and can shed light on whether innovative, new therapies with great potential actually have clear benefits over usual care for patients. However, the seven randomized trials funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to test proton therapy are enrolling more slowly than expected. Commercial insurance medical policies that do not cover treatment with proton therapy can make it difficult for patients to participate in randomized clinical trials funded by the NCI, part of the National Institutes of Health, that are evaluating the therapy. That’s the message from an expert at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues at the NCI who are calling attention to what the authors say is a major barrier these trials face. The authors publish their commentary, and proposed solutions, this week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Zebra Medical Vision has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Coronary Calcium Scoring algorithm. The algorithm, capable of automatically calculating a patient’s Agatston equivalent coronary calcium score from an electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated computed tomography (CT) scan, provides physicians with important data used in the assessment of the risk for coronary artery disease.

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