Healthcare is constantly evolving, finding new ways to innovate and advance digital tools and technology. With this comes the need for transformation to keep up with these advancements. ITN spoke with Anne Snowdon, RN, PhD, FAAN, professor of strategy entrepreneurship, Odette Business School, University of Windsor, CEO of SCAN Health and Chief Scientific Research Officer, HIMSS Analytics, to find out more about the steps needed for this transformation and what we can expect to see in the future of healthcare.

Dr. Anne Snowdon is a Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Odette School of Business, University of Windsor.  Currently, Dr. Snowdon is the Chief Scientific Research Officer for HIMSS, Vice Chair of the Board of the Directors for Alberta Innovates, and member of the Health Futures Council of Arizona State University (ASU).  She is an Adjunct Faculty at the Department of Computer Science at the University of Windsor, the School of Nursing at Dalhousie University and the Centre for Innovative Medical Technology (CIMT), at the University of Southern Denmark.  Dr. Snowdon is leading a national Community of Practice to advance supply chain resilience across Canada, she has published more than 150 research articles, papers and cases, has received over $24 million in research funding, holds patents and has commercialized a highly successful booster seat product for children traveling in vehicles and is a Fulbright Scholar. She holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of Michigan, an MSc from McGill University, and BScN from Western University.  

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Successfully creating and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and analytic solutions in general requires a number of key factors, including data quality and a certain level of expertise. ITN had a conversation with Julius Bogdan, a leading expert in Digital transformation, Data and analytics, and Artificial intelligence and machine learning, to learn more about the key components needed to create and implement AI and digital transformation solutions.

Julius is Vice President and General Manager, Digital Health Advisory Team for the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). In that role, he leads sales, business development, product management, product marketing and advisory services teams across the continent on digital health transformation. He is responsible for the growth of the HIMSS Analytics portfolio adoption, channel strategy, and cultivating relationships across the provider, payer and public sector health landscape. He also serves on the advisory council of various start-ups and early stage firms in finance and healthcare on technology trends, architecture and market analysis.

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This year at HIMSS, the theme is Health That Connects + Tech That Cares, and cybersecurity is indeed a part of this picture. ITN spoke with Lee Kim, who is the Senior Principal, Cybersecurity and Privacy at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), on cybersecurity and how healthcare is at risk. In the video, Lee also discusses the 2022 HIMSS Healthcare Cybersecurity Survey, which reflects the opinions of healthcare cybersecurity professionals. You can more information about the survey results here.

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Bracco Diagnostics and Guerbet recently announced they had formed a strategic, global collaboration for the research, development, and manufacture of a new contrast agent.

Imaging Technology News talked to Jeff Fleming, president and CEO, at RSNA 2022 to learn more about this relationship and find out what Bracco is doing for the future of radiology.

For more information: www.vueway.com

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To mitigate the overwhelming volume of radiology data compounding staff shortages and burnout, Philips AI Solutions helps empower radiology departments by enabling radiologists to efficiently leverage artificial intelligence in their daily clinical routine.  

Philips AI Manager provides a tool that integrates with existing IT and PACS infrastructures, delivering seamless integration of AI benefits into radiology workflow at the point of care.  

Imaging Technology News talked with Tanuj Gupta and Kevin Lev at RSNA22 to learn more about Philips’ AI Solutions.  

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Konica Minolta Healthcare recently announced it is working with Amazon Web Services to offer its cloud-based Exa Platform and Symmetry PACS as a Software as a Service model in the Cloud.

Imaging Technology News spoke with Konica Minolta's Kevin Borden and Ash Dhar of AWS at RSNA to learn more about this new venture and how Konica Minolta and Amazon Web Services are working together.

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Kim Sandler, MD, Co-Chair of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Lung Cancer Screening Steering Committee, and Associate Professor, Department of Radiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, recently shared updates on research and initiatives for expanding life-saving lung cancer screenings. This video is part of ITN's Special Report on Lung Cancer Screening, a 3-part series focused on news and resources addressing the leading cause of U.S. cancer deaths.

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John C. Breneman, M.D., medical director of the Cincinnati Children's/UC Health Proton Therapy Center, and the principal investigator of the FAST-01 trial, explains FLASH therapy and details on the trial. This study is testing the use of a single FLASH proton therapy session, rather than weeks of fractionated doses.

FLASH and hypo fractionated therapy have been among the hottest topics in radiation oncology. The premise of FLASH is to deliver extremely high doses of radiation to a tumor in one, short dose. Lab testing has shown this actually has a healthy tissue sparing capability and may help in reducing collateral damage.  

If this and other trials show benefit and improved outcomes from FLASH, it is possible this may become the primary treatment method for many cancers in the years to come. Reducing therapy to one treatment session also would open up much more time for proton centers so many more patients could be treated. It also would be a significant time and cost savings for patients and their families, who would not be required to stay at nearby hotels for extended stays during their course of treatment.  

Cincinnati Children's/UC Health Proton Therapy Center announced the completion of enrollment in FAST-01 (FeAsibility Study of FLASH Radiotherapy for the Treatment of Symptomatic Bone Metastases) in October. This is the first human clinical trial of FLASH therapy, which centered on patients with metastases in arms and legs to avoid irradiating critical structures. If this trials shows benefits and low toxicity, followup studies will attempt more complex treatments in other parts of the body.

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At RSNA 2021, Philips highlighted the launch of two new innovative CT systems – the multi-energy Spectral CT 7500 and the CT 5100 Incisive with embedded AI capabilities. ITN spoke with Wendy Winkle Lawless, CT Business Market Leader - North America, Philips, to learn more about these new systems.

With the use of contrast agents and radiotracers on the rise, GE Healthcare has seen increases in demand across their pharmaceutical diagnostics business. At RSNA 2021, Marco Campione, General Manager, Pharmaceutical Diagnostics Americas, GE Healthcare, shared how recent investments are helping to meet this increased demand.

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At RSNA 2021, Fujifilm launched its new Velocity MRI system. It is designed to streamline workflow and enhance the patient experience with its open gantry, integrated RF coils and reconstruction techniques. Shawn Etheridge, Director, CT and MRI Marketing for Fujifilm, unveiled the system on the RSNA21 show floor.

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Brian S. Bingham, M.D., chief resident in radiation oncology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, explains the practice-level and national cost burden of treatment-related prior authorization for academic radiation oncology practices. This was a highlighted study presented at the 2021 American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) annual meeting.

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Bridget F. Koontz, M.D., chief medical officer at GenesisCare USA explains how to manage the complex needs of pelvic radiotherapy survivors. She offers an. overview of published evidence about the various toxicity types and approaches for managing them.

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Sun Nuclear highlighted two resources for CT Quality Assurance at RSNA 2021. ITN visited their booth to learn more about the Mercury 4.0 Phantom and the Multi-Energy CT Phantom from Thomas Webb, Global Product Marketing Manager

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Marc Succi, M.D., an emergency radiologist at MGH and executive director of the MESH Incubator, an in-house innovation and entrepreneurship center, and  Ottavia Zattra, a fourth-year medical student at Harvard Medical School, explain a study they authored showing there might be higher cancer rates due to lower numbers of CT scans during COVID-19. They presented this study as a late-breaker at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2021 annual meeting.

COVID caused many people to delay seeing their doctors. Their study found a corresponding 82% drop in CT imaging for cancer screening. CT is also used for initial cancer workups, to monitor active cancer and post procedure surveillance, which all also showed decline since the start of the pandemic.

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Mahadevappa Mahesh, Ph.D., chief physicist, Johns Hopkins Hospital, and professor of radiology and radiological science, explains the basics involved in quality assurance (QA) of radiology imaging systems. He spoke to ITN at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2021 annual meeting.

He explains the role of the medical physicist in keeping X-ray imaging systems such as CT, angiography and mammography calibrated and checking the device output of radiation. This is performed by imaging phantoms that mimic a simplified representation of the human body. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) use is growing in imaging and medical physics and QA of these systems might also become a duty of the medical physicist in some AI imaging applications.  

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Emanuel Kanal, M.D., FACR, FISMRM, AANG, director of the department of emergency radiology and teleradiology, director of MRI services, and professor of radiology and neuroradiology at the University of Pittsburgh, explains artificial intelligence (AI) is the biggest over all trend in radiology at  the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2021 annual meeting.

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Here are two examples of artificial intelligence (AI) driven pulmonary embolism (PE) response team apps featured by vendors Aidoc and Viz.AI at the 2021 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2021 meeting.

The AI scans computed tomography (CT) image datasets as they came off the imaging system and looked for evidence of PE. If detected by the algorithm, it immediately sends an alert to the stroke care team members via smartphone messaging. This is done before the images are even loaded into the PACS. The radiologist on the team can use a link on the app to open the CT dataset and has basic tools for scrolling, windowing and leveling to determine if there is a PE and the severity. The team can then use the app to send messages, access patient information, imaging and reports. This enabled them all to be on the same page and can communicate quickly via mobile devices, rather than being required to use dedicated workstations in the hospital. 

Both vendors showed similar apps for stroke at RSNA 2019. That idea for rapid alerts, diagnosis and communications for acute care teams has now expanded to PE and also for aortic dissection and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). AI.Viz and Aidoc are looking at expanding this type of technology for other acute care team rolls, including heart failure response. 

Read more about this technology in the article AI Can Facilitate Automated Activation of Pulmonary Embolism Response Teams.

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Jean Jeudy, M.D., professor of radiology and vice chair of informatics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, presented a late-breaking study at the 2021 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) meeting on COVID-19 linked myocarditis in college athletes. 

A small but significant percentage of college athletes with COVID-19 develop myocarditis, a potentially dangerous inflammation of the heart muscle, that can only be seen on cardiac MRI, according to the study Jeudy presented. Myocarditis, which typically occurs as a result of a bacterial or viral infection, can affect the heart’s rhythm and ability to pump and often leaves behind lasting damage in the form of scarring to the heart muscle. It has been linked to as many as 20% of sudden deaths in young athletes. The COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns over an increased incidence of the condition in student-athletes.

For the new study, clinicians at schools in the highly competitive Big Ten athletic conference collaborated to collect data on the frequency of myocarditis in student-athletes recovering from COVID-19 infection. Conference officials had required all athletes who had COVID-19 to get a series of cardiac tests before returning to play, providing a unique opportunity for researchers to collect data on the athletes’ cardiac status.

Thirty-seven of the athletes, or 2.3%, were diagnosed with COVID-19 myocarditis, a percentage on par with the incidence of myocarditis in the general population. However, an alarmingly high proportion of the myocarditis cases were found in athletes with no clinical symptoms. Twenty of the patients with COVID-19 myocarditis (54%) had neither cardiac symptoms nor cardiac testing abnormalities. Only cardiac MRI identified the problem.

Read more details in the article COVID-19 Linked to Heart Inflammation in College Athletes.

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Elizabeth Hawk, M.D., Ph.D., director of innovation Engagement at Rad Partners, a regional president for Matrix Teleradiology, and assistant professor of medicine at Stanford, explains how the COVID-19 pandemic has helped advance home reading and changed radiology.

While teleradiology and remote reading is not new, its expansion was greatly accelerated in 2020-2021 due to COVID. Early in the pandemic, hospitals tried to get as many of their employees as possible to work remotely, and radiologists who wanted to read from home were allowed to do so in large numbers. The past two years has taught many people that remote reading from home is possible and it also can aid the balance between work and family life. Hawk said remote reading will likely be the new normal even after the pandemic.

Hawk presented in a session on this topic at the 2021 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting. She said many radiologists from her practice were already reading from home prior to the pandemic, so they had the experience to quickly ramp up expansion during COVID. She offers advice to hospitals that want to introduce or expand home radiology reading. 

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