Hospitalized women with ischemic stroke are less likely than men to be evaluated by stroke specialists and receive specialized imaging scans and other diagnostic testing in hospitals, according to research being presented at this year's American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference in Honolulu.

Despite the best current recommendations advocating women avoid mammograms before elective breast surgery, a large number of women still undergo pre-surgical screening, reported authors of a study published in JAMA Surgery. The unnecessary imaging may drive up healthcare costs and lead to unneeded tests.

“We believe that people should be able to play a more active role in managing their well-being,” Apple COO, Jeff Williams, said in a prepared statement. “As we learn over time, the goal is to make more customized recommendations that will help members accomplish their goals and live healthier lives.”

A team of U.S. researchers used fMRI to discover that a lack of sleep can reduce the brain's ability to combat pain, according to a Jan. 28 study published in the journal JNeurosci.

The Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) mandating the use of a clinical decision support (CDS) system when ordering advanced imaging tests could affect up to six million emergency department visits annually, according to estimates published in a Jan. 29 Radiology study. The law is set to go into effect in January 2020.

Researchers from Stanford University in California have published a large, public dataset containing more than 224,000 chest x-rays from more than 65,000 patients to train AI algorithms. The team also announced a competition inviting developers to submit their chest x-ray interpretation models to detect pathologies more accurately than certified radiologists. 

Using fMRI, a team of researchers discovered combat veterans with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) demonstrate distinct patterns in how their brain and body respond to learning danger and safety. The study may help explain why some experience more severe symptoms than others.

In 2018, the FDA approved a total of 106 new medical devices including medical imaging technologies—surpassing their record in 2017 of 99 novel device approvals, according to a recent statement from FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, and Jeff Shuren, MD, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health.

Researchers at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois have developed a noninvasive, three-dimensional (3D) imaging tool able to capture blood flow and oxygenation within the capillaries of a human, according to research published in the journal Light: Science & Applications. The technique could help detect conditions from headaches to cardiovascular disease, sooner.

A radiologist who runs a private practice in Florida was arrested in Auburn, Massachusetts, Sunday for illegal possession of a handgun and for allegedly offering to pay for sex, according to a report by the Boston Globe.