Study: Clinical MRI use growing

Marketing and research consulting firm IMV Medical Information Division Inc. has released a report that estimates 24.2 million MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) procedures were performed in 2003 in the U.S., an increase of 10 percent over the 2002 total of 21.9 million. These organizations used fixed and mobile MRI systems, according to the report.
   
Further data revealed that an estimated 10.6 million of the procedures used contrast agents in 2003, comprising 44 percent of the total. Additionally, comparison to 2002 showed that the biggest areas of procedural increase were pelvic and abdominal, lower and upper extremities, cardiac and vascular and breast studies, IMV said.

Around the web

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.

The newly cleared offering, AutoChamber, was designed with opportunistic screening in mind. It can evaluate many different kinds of CT images, including those originally gathered to screen patients for lung cancer. 

Trimed Popup
Trimed Popup