The FDA has given 510(k) clearance to Riverain Technologies’ ClearRead +Confirm software, which is designed to improve chest x-ray clarity and aid in proper placement of tubes, lines and wires.

Routine repeated CT scans are largely unnecessary for stable patients after mild head trauma as an additional scan is unlikely to affect treatment, according to a study published in the January issue of Neurosurgery.

Breast cancer screening tacked on more than $1 billion to Medicare costs, but its effect on Medicare patient outcomes remains unclear, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The researchers suggested overdiagnosis in higher-cost regions, and also cautioned that the cost curve may grow steeper as Medicare covers newer screening modalities without proof of impact on outcomes.

Given Imaging, the Yoqneam, Israel-based gastrointestinal medical device company, has launched v3.0 of its ManoView ESO esophageal manometry analysis software.

MRI scans of newborns have revealed an association between differences in brain tissue volumes and common gene variants linked to Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia and autism, according to a study published Jan. 3 in Cerebral Cortex.

Routine CT imaging may not show the extent of derangement of an initial head impact injury and a normal head CT does not preclude the need for close clinical follow-up after head injury, according to a case report of second impact syndrome (SIS), published Jan. 1 in Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

Children who present to community hospitals with suspected appendicitis are much more likely than those who present to children’s hospitals to undergo preoperative CT imaging, according to a study published in this month's issue Pediatrics. Researchers called for strategies to streamline pediatric appendicitis evaluation and minimize radiation exposure.

Lifetime radiation risk estimates are flawed when used for clinical decision making and fail to capture the delayed timing of radiation-induced cancers, according to a study published Dec. 18 in Radiology. The researchers termed this phenomena the timing paradox.