Imaging Contrast

Contrast agents are injected into patients to help enhance images to make it easier for radiologists distinguish specific areas of the body from surrounding tissues. The most commonly used agents are iodinated contrast dye for computed tomography (CT), interventional cath lab angiography,  RF fluoroscopy, and in surgical OR procedures. MRI scans typically use gadolinium-based contrast agents. Ultrasound and echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound) imaging use contrast agents composed of microscopic bubbles to enhance images that otherwise would be suboptimal.

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Deep learning recons reduce contrast and radiation doses in aortic CTA

Deep learning reconstruction cuts radiation and contrast dose by half in aortic CTA exams

A new analysis in Academic Radiology dives into the importance of finding balance between reducing radiation exposure while maintaining image quality. 

Bayer's new CT contrast injection system earns FDA clearance.

New contrast injection system inks FDA clearance

The system can be set up in as little as two minutes and needs just 20 seconds to prime in between patients. 

'Critical' oversight of 7 factors increases contrast waste

Since the onset of the iodinated contrast shortage in 2022, countless tactics have been deployed to optimize use of the imaging agent, but many have been overlooked.

Banner ASC in Sun City, Arizona.

Two years after the contrast shortage, how have supply preservation tactics fared?

During an initial three-month intervention period, one health system estimates that its saved nearly 750,000 mL of contrast. Now, experts from the organization are sharing whether those changes stuck after the shortage ended.

'One-stop-shop' CT stroke protocol reduces scan time, contrast dose and radiation exposure

The protocol integrates CT angiography of the head and neck with the tomography perfusion acquisition, eliminating the need for two separate scans.

Using high concentration contrast media reduces patients' pain and discomfort during injections

While most safety considerations associated with contrast injections, like hypersensitivity reactions and extravasation, rarely become reality, pain at the injection site is much more common.

Test bolus of diluted contrast optimizes scan timing during CTA

It also reduces iodine uptake and radiation dose in patients, without sacrificing image quality.

Contrast protocols based on lean body weight save supplies, reduce patient risk

Adjusting contrast dose based on a patient’s lean body weight provides the same image quality as other administration methods, new data show.

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Around the web

Cardiovascular Business
Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

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.

Cardiovascular Business
‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

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.

Cardiovascular Business
FDA clears AI tool that flags signs of heart disease in chest CT scans

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. 

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