Molecular Imaging

Molecular imaging (also called nuclear medicine or nuclear imaging) can image the function of cells inside the body at the molecular level. This includes the imaging modalities of positron emission computed tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. How does PET and SPECT imaging work? Small amounts of radioactive material (radiopharmaceuticals) injected into a patient. These can use sugars or chemical traits to bond to specific cells. The radioactive material is taken up by cells that consume the sugars. The radiation emitted from inside the body is detected by photon detectors outside the body. Computers take the data to assemble images of the radiation emissions. Nuclear images may appear fuzzy or ghostly rather than the sharper resolution from MRI and CT.  But, it provides metabolic information at a cellular level, showing if there are defects in the function of the heart, areas of very high metabolic activity associated with cancer cells, or areas of inflammation, data not available from other modalities. These noninvasive imaging exams are used to diagnose cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, bone disorders and other disorders. 

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Siemens, CEA join forces in medical imaging, diagnostics, and therapy areas

Paris-based Commissariat l'Energie Atomique (CEA) and Siemens Medical Solutions have recently announced plans to expand their joint research activities in the area of innovative imaging and therapy.

PET-CT & Oncology: Hitting Stride

PET-CT has demonstrated its merit in oncology imaging. However, the combination scanner is not yet a mature modality, with challenges in reimbursement, training and IT integration.

CHRISTUS Health's Mobile Healthcare nabs 2005 AMDIS award

PatientKeeper Inc. a provider of mobile computing systems for healthcare, announced recently that one of its customers, CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi in Texas, was named one of the winners of the 2005 AMDIS Awards for excellence and achievement i

KLAS releases mid-year rankings

Health IT vendor research firm KLAS Enterprises LLC has issued its 2005 mid-year rankings of customer satisfaction with vendor products.

GE shows additions to PET/CT platform, new Evolution software, works-in-progress, and more at SNM

GE Healthcare showed a wide array of new products, upgrades, works-in-progress, and touted install base numbers related to the nuclear medicine area at last week's 52nd Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) annual meeting in Toronto, Canada.

Siemens showcases new clinical hardware, clinical applications

The newly formed and renamed Siemens Medical Solutions Molecular Imaging division (formerly Siemens Nuclear Medicine Group) presented a vision of its entire molecular imaging portfolio including a new entry-level addition to its Symbia family of TruePoint

SNM's Image of the Year goes to 3D PET/CT image

Drum roll please An image by Stanford University researchers that details taking molecular/nuclear imaging to a three-dimensional level has been named the 2005 Image of the Year at the Society of Nuclear Medicine's (SNM) 52nd Annual Meeting in Toronto ea

Satisfying PET-CT's IT Appetite

The PET-CT market is growing off the charts. Like a teenager's surging need for several additional meals a day and ever-rising high waters pant hem (and constant instant messaging!), PET-CT is pushing the limits of hospitals and health systems in terms of PACS, image volume and reading, network traffic, and image storage and archiving.

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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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