Molecular imaging is beginning to give cardiologists insight into biological processes behind heart failure, knowledge that may allow them to monitor disease progression and tailor therapies. But market realities still pose barriers.

“Alzheimer’s disease is probably the most underfunded disease in the U.S.,” charges Dean M. Hartley, PhD, director of science initiatives, medical and scientific relations, for the Alzheimer’s Association.

An exploration of recent projects at Argonne National Laboratory and Johns Hopkins University traverse the numerical and graphical landscape of cerebral blood flow, the pathology of malaria, brain aneurysm, sickle cell anemia and even cancer.

The past year has been a groundbreaking one for neurology. 

When I began my PhD research almost 40 years ago, nuclear medicine research was almost entirely focused on diagnosis. 

Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a major molecular medicine company based in Bourg en Bresse, France, announced Mar. 4 that the firm had acquired 100 percent of shares of the privately held U.K.-based Imaging Equipment, a distributor of nuclear medicine technologies and radiopharmaceuticals across the U.K. and Ireland.

The question of appropriate use of advanced nuclear medicine procedures is more salient than it has ever been, with overall health cost under government scrutiny and imaging eyed in particular due to increasing procedure numbers. Some experts are pointing to non-medical news sites and other media as a culprit in patient demand for potentially inappropriate PET use, according to a study published Feb. 18 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Higher follow-on diagnostic rates, variation in patterns of follow-on diagnostics, higher breast biopsy rates, and higher false positive biopsy rates due to Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions demonstrate the need for payer and employer evaluation of the quality and value of breast cancer screening follow-on diagnostic patterns, according to an actuarial analysis published by Milliman on Feb. 20.