Medical Imaging

Physicians utilize medical imaging to see inside the body to diagnose and treat patients. This includes computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), X-ray, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, angiography,  and the nuclear imaging modalities of PET and SPECT. 

ACR: Stage 2 MU issued on aggressive timeline,' more to come

The American College of Radiology (ACR) said the Stage 2 meaningful use (MU) final rules were released publically on an unusually aggressive timeline, but will otherwise wait to issue a further analysis.

Study touts [18F]-T808 as first selective PET tracer for tau protein pathologies

Research on the first highly selective and specific PET tracer for in vivo neurological imaging of tau pathologies has been published in the August issue of Journal of Alzheimers Disease.

Merck to seek approval for Vorapaxar, Tredaptive in 2013

Merck will seek regulatory approval of two cardiovascular drugs in the U.S. and Europe, the company announced Aug. 26 at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Munich. The drugs are a thrombin receptor antagonist (Vorapaxar) and extended release niacin/laropirprant (Tredaptive), the latter of which is designed to reduce high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.

FDA clears Somatom Definition Edge CT system

The FDA has approved Siemens Healthcare's Somatom Definition Edge single-source CT systemthe first single-source CT to use Siemens Stellar Detectorhas been approved for sale in the U.S.

ACC webinar to cover coding basics

An upcoming American College of Cardiology (ACC) webinar, hosted by the ACCs Cardiovascular Administrator Work Group, will cover the coding essentials that cardiovascular professionals need to thrive.

ACC survey looks at impact of information on practice

The latest edition of American College of Cardiology's (ACC) CardioSurve newsletter takes a look at the impact and utilization of information from the clinical perspective at the point of care, where digital access is as common as a stethoscope, to the back office procedures once mired in paper processing that now operate on an information cloud. This focus on data streaming is an important facet of the continuum of care that impacts all aspects of practices from patient outcomes to reimbursement.

ACC issues white paper on developing, managing CV service line

The American College of Cardiology's (ACC) Council on Clinical Practice has issued a new white paper to describe the various aspects of developing and managing a successful cardiovascular (CV) service line.

Trade associations require time to implement Sunshine Act

A quartet of life science trade associations encouraged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to publish a final rule implementing the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that would require pharmaceutical, medical device, biological and medical supply manufacturers to report payments made to providers and teaching hospitals to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Around the web

To fully leverage today's radiology IT systems, standardization is a necessity. Steve Rankin, chief strategy officer for Enlitic, explains how artificial intelligence can help.

RBMA President Peter Moffatt discusses declining reimbursement rates, recruiting challenges and the role of artificial intelligence in transforming the industry.

Deepak Bhatt, MD, director of the Mount Sinai Fuster Heart Hospital and principal investigator of the TRANSFORM trial, explains an emerging technique for cardiac screening: combining coronary CT angiography with artificial intelligence for plaque analysis to create an approach similar to mammography.