Since the Office of Management and Budget identified cloud computing as a major component of a government IT reform plan in December 2010, agencies have made progress implementing cloud-based services, but future efforts require better planning, according to a July 11 report published by the Government Accountability Office.

Siemens Healthcare has introduced the Acuson P300 ultrasound system.

Harry C. Dietz, MD, a professor of pediatric cardiology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, has received a $100,000 research grant from the University of Michigan's A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute in Ann Arbor.

Thromboprophylaxis is underutilized in medical inpatients, even though the clinical and economic impact of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is significant, according to a retrospective analysis published in the June issue of the American Journal of Managed Care.

Neurosurgeons and researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles are adapting an ultraviolet camera to possibly bring the technology into the operating room.

PET imaging detected amyloid-beta (AB) deposition 15 years prior to expected onset of symptoms among persons with genetic mutations, predisposing them to autosomal-dominant Alzheimers disease, according to a study published July 12 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The researchers also reported concentrations of AB in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 25 years before symptom onset and increased tau protein in CSF 15 years prior to symptoms.

Among patients with mild or no cognitive impairment, PET imaging using florbetapir, which binds to amyloid plaques in the brain, has been shown to detect early evidence of Alzheimers disease (AD) that may predict future decline, according to findings published online July 11 in Neurology.

At Health Imaging, we like to think of July and August as a bit of downtimethe breather before the run-up to RSNA. That characterization may represent fantasy more than reality.