As breast imaging centers rush to pair efficient operations with a host of patient-friendly amenities, the wise will consider the negative impact of the assembly-line model, according to an essay published in the November issue of Health Affairs. In Call It Jiffy Boob: Whats Lacking When Care Has Assembly-Line Efficiency, Colleen T. Fogarty, MD, family physician and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Rochester in New York, detailed her experience at a high-volume, patient-friendly breast center.

Medtronic has received CE mark for its CoreValve system to be delivered using direct aortic access.

3M was ordered to pay $1.3 million to the British Defense Ministry, the Porton Group and Ploughshare Innovation, collectively, after a Nov. 7, U.K. court decision found the company breached a contract by dropping its 2007 acquisition, BacLite. The awarded sum is more than $38 million less than what the trio original sought.

Baltimore County police are investigating the theft of about 5,000 x-rays and radiological films, likely stolen for their silver coating, from St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson, Md., according to an Associated Press report. The films were from the years 2004, 2005 and part of 2007.

PETNET Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens Medical Solutions USA, has entered into a commercial agreement with Eli Lilly that grants Siemens PETNET the right to manufacture and distribute Lillys molecular imaging agent that is currently under review by the FDA for PET imaging.

As 7T MRI edges into clinical practice, the modality continues to evolve and demonstrate expanded utility in a host of applications. At the 97th Annual Meeting & Scientific Assembly of the RSNA, researchers are addressing the gamut from emerging oncology applications to expanding neurology potential. Presented below is Health Imagings snapshot of 2011 in review as it relates to MRI. Scroll down for our top picks for RSNA sessions in MRI, and subscribe to our monthly MRI portal to stay on top of these issues.

TRIUMF, Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, has begun building a tunnel and lab that will be used to demonstrate new ways to solve medical isotope shortages.

FDAs Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drugs Advisory Committee unanimously voted Nov. 2 to recommend Mercks Vytorin (combination ezetimibe/simvastatin) for use in patients with pre-dialysis chronic kidney disease.  However, when it came to whether or not the approval should include patients with end-stage renal disease receiving dialysis, the majority gave a thumbs down.