Imaging in the Media
BOSTON GLOBE: New CT scanners offer faster diagnoses
In an effort to better diagnose heart disease, hospitals around Boston are adding 64-slice CT scanners—the fastest on the market—to their medical imaging suites. These scanners take as many as 4,000 images of the heart in about 10 seconds, and provide a quick, painless, less-invasive way for doctors to determine if a patient has clogged arteries around the heart, placing them at greater risk of having a heart attack. The alternative procedure is a cardiac catheterization, which takes several hours and involves an incision and sedation. Cardiologists in the region are developing guidelines for screening which they hope will contain the number of scans perform to those who will benefit most, such as patients who have previously had coronary bypass surgery. Read the full article. (April 30, 2006)
HARTFORD COURANT: Slicing Hearts in 64 Images
Using a 64-slice CT scanner to see the vessels that feed blood to the heart enables doctors to quickly and accurately determine whether patients are actually suffering from a heart attack, and if they do have coronary artery disease. This is especially useful for clearing "grey-area patients," or those who are younger and at lower risk of heart attack. A scan of the entire heart takes only five or six seconds and can find existing abnormalities in other nearby organs. Read the full article. (January 3, 2006)
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Medicine Saving Lives in Iraq
By placing doctors and the correct equipment — including portable medical imaging devices — yards away from battle, wounded soldiers can be immediately assessed and treated. The addition of specialty doctors, particularly neurosurgeons, further improves their odds. CT scans are quickly taken and assessed to determine whether the patient needs immediate treatment or can be transferred to a facility in another city or even another country. The scans are immediately emailed to doctors at these hospitals well before the patient arrives. Read the full article. (December 31, 2005)
MILITARY MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY: On Land and At Sea
Advancements in medical imaging technologies allow equipment to be deployed into field alongside the physicians, whether it is dropped from planes alongside paratroopers or used on floating hospitals. This equipment, often no larger than a laptop computer and fits into a backpack, is credited with improving survival rates, both at times of war and during natural disasters. Read the full article. (October 28, 2005)
CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Scanner Clears Picture of Cancer
The CT/PET scanner produces an image where non-cancerous nodes look like normal tissue, but cancer cells show up bright and shiny — thanks to the ingestion of sugars tied to radio isotopes — allowing doctors to more accurately diagnosis and stage the disease. This is critical in determining how to correctly treat the cancer. Evidence shows that these scanners save money and improve care for cancer, and researchers are continuing to seek new ways to use this technology. Future possibilities include diagnosing Alzheimer's disease and treatment for heart disease. Read the full article. (December 27, 2005)
THE TODAY SHOW: Saving Your Life: Modern Medical Miracles
This week-long series featured technological breakthroughs that can save the lives of patients. Two of the five "miracles" cited were related to medical imaging:
- The 64 slice cardiac CT scan, which can help identify coronary disease, the #1 killer of men and women in the U.S.; and
- Cardiac catheterization simulators, which allow doctors to practice critical procedures in a simulated situation.
Read more about this series. (November 30 - December 2, 2005)
U.S NEWS & WORLD REPORT: The Promise of 3-D CT Scan
This article surveyed radiologists at this year's RSNA meeting in Chicago on the status of 3-D multislice CT scanners, and found that they are "closing in on the point" of using these scanners to replace other, more-invasive procedures for detecting disease, as the full capabilities are understood and employed. Read the full article. (December 1, 2005)
REUTERS: Medical Imaging Offers Clearer Picture of Heart, Risks
Medical imaging equipment, such as high-speed CT scanners and high-resolution CT-PET scanners are being used in a variety of ways to diagnose and treat patients in a quicker, less-invasive manner. The article cites several ways this equipment is now being used, including pinpointing abnormal cell activity in patients with cancer or infectious disease, and diagnosing and managing coronary artery disease. Read the full article. (November 30, 2005)
ABC News: Mammograms Move to the Web
Digital mammograms can be accurately transmitted via the Internet, according to a study presented at the 2005 Radiological Society of North America annual meeting. A review of more than 1,300 diagnostic screening mammograms found that these images could be transmitted over broadband Internet without compromising accuracy or security, and without the use of computer-aided detection software. Read the full article. (November 29, 2005)
THE NEW YORK TIMES: Are Mammograms Right for Everyone?
The article looks at the various imaging modalities used for breast cancer screening, including: traditional film mammograms; digital mammograms; ultrasounds; sonograms; and MRI scans; and weighs the pros and cons of each device according the leading researchers. Read the full article (requires free, one-time registration). (November 1, 2005)
Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Poll:
U.S. Adults Strongly Favor and Value New Medical Technologies in Their Doctor's Office
This WSJ/Harris Interactive Poll finds that nearly one-third of adults believe that new technologies including digital imaging devices are worth the money they cost because they will improve patient care, and 36 percent believe these technologies will ultimately reduce the costs of medical care. More than three-quarters of adults favor having their doctors use digital imaging equipment when caring for them or their families. Read the poll results. (October 14, 2005)
TIME: How New Heart-Scanning Technology Could Save Your Life
TIME reporters looked at advances in cardiac imaging, which give patients non-invasive options for determining what might be wrong with them and are even leading doctors to wonder if it's time to rethink the way they diagnose and treat heart disease. Read the full article. (September 5, 2005)
A picture paints a thousand words: The article also features 3-D and moving cardiac images from CT Scans, PET/CT Scans, MRIs, Echocardiograms, Electrocardiogram, Coronary Angiogram, and a Nuclear Stress Test. View images.
BOSTON GLOBE: Imaging Companies Aim to Make Worth Clear
The Globe looked at how medical imaging companies are striking back against insurers that question the value of their products, including mention of the National Electronic Manufacturers Association's (NEMA) "counterattack," and key studies from Radiology and the Journal of American Medical Association. Read the full article. (August 15, 2005)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Printed in The Wall Street Journal on September 20, 2005, in response to a August 26 column suggesting that early cancer detection does not always benefit the patient.
As a practicing oncologist, I worry that this column could give patients just the excuse they need to put off necessary, and very critical, cancer-screening tests. The fact is that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the primary U.S. authority on the topic of screening, leaves no doubt that screening for colorectal cancer, cervical cancer and breast cancer is necessary for many groups of patients and well supported with sound evidence. Ms. Begley would have us believe that most cancers are "indolent," even though one in four deaths in the U.S. is caused by cancer! Individuals ignore these guidelines at their own risk.
Dr. Bernard W. Taylor Jr.
Longview Cancer Center
Longview, Texas
Printed in the Raleigh News & Observer on July 26, 2005, in response to a July 12, 2005 article stating that the cost of imaging outweighs its value.
An important point needs to be added to your July 12 report on medical imaging (Imaging costs patients more). That is, despite the complaints of insurance companies, medical imaging offers dramatic savings by making patients healthier and helping the health care system work better. As a physician who has spent a lifetime working in the field of imaging and as a consumer myself, I have seen it firsthand.
For example, women can now undergo image-guided breast biopsies of suspicious lumps, and patients with blockages of arteries may be treated with image-guided therapies instead of surgery. The imaging procedure costs 20 percent of what surgery does. In many cases, imaging even reduces the need for other treatments and tests. In my own field of PET imaging—which can show cancer or heart problems well before symptoms occur—such scans can reduce the number of futile surgeries for advanced lung cancer by 50 percent.
I believe that medical imaging today is among the most essential tools of modern medicine. To be sure, the economies and savings that imaging creates don't always show up on the bottom lines of insurance companies, but that makes them no less real.
Sincerely,
R. Edward Coleman, M.D.
Vice Chairman
Department of Radiology
Duke University Medical Center
Durham
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