Health Imaging & IT - January 2009 - (Page 22)

RSNA 2008 In Review RSNA 2008 IN-Depth @ RSNA360.HealthImaging.com Ü pACS peripherals fill every niche RSNA attendees were treated to a smorgasbord of digital image management helping hands in Chicago. Digital mammography claimed center stage with vendors showing laser imagers geared to mammography’s exacting specifications. One vendor showed a scanner designed to minimize the pain of the hybrid environment. The device scans analog films, enabling digital-to-digital comparisons for sites operating in hybrid mode. Other tools included CD burners that allow physicians to share mammography images and information with their patients. Vendors showed a host of other CD burning solutions, including a few geared to the obstetrical market. Many scale to more than 100 CDs daily and offer embedded tools that burn important information like the facility name or patient demographics on the label. Other CD/DVD solutions capture streaming video and are ideal for use with C-arms, x-ray fluoroscopy, angiography, ultrasound, endoscopy and vascular imaging systems. One company shared a medical image reporter that reconciles, transfers and stores medical images from a disk, helping office staff handle the onslaught of patient CDs that arrive on a daily basis. Other helping hands included a digital press that allows users to print high-quality images for patients and referring physicians. The newest printers ramp up speed and flexibility, accommodating a range of film or paper sizes. Many boast small footprints, and some output onto multiple media: film and color and grayscale paper. The array of devices on the show floor demonstrated that digital image management remains a complex process. It often is a step-bystep effort to move to a truly digital work environment. Fortunately, peripherals are there to lend a helping hand, as well as transition to and streamline digital workflow. gated content from clinical, operational and financial applications. Ü mR: New apps revolutionize imaging Throughout the exhibit floors of McCormick Place and Lakeside Learning Center, MRI took center stage. Vendors highlighted enhancements for 1.5T and 3T systems aimed at speeding exam time and workflow, improving image resolution and coil technology and increasing the power of gradients. Vendors answered the call with a variety of imaging systems and advanced visualization software targeting breast MRI, as well as MR-specific applications for neurology, cardiology oncology and orthopedic imaging. Breast MRI systems look to improve image resolution and reduce common artifacts, resulting in the production of crystal-clear images of both breasts, axillae, chest wall and mediastinum in a single bilateral scan. Some new applications promise to optimize acquisition with a high signal-to-noise ratio for acquiring high-quality water and fat images, which would let the user prescribe thinner slices for high spatial resolution imaging. New breast imaging coils provide high temporal and spatial resolution for dynamic analysis and lesion characterization. One new 3T system promises to project multiple RF transmit signals to enhance uniformity, bolstered by a new technology the vendor says can be individually tuned to each patient’s anatomy, thereby addressing dielectric shading at the source. Functional MRI (fMRI) made a splash in the clinical arena, as well as in the technical exhibits. These solutions could allow a single clinician to conduct an entire fMRI procedure from stimulus presentation and image acquisition to data analysis and reporting of results. Ü Storage stretches its legs Managing storage on an enterprise level, vendor neutrality and costefficiency led the way for archiving and data storage vendors at this year’s RSNA. Many vendors talked up their DICOM compliancy and vendor neutrality. To serve the healthcare enterprise, large-scale multimedia storage systems for hospital groups, regional healthcare organizations and national medical archives can consolidate data from disparate systems into a single point of storage. The archive systems are designed to store clinical DICOM data objects, including DICOM encapsulated nonimaging objects such as waveforms, structured reports and PDFs. Vendors also demonstrated upgraded capabilities to archive and manage clinical data using the IHE-defined XDS protocols. They touted that standards such as the XDS protocol may be used to store and retrieve the fixed content file types, and HL7 is used to receive and store reports with clinical patient data and other documents from clinical information systems. Those systems demonstrated on a service-oriented architecture can be deployed in a modular fashion, offering aggre- Ü ultrasound makes it big with small devices Big advances come in smaller packages when it comes to ultrasound scanners—with smaller footprint compact and portable systems no longer meaning a dip in performance, but instead advanced, deeper applications. A variety of specialized portables were on display for ob/ gyn, echocardiography and 3D/4D system. Around the exhibit floor, vendors showed enhancements that fine-tune image acquisition, especially for cardiology and breast imaging. Real-time elastography imaging is helping to differentiate lesions within the breast. Elastography is being used in applications beyond breast imaging, including clinical cases in thyroid, prostate, musculoskeletal and liver, including a strain ratio tool that allows radiologists to quantify the difference in stiffness between a mass and surrounding normal tissue. Other ultrasound techniques, such as advanced harmonic imaging, use pulse inversion technologies, which is activated by setting the flip switch to “harmonics high” and uses a larger bandwidth that provides good axial and lateral resolution. Vendors also touted smaller footprint units with high-detail resolution and color flow that can allow clinicians to distinguish between 22 Health Imaging & IT | January 2009 HealthImaging.com http://RSNA360.HealthImaging.com http://www.HealthImaging.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Health Imaging & IT - January 2009

Health Imaging & IT - January 2009 Contents The Enterprise News Update DR Breathes New Life into Radiography Radiology in the Spotlight Educational Sessions Keynote Addresses Tech Trends on the Exhibit Floor Imaging Tools Managing Technology People & Technology Reader's Resource

Health Imaging & IT - January 2009

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