Coupling existing MRI equipment with new mathematical methods and high-powered computers, German scientists have created MRI films of moving objects, such as a beating heart or a bending joint.

Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany, have cut the time required for recording MRI images to one 50th of a second—20 milliseconds. This should make MRI … read more »

Just as medical isotopes from the finally restarted nuclear reactor at Chalk River, Ontario, have begun trickling into the supply pipeline, doctors at a national symposium warned of the possible consequences of the current isotope shortage.

Before it was unexpectedly shut down in May 2009, the Chalk River plant had produced up to a third of the world’s medical isotopes—and half … read more »

A new 3-D CT scanning approach may improve treatment for the potentially life-threatening heart disorder ventricular tachycardia. Current ablation treatment for the disorder, which can develop following a heart attack, has a long-term success rate of only 50 to 60 percent.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore spent two years testing and customizing software to come … read more »

Is it the economy? Fear of radiation? Loss of health insurance by potential patients? All of the above?

Whatever the cause or causes, this has not been a good year for the high-tech imaging business. The Diagnostic Imaging news service reports that CT and MR imaging volumes are flat or declining across the United States.

The article quotes Tom Cabot, vice president … read more »

You can understand the excitement of Jonathan Jarvik, PhD, an associate professor of biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, about the new fluorescent biosensor that he and his team have developed.

The biosensor can track G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). GPCRs play an important role in the chemical communication circuits of cells, including circuits responsible for heart and lung function, mood, cognition … read more »

New research in England aims to use cardiac angiography to take us a step closer to using the virtual autopsy as the postmortem standard.

The question of whether an invasive autopsy should be performed sometimes arrays the government or the medical community, which wants to know details about the cause of death, against members of the deceased’s family, who object on … read more »

Nearly 1 in 10 American adults younger than 65 underwent heart imaging that exposed them to radiation from 2005 through 2007, according to a new study involving more than 950,000 adults in five U.S. health-care markets.

Is this a problem? Frustratingly enough, we don’t know. As the study says, “The public health and clinical implications of radiation exposure from cardiac imaging … read more »

Someone shows up at the emergency room with chest pain. An initial consultation categorizes the patient as “non-low risk.” Next step: hospital admission for tests and further evaluation, right?

Not so fast, say researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Instead, their new study suggests placing such patients in an observation unit, monitoring them carefully, and stress testing them with … read more »

Who should get whole-body MRI (WB-MRI)?  Patients with diabetes, rheumatic diseases, primary benign bone tumors, bone-marrow diseases, malignant melanoma, and breast or colorectal cancer. Who shouldn’t? Patients who just want a general health screening.

So concludes a group of German researchers who undertook “a selective literature review on recent technical innovations in the field of WB-MRI and the clinical uses of … read more »

A carotid artery ultrasound of the neck—simple, inexpensive, noninvasive, and radiation-free—could be an alternative to the standard coronary angiography as a preliminary diagnostic tool for coronary artery disease (CAD), according to new research from New York University Langone Medical Center.

The researchers said the test could also be used to rule out CAD in patients who exhibit reduced heart pump function. … read more »