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 »

Death during a CT scan in Florida resulted last week in a $6.2 million medical malpractice verdict.

An Alachua County (Gainesville) jury found against Shands at the University of Florida hospital in Gainesville. The hospital was expected to appeal.

In December 2002, Jacksonville resident Cory Fine, PhD, a business-school professor at the University of North Florida, underwent gastric-bypass surgery for weight loss … 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 federal-government data on Medicare patients’ chest and abdominal CT scans, MRI scans for lower back pain, and mammograms have stirred up scrutiny of some hospitals’ practices (as intended) as well as controversy, especially about so-called “double CT scans.”

The data could have big financial implications for health-care providers.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released information … read more »

Radiation exposure isn’t the only safety issue that ought to concern radiologists.

Two radiology technicians have sued Bozeman Deaconess Hospital in Bozeman, Montana. They claim that, while working in a darkroom at the hospital, they were exposed to unsafe levels of X-ray film developing chemicals.

Court documents say one of the women began working at the hospital in 2000 and the other … 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 »

CT scans might work well for monitoring the progress of severe asthma and checking on how it’s responding to treatment, according to preliminary results of a new study led by University of Leicester researchers in England.

“Asthma is a major health problem affecting 300 million people worldwide,” said Sumit Gupta, MBBS, a postgraduate student at the university. Dr. Gupta and colleagues … read more »

If a patient complains of fever, cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, and fatigue, and X-rays show excess fluid around the lungs, ask if he or she has been eating raw crayfish.

Crayfish—also known as crawdads and, particularly in the South, crawfish or mudbugs—commonly carry a parasite called Paragonimus kellicotti. A thorough cooking kills the half-inch oval worms. But if infected … read more »

Nonstop video gaming just wasn’t working anymore for California teenager Wynton Kun. He thought maybe he ought to get off the couch and do something with his life.

So, during the summer after his sophomore year in high school, he carried out a research project on the necessity and cost effectiveness of repeated chest X-rays in children who are dependent on … read more »