A $5.3 million medical malpractice settlement was reached last week in a case that involved a patient with strokelike symptoms and a dispute over whether MRI results were read.

Michael T. Mertz, an attorney for the patient’s family, said the settlement would be paid on behalf of radiologist Mark Kelly, MD, and his practice, Winfield Radiology Consultants in Winfield, Illinois; neurologist … read more »

A new imaging method using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) can noninvasively test for and distinguish among different types of degenerative brain disorders, according to researchers at the universities of Minnesota and Washington.

This could have tremendous implications for both neuroscience researchers and clinical neurology. For example, people at risk of carrying the gene for Huntington’s disease, which usually doesn’t cause symptoms … read more »

Functional MRI has revealed an odd reason for the typical slowdown in physical response time as we age. And there may be a simple way to counteract the age-related deterioration.

A University of Michigan study says the slowdown results from too much communication between the two halves of the brain, according to a university news release.

During motor activities that involve only … read more »

A 15-minute MRI brain scan has proven more than 90 percent accurate in diagnosing autism in adults, according to researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London. Such a technique could greatly streamline diagnosis of the disorder.

According to the National Institutes of Health, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects three to six children out of every 1,000. The term … read more »

Stress is bad for you. We know that. But in what way? How does a stressful situation translate into negative physical consequences?

MRI has now given us a partial answer: people who show greater neural sensitivity to social stress also demonstrate physical increases in inflammatory activity. And chronic inflammation is a risk factor for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, … 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 »

Any institution that does perfusion CT scans of the brain should right this minute check the settings on its machines and the training of its technologists. At least eight hospitals, plus manufacturers, regulators, patients, and, of course, lawyers, are complaining, arguing, investigating, and pointing fingers regarding excessive radiation doses during such scans.

The Los Angeles Times reported this week that, at … read more »

Suddenly, nanoparticles are big. We’ve been inundated with imaging-related nanoparticle news in recent weeks. The latest breakthrough comes from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, where researchers have demonstrated how iron oxide nanoparticles can deliver cancer-fighting antibodies to brain tumors while also enhancing tumor visibility via MRI.

The study, published online by the journal Cancer Research, describes the use of … read more »

The cell phone industry association has sued to stop San Francisco from requiring that purchasers of cell phones be given already-public information about the phones’ radiation emissions.

Confused? Here’s another way to put it: the cell phone industry doesn’t want in-store radiation-emission labels for cell phones because it’s afraid consumers will worry that the phones aren’t safe.

In June, San Francisco established … 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 »