Dear AuntMinnie Member,
It's that time of the year again -- time for our Road to RSNA preview of RSNA 2017.
As we do every year, our editors have spent the past several weeks poring over the abstracts on the RSNA's website, culling the most intriguing offerings for our modality-by-modality breakdowns. You can use these previews to help decide which posters, scientific sessions, and refresher courses to attend at radiology's premier scientific conference.
We've launched Road to RSNA with two sections: Imaging Informatics and Women's Imaging. Over the next two weeks, you'll find previews of CT, MRI, ultrasound, artificial intelligence, and more. Check your email inbox every morning, or just go to rsna.auntminnie.com.
Ultrasound on the cheap?
Meanwhile, in our Ultrasound Community we're highlighting new stories on technologies that promise to drive the cost of ultrasound technology to new lows.
First is a story on the launch of a new transducer based on semiconductor technology that's designed to be plugged into an iPhone. The company that developed the technology just received U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearance, and it believes it can sell the probe for as low as $2,000. Click here to learn more.
In addition, researchers from Stanford University and Duke University have developed a $10 microchip that can enable a 2D system to perform 3D scanning. The chip basically functions like a Nintendo Wii video game controller, according to the group. Get the rest of the story by clicking here, or visit the community at ultrasound.auntminnie.com.
MRI of football players
Finally, visit our MRI Community for disturbing new findings from researchers who used functional MRI (fMRI) to track brain changes in athletes who played football. The athletes had no symptoms of cognitive impairment, but fMRI scans still showed evidence of impacts to the head over years of playing. Learn more by clicking here, or go to mri.auntminnie.com
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)