Dear AuntMinnie Insider,
When screening virtual colonoscopy reimbursement is eventually approved in the U.S. -- and advocates say it's definitely a matter of when and not if -- the issue of provider training is going to be front and center. Education won't be confined to radiologists learning how to interpret the scans; technologists will also need to learn the complex skills required to insufflate and scan the patient, while explaining the how and why of what they're doing.
Enter automated training tools -- a first for CT colonography. Radiologists from the University of Chicago Medical Center were looking for a better way to train technologists in the art of performing VC, including optimized bowel insufflation, scan settings, and the rest. The idea of an automated modular program sounded like a winner, but alas there was no such thing for VC until they decided to build one.
And so they did. The new system got high marks for ease of use and functionality, and it looks like the innovative application is heading for a larger stage, according to this issue's Insider Exclusive.
In other news, flat polyps are a perennial issue in virtual colonoscopy because they're difficult to see. But a group in Japan did pretty well by optimizing the exam and trying a variety of reconstructions. Find out how they did it by clicking here.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new bowel prep formula for colonoscopy. Is anyone using it for VC?
And another study has found virtual colonoscopy to be effective in screening the Medicare population, without producing an excessive colonoscopy referral rate or high numbers of incidental findings that might make the test unattractive for screening seniors. Get the rest of the story here.
Researchers reporting from the 2012 American Roentgen Ray Society meeting also found few advanced lesions five years after VC screening -- another feather in the cap of the virtual exam, because it's seen as having a protective effect against the development of advanced lesions for many years. You'll find the results here.
Finally, a study team from Wisconsin found that radiologists show a high degree of consistency when reporting virtual colonoscopy exams, offering further evidence that VC would be successful when implemented widely for screening.
We invite you to scroll through the links below for the rest of the news in virtual colonoscopy, delivered fresh never frozen in your Virtual Colonoscopy Digital Community.
