Dear AuntMinnie Member,
In a year of crazy headlines in 2017, this was one of the craziest: Personnel at the U.S. embassy in Havana reported experiencing an array of neurological symptoms similar to traumatic brain injury that began after they were exposed to what seemed to be a loud, directional sound.
This week, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a paper from clinicians at the University of Pennsylvania on their examination of 21 embassy workers who reported such symptoms. And while the exams included brain MRI, the clinicians are still at a loss to explain what's going on.
All 21 individuals said their symptoms began after they were exposed to a loud, sustained noise that some described as sounding like "grinding metal" and others called a "piercing squeal." Their symptoms included fatigue, hearing loss, disorientation, and vertigo, and the clinicians reported that some had clinical signs of cognitive impairment.
What did the MRI scans show? While some of the embassy workers had focal areas of brightness on T2 scanning, the clinicians believe the findings weren't specific to the phenomenon they experienced. Learn more about this mysterious case by clicking here.
While you're in our MRI Community, be sure to read about a new study that investigated the effectiveness of recently introduced sequences to produce quieter MRI scans. Are images acquired with the techniques just as diagnostic as those from conventional MRI? Find out by clicking here, or visit our MRI Community at mri.auntminnie.com.
2D/3D workstation interface
Researchers are constantly trying to improve upon the old keyboard and mouse as a user interface for interpreting medical imaging scans. We're highlighting one such effort in our Advanced Visualization Community.
A group from Australia and New Zealand tested a hybrid interface that combines conventional 2D interaction with a virtual reality device for 3D images and a stylus for interacting with images. Find out how well it worked by clicking here.
In other news, click here for an article by Ulrik Kristensen from market research firm Signify Research that explores the growing use of virtual reality and augmented reality in medical imaging.
These stories and more are available in the Advanced Visualization Community, at av.auntminnie.com.
New MICI numbers
Finally, visit our Imaging Leaders Community to view the latest numbers in the Medical Imaging Confidence Index (MICI). The index showed that despite the growing economy, radiology administrators and managers continue to report pressure on reimbursement from both private payors and Medicare. Read more by clicking here, and also be sure to check out this story predicting the year in which U.S. health expenditures will reach 20% of the nation's gross domestic product.
