Dear AuntMinnie Member,
If they gave out medals for medical imaging, MRI would have come home with the gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
That's according to a new study in Radiology published this week in which researchers from Boston University analyzed imaging use at the summer games in Rio de Janeiro. They found that MRI made up nearly 60% of the imaging studies performed at the competition.
The researchers also found that imaging use tended to peak during certain events that saw a higher number of injuries, with track and field standing out in particular. Fortunately, all Olympic athletes received scans free of charge at the Olympic Village.
Will similar findings come from the just-concluded Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea? We can't say for sure, but you can get some great insights by clicking here or visiting our MRI Community at mri.auntminnie.com.
Deconstructed PACS revisited
Back in 2014, we published an article by PACS industry executive Brad Levin that described a concept called "deconstructed PACS," or the implementation of PACS in modular best-of-breed fashion rather than as an all-in-one solution from a single vendor. The column sparked a spirited debate in the radiology industry that continues to this day.
Four years later, Mr. Levin revisits how far the idea of deconstructed PACS has come in a two-part series in our Imaging Informatics Community. In part 1, he analyzes the different ways in which healthcare providers have implemented deconstructed PACS, from vendor-neutral archives to enterprise-wide diagnostic viewers. He also offers advice for sites looking to get out of a legacy PACS network that they may have held on to far beyond its useful life span.
Read more by clicking here, and be sure to check back tomorrow, when we'll bring you part 2, or visit our Imaging Informatics Community at informatics.auntminnie.com.
ECR coverage coming up
We're just a day away from the opening of the 2018 edition of the European Congress of Radiology (ECR), the premier radiology conference in Europe. We'll have editors on hand in Vienna to cover the proceedings -- just check back in our RADCast @ ECR. For up-to-the-minute news, but sure to check the Twitter accounts for @AuntMinnie and our sister site, @AuntMinnieEurope.
