Dear Ultrasound Insider,
Strokes caused by carotid artery stenosis may be preventable, but duplex ultrasound has failed to demonstrate cost-effectiveness as a screening technique. The developers of a new investigational ultrasound device hope to rectify the situation.
In a presentation at last month's American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) annual meeting in San Diego, Dr. David Vilkomerson shared results from a clinical trial of an inexpensive, continuous-wave vector ultrasound Doppler system. Used by nurses in a primary care setting to screen high-risk patients for potential referral to duplex ultrasound, the system could yield substantial savings to the healthcare system, said Vilkomerson, president of ultrasound technology developer DVX.
As an Insider subscriber, you have access to this Insider Exclusive before it is published for the rest of our AuntMinnie.com members. To learn more about this promising new screening concept for carotid stenosis, click here.
In other news from AIUM in your Ultrasound Digital Community, the increasing proliferation of keepsake ultrasound in California may be associated with abnormally low female-to-male birth ratios in Asian communities. Discover how keepsake ultrasound may be facilitating gender-selective abortion by clicking here.
Also, learn why two-point compression ultrasound may not be sufficient for evaluating deep venous thrombosis. And how ultrasound accurately evaluates superficial soft-tissue masses.
In addition to covering the AIUM show, AuntMinnie.com was on hand last month at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR). If you haven't already, check out our coverage from the Vienna conference, including articles on automated breast ultrasound and breast ultrasound CAD.
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for continuing coverage of ECR and the AIUM meeting.
In therapeutic uses of ultrasound, MR-guided focused ultrasound was recently shown to provide lasting symptom relief for uterine fibroids. And new uses for focused ultrasound therapy have been defined for treating brain disease.
Do you have an idea for a topic you'd like to see covered? As always, please feel free to drop me a line.
