Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Summer's here, and conference season is in full swing this week, with annual meetings of both the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) and the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) wrapping up. Fortunately, AuntMinnie.com had editors on the scene in both Denver and Anaheim, CA, to bring you the latest news from these important meetings.
In Denver, the SIIM show drew to a close yesterday after three days of presentations covering the latest research in artificial intelligence (AI) and imaging informatics. On Thursday, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco presented their work on an AI algorithm for analyzing brain MRI scans for signs of suspicious lesions.
Additional research presented Thursday highlighted an AI algorithm that can accurately detect lung nodules on CT by analyzing sinogram data.
Also at the conference, Senior Editor Erik Ridley had the opportunity to interview on camera SIIM Chair Dr. Jim Whitfill about AI, enterprise imaging, and patient management; Dr. Charles Kahn on safe, effective, and humane AI; and Dr. Howard Chen on recent advances in imaging informatics.
Visit our Artificial Intelligence Community for additional conference coverage.
Image of the Year at SNMMI
Earlier in the week, the SNMMI wrapped up its 2019 conference not far from the "Happiest Place on Earth" in Anaheim. Our top story was the announcement of the Image of the Year award, given this year to German researchers who presented a study on a radiopharmaceutical with the potential to detect 28 kinds of cancer.
Other important research presented at SNMMI 2019 included a study on a technetium-based tracer that can detect signs of joint inflammation from rheumatoid arthritis and a study in which PET/MRI detected increased metabolic activity or inflammation linked to chronic pain.
Features Editor Wayne Forrest also interviewed several key opinion leaders in nuclear medicine and molecular imaging. Dr. Barry Siegel discussed the current state of PET reimbursement, while Alan Packard, PhD, addressed the situation around supplies of the key radioisotope molybdenum. SNMMI President Dr. Vasken Dilsizian talked about his priorities for the year ahead, and Dr. François Lamoureux of the Canadian Association of Nuclear Medicine addressed access to PET in Canada.
Visit our Molecular Imaging Community for more news from molecular imaging's showcase meeting.
'Collimation creep' in DR
In other radiology news, one of our most popular articles for the past week was a story on "collimation creep," or the tendency of radiographers to crop digital radiography (DR) images after they are acquired, rather than use proper collimation and patient positioning.
Researchers from the U.K. and the United Arab Emirates observed radiographers at work and found many of them were cropping DR images after acquisition to make them "prettier." The problem is that relying on cropping rather than proper collimation could be contributing to higher radiation dose in patients.
Learn more by visiting our Digital X-Ray Community.
