Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Well, that was interesting. The 2020 edition of the annual RSNA conference has drawn to a close. Now, it's time for attendees and exhibitors to take stock of the dominant storylines during the week.
One thing we all know -- for the first time since the 1940s, the RSNA meeting did not take place in Chicago. Social distancing mandated a virtual conference, and for the most part, the meeting went off without a hitch. Many observers even saw advantages to the virtual format, especially attendees who wanted to gobble up as much clinical content as they could without getting out of their pajamas or leaving the house.
But many others felt the virtual meeting left much to be desired, especially vendors in the technical exhibits. While a slide show delivered over the internet can more or less approximate a live presentation, that can't be said for the immediacy of a face-to-face meeting with a potential customer to kick the tires on the latest big iron or the newest artificial intelligence (AI) software. Until this issue is resolved, it's unlikely that virtual conferences will supplant in-person events once life returns to "normal."
What were the major themes of RSNA 2020? Interestingly, big iron faded into the shadows, with few new MRI or CT scanners introduced. Instead, technology introductions seemed to focus on bread-and-butter systems that have proved to be useful during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as radiography.
Of course, AI was a dominant theme this year, but the discussion seems to have shifted in subtle ways, away from an emphasis on using AI for image interpretation and more toward behind-the-scenes tasks such as data reconstruction and workflow improvement. In this way, AI could become omnipresent without radiologists ever even knowing it's there.
We hope you found value in this year's virtual RSNA 2020, and we enjoyed bringing our coverage of the event to you in our RADCast @ RSNA. Stayed tuned for more follow-up coverage of radiology's premier event.
FDA OK with MQSA delay
As this week drew to a close, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a guidance indicating that it is OK with mammography facilities taking longer to comply with inspection requirements under the Mammography Quality Standards Act (MQSA).
In issuing the guidance on December 4, the FDA acknowledged that quarantine rules and social distancing guidelines were making it more difficult for breast imaging facilities to meet the requirements mandated by the MQSA. Therefore, the agency said it would be giving sites additional time to comply with inspection requirements under the act. Learn more in our Women's Imaging Community.
CT lung screening
It's no secret that individuals who are at high risk of lung cancer aren't flocking to CT lung screening. The reason for this low compliance was the focus of a presentation at RSNA 2020 in which researchers from Boston and New York City examined the factors that might stand in the way.
In a related story, learn how CT imaging findings such as a diffuse alveolar damage pattern can help radiologists diagnose electronic cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury.
