AuntMinnie.com continues its tradition of extensive coverage of the world's largest medical imaging conference, RSNA 2009. To help you best utilize your time at the meeting we’re highlighting key scientific and educational presentations to be held during the meeting, November 29-December 4 in Chicago.
We’ve segmented this coverage to help you quickly get to topics that are of interest to you.
Road to RSNA 2009: CT Preview
It's not for nothing that CT is able to maintain its star status at the RSNA show year after year. Extraordinary flexibility in head-to-toe imaging applications, combined with rapid technological advancement, make CT the modality to beat once again in 2009.
This year's Chicago meeting will highlight several powerful technical innovations that are making their way into clinical use, including fast high-pitch scanning to stop motion cold, rapid perfusion scanning to peer into organ function, and ultralow-dose just about everything to protect patients who are undergoing an ever-increasing number of CT procedures.
To be sure, charges of excessive radiation exposure have been a cross for the CT industry to bear. An August 27 study in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that imaging procedures -- particularly CT scans -- are a major and growing source of ionizing radiation in the U.S. On the other hand, ...
Read the complete CT preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: Practice Management and Economics Preview
With medical imaging under scrutiny in the U.S. as a contributor to rising healthcare costs, more and more clinicians and administrators are seeking ways not only to work smarter with available resources, but also to demonstrate radiology's benefits to the whole healthcare enterprise.
"Quality metrics in radiology can extend across the patient care experience," RSNA health policy subcommittee chair Dr. Ruth Carlos of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor told AuntMinnie.com. "When people think about radiology, they think about films, but ...
Read the complete Practice Management and Economics Preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: Ultrasound Preview
The growing utility of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) will be a major theme at this year's RSNA meeting. Unfortunately, many U.S. ultrasound specialists may feel like they're on the outside looking in, as researchers from Europe, Asia, and the rest of the world present studies on ultrasound contrast products they've been using for years, but that are still not commercially available in the U.S.
What's to blame for the discrepancy? Most would point fingers at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which has displayed a reluctance to approve any new ultrasound contrast agents beyond the two already in use for echocardiography applications.
Read the complete Ultrasound preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: MRI Preview
At RSNA 2009, MRI once again will cut a wide path across the scientific specialties, showing its diversity by contributing to the detection of maladies such as autism and Alzheimer's disease and lending a complementary hand in molecular imaging.
"This year there is a significant improvement of the abstracts, particularly in imaging techniques, and a significant number of studies that deal with functional imaging of the brain," said Dr. Mauricio Castillo, chair of RSNA's neurology and head and neck subcommittee. "This not only reflects the U.S., but the quality of material submitted all over the world, with 75% to 80% of abstracts coming from outside the U.S. The quality of research in other countries also has improved."
Read the complete MRI preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: Advanced Visualization Preview
The impact of advanced visualization continues to be felt in radiology, permeating a range of subspecialties and applications. As 3D and computer-aided detection (CAD) continue to move toward becoming mainstream technologies, a number of scientific papers at this year's RSNA meeting in Chicago will speak to their growing utility.
3D's ability to add clinical value will be showcased in a number of areas, while the body of evidence showing CAD's ability to increase cancer detection continues to accumulate.
Read the complete Advanced Visualization preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: Healthcare Informatics Preview
Surprise, surprise! During a year in which the U.S. is obsessed with the topic of healthcare informatics, and the federal government is finally addressing the need to push medical information management into the 21st century, the subject will have a surprisingly low profile for RSNA 2009.
This doesn't mean it's unimportant. Healthcare informatics provides the backbone for healthcare reform and improvement, and the radiology profession has been at the forefront of the digital revolution. At most hospitals and enterprise healthcare networks, RIS and PACS have been in use far longer than the electronic medical record systems with which they are finally now being integrated.
Read the complete Healthcare Informatics preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: Women's Imaging Preview
At this year's RSNA conference, key presentations in women's imaging research will center on molecular imaging, elastography, tomosynthesis, and breast MRI use and interpretation, as well as the issue of how to optimize high-risk screening, according to subcommittee chair Dr. Jennifer Harvey of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
"Molecular imaging is going to be the big thing over the next five years, especially since we've pushed our limits as far as anatomic imaging of the breast goes," Harvey told AuntMinnie.com. "With current imaging technologies, we can see exquisite visual detail, so the next step is functional imaging, to help find cancers that don't show up in anatomic exams."
Read the complete Women's Imaging preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: Molecular Imaging Preview
This year's RSNA annual meeting will showcase a multitude of novel studies in molecular imaging and nuclear medicine from across the globe. Scientific papers promise to deliver relevant information that can help radiologists and nuclear medicine physicians today, while providing a look into clinical applications of the future.
Dr. Milton Guiberteau, chairman of the RSNA nuclear medicine subcommittee, has noticed an increased number of submissions from residents and fellows in training programs in both radiology and physics.
Read the complete Molecular Imaging preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
Road to RSNA 2009: PACS Preview
Welcome to the first installment of this year's Road to RSNA 2009 preview of the RSNA conference in Chicago. With this year's edition, we're providing a modality-by-modality overview of the most important scientific sessions, poster presentations, and educational exhibits to serve as your guide to events at McCormick Place.
In PACS, you'll find that the scientific and educational content at the RSNA meeting has matured, just as the PACS industry itself has matured. Those making the trek to Chicago this year will find fewer presentations on introductory topics and more talks addressing enterprise-wide workflow challenges and ways to mine image management technology for added efficiencies.
Read the complete PACS preview of scientific and educational presentations for RSNA 2009.
