Dear AuntMinnie Member,
How does a radiologic technologist instructor from Illinois find herself in Peru, performing x-rays on mummies that are hundreds of years old? It's a fascinating story, and one that Julie Ostrowski tells in a new article we're featuring this week.
Ms. Ostrowski last month returned from a 28-day trip to the Andes, where she assisted in a project to preserve and document mummies of the Chachapoya civilization, a culture that existed alongside the Incas and was largely eliminated with the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors.
By recording and digitizing x-rays and photographs of the mummies, Ms. Ostrowski and others on the Chachapoya team helped researchers around the world learn more about this intriguing culture. Read her story by clicking here.
3D US for thyroid tumors
Closer to home, researchers from New York City found that measuring the volume of thyroid tumors with 3D ultrasound is a better way to predict whether they will become aggressive than using traditional 2D ultrasound measurements of tumor dimensions.
The group was trying to find a better way to manage papillary thyroid cancers, which are often indolent and may never pose a risk to patients. Active surveillance with ultrasound is usually used to follow these tumors, but what's the best way to determine when a cancer is about to become aggressive?
The researchers found that 3D ultrasound measurements of tumor volume were more accurate than 2D measurements and also were able to detect aggressive tumors earlier. Read more by clicking here, or visit our Ultrasound Community at ultrasound.auntminnie.com.
Patients prefer oral contrast
Finally, visit our CT Community for a new study that queried patient preferences for oral CT contrast. Some radiology facilities are moving away from having patients drink oral contrast before CT scans, but researchers from Michigan found that a vast majority of patients would rather drink contrast if it reduced the chance of a missed finding on their scans. Read more by clicking here, or visit the community at ct.auntminnie.com.
