Volume 12 - Issue 2-3, 2012

Dear readers, I am honoured to introduce myself as the new Editor-in-Chief for IMAGING Management, with the inspiring challenge ahead of continuing in the established footsteps of my predecessor, Prof. Iain McCall. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Prof. Iain McCall for his long commitment and hard work for IMAGING Management, and extend my promise of continuing to develop the high standard...

IMAGING Management, the official media platform for senior chairmen, business managers and decision-makers in the field of medical imaging, announced during this year’s European Congress of Radiology (ECR), which took place in Vienna, Austria (March 1–5), that Prof. Lluis Donoso Bach, Director of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona, and Executive Director of the UDIAT D...

Prof. Iain McCall Awarded Gold Medal at ECR 2012 Adding to his 2010 award of Honorary Membership of the RSNA, Prof. Iain McCall, M.D., D.M.R.D., F.R.C.R., and Editor-in-Chief of IMAGING Management (2006 – 2012), was in March presented with the Gold Medal of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) for outstanding contributions in the field of medical imaging. Not only was Prof. McCall lauded for his sign...

Following the success of the recently-held Management in Radiology (MIR) inaugural workshop as part of the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) which took place in Vienna, Austria, the association are pleased to invite all those with an interest in management, health economics and medical business management, to join them for the forthcoming Annual Scientific Meeting of Management in Radiology (MIR), ch...

In light of the rapid growth in the field of interventional oncology, CIRSE are delighted to announce that the annual congress dedicated to this important field, European Congress on Interventional Oncology (ECIO), is to become an annual event as of 2012. This upgraded role reflects the need to explore not only technological developments but also issues relating to training and practice. The ECIO makes...

The 13th annual IHE-Europe Connectathon will take place from 15–19 April 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey. IHE Connectathons provide the exclusive opportunity to test the interoperability and connectivity of healthcare IT systems. The 2013 edition is expected to draw participation from across Europe, with more than 90 companies and 300 engineers. The hosting of the next event in the iconic city of Istanbul is...

Taking place in Heidelberg Convention Center in Germany from 26-29 June, 2013, the annual Computer Assisted Radiology and Surgery (CARS) congress is an occasion where medicine and technology meet to present and discuss the key innovations that shape modern medicine on a worldwide basis. New picture achieving and communication systems (PACS) applications, including IT-infrastructures adapted for the oper...

COCIR, the European trade association for the medical technology industry, on 15 March hosted a meeting with the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli, and senior representatives from hospitals and other healthcare providers. The meeting in Paris showcased how integrated IT and innovative financial partnerships are optimising patient care. Commissioner Dalli is supporting Mem...

Recently, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) provided to the public annual health-related data from 1960 to the present for its 34 member countries – 24 in Europe and 10 outside the continent including the United States. Forty-eight separate indices were presented, with one of the most telling statistics being the yearly percent of healthcare funded by public expenditures. Am...

Author: Prof. Bernd May Both managers in the medical imaging department (MID), as well as hospital managers, are seeking new ways to provide an optimised service within a climate of shrinking healthcare budgets, competition from private imaging centres, and increased demand for evidence- based medical provision. In this article, I will outline four key ways in which the MID can attain these goals, and dem...

Public health authorities face massive strain on their financial capacity and resources due to the explosion in the development of new medical technology, and the aging population. New reforms in legal initiatives prompted a radical change of the market structures which are being replicated in today’s health systems. The EU, for example, intends and has planned for some time, to reform previously monopoli...

Managing a continuously increasing workload is a major challenge for many imaging departments. However, effective workload management can be achieved through service level agreements, and will help radiologists in their interaction with hospital administrators, as well as helping purchasing groups to enable appropriate resources to be provided for the imaging services. The goal of implementing a service le...

Hybrid imaging systems and their applications have gained widespread acceptance and continue to grow. Enthused by the success of PET-CT, medical imaging is witnessing the further development of hybrid solutions such as PET-MR and SPECT-CT through the collaboration of radiology and nuclear medicine. The emphasis lies in combining the strengths of functional and anatomical modalities into one system to provi...

The CIRSE Annual Congress is a major event in the imaging community – it is the world’s largest meeting dedicated to image- guided, minimally invasive therapies. This dynamic, trendsetting congress allows the interventional radiology (IR) community to share the latest breakthroughs in research, trials and imaging modalities, as well as gaining robust training in procedural technique and clinical manage...

While it may be true that to err is human, making mistakes is also a luxury that is not afforded to all humans alike. For people working in high-risk professions, such as in the civil aviation or medical industries, a simple mistake can have fatal consequences and must be avoided where possible. Numerous studies have been carried out examining the tragic impact human error can have on clinical practice....

Catheter-directed delivery has revolutionised modern medicine, with applications for treating cancers, infections, stenotic disorders, clots – even diabetes. This is all made possible through the breakthrough of image-guidance, and this year CIRSE, home of interventional radiology, will be examining the latest advances and research in great detail. Image-guided catheters have many applications, but to...

The kidneys are a work of engineering genius, regulating all manner of essential functions within the body: blood pressure, homeostasis and hormones, as well as filtering our blood. Nestled within the retroperitoneum, these small organs play a vital role. Although well protected from external threats by our lower ribs, the muscles and fat of the abdominal wall, and the renal fascia, the kidney’s compl...

The wide extent of ultrasound adoption in many new clinical applications over the last decade was unexpected by most, considering ultrasound technology has been available for a long time. Improvements in image quality, application-specific technology and transducer design have been crucial in driving this penetration. Concerns in the medical imaging sector over radiation dose from CT and x-ray, paired with...

Recent evidence suggests that contrast-enhanced breast MRI is becoming an established technique that offers good quality in safety, performance and patient outcomes. In this article, Prof. Francesco Sardanelli, a frequently invited speaker and educator on this topic at international meetings, writes about the growing effectiveness of breast MRI, the special attention that must be paid to high-risk patient...

The Contrast Media Safety Committee (CMSC) of the European Society of Urogenital Radiology (ESUR) first produced guidelines on contrast medium-induced nephropathy (CIN) and on the use of metformin in patients receiving contrast medium in 1999. The committee decided to critically review the new literature and update its guidelines for reducing the risk of CIN and for the management of diabetic patients on m...

Imaging modalities nowadays produce a wide range of information contained in high-quality digital medical images. This massive amount of data and technical developments in informatics have facilitated the use of computational image processing methods with the aim to aid in diagnosis and therapeutic decision-making. The combination of high-quality images with such computing techniques allow for the in vivo e...

Interventional radiology (IR) is already well established within the field of oncology and the contribution it makes to cancer care continues to grow. Minimally invasive image-guided interventions started out having an ancillary role in oncology: treating the complications of cancer (e.g. clearing occluded ducts and vessels) or managing the side-effects of disease and of treatment (e.g. haemorrhage). Howeve...

Please Tell us About Your Career in Medical Imaging. Prof. A. Sedaghat: I originally graduated in general radiology from Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) and then passed a postgraduate course on MRI at the University of Miami, Florida. My professional areas of special interest are diagnostic neuroradiology and musculoskeletal radiology. Over the past 25 years of my career, I’ve held several p...