Determining "Vascular Age": Siemens Introduces A New Ultrasound Application For Evaluating The Risk Of Heart Disease

Siemens Medical Solutions expanded its portfolio of ultrasound applications: the syngo Arterial Health Package (AHP) calculates cardiovascular risks by measuring the carotid intima media thickness and determining the so-called vascular age - the relative age of the vessel. Together with other factors, such as cholesterol values and blood pressure, the physician can use the results of syngo AHP to better assess a patient's myocardial or stroke-related risk and establish an individual prevention and treatment plan. At the ESC 2007, the Congress of the European Society of Cardiology in Vienna from September 1 to 5, 2007, Siemens Medical Solutions will introduce syngo AHP for the first time in Europe.

The syngo Arterial Health Package (AHP) determines the vascular age, that is, the advance of atherosclerotic burden and displays it to the patient. Knowing the vascular age supports the physician in more accurately determining the personal risk of a patient to develop coronary heart disease, in rendering a prognosis, and in developing a prevention and therapy plan. The new ultrasound application provides a measurement of the intima media thickness of the carotid - the innermost layer of the carotid vessel wall. An abnormal widening of the intima media is considered evidence of threatening or already existing arteriosclerosis.

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Star Trek Medical Device Uses Ultrasound To Seal Punctured Lungs

A stretcher races through the entrance of a busy hospital. The car accident victim lies on top and grimaces in pain. While surface injuries look gruesome, the real medical danger is invisible - internal organ damage caused by being crushed against the steering wheel.

This isn't a scene from Seattle Grace Hospital, the set of the popular television drama Grey's Anatomy, but from its real-life model, Harborview Medical Center. Engineers at the University of Washington are working with Harborview doctors to create new emergency treatments right out of Star Trek: a tricorder type device using high-intensity focused ultrasound rays. This summer, researchers published the first experiment using ultrasound to seal punctured lungs.

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High-intensity Ultrasound Helps to Wipe Out Cancer Cells Anywhere in the Body

A new study has found that an intense form of ultrasound that shakes a tumor until its cells start to leak can launch an attack on cancer.

The study led by researchers at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering has suggested that a high intensity ultrasound can activate an “alarm” that enlists immune defenses against the cancerous invasion.

The new findings from animal experiments imply that once triggered by the ultrasound, the immune system might even search for and devastate cancer cells, including those that have spread through the bloodstream to lurk in other parts of the body.

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British sonographers move to stamp out occupational MSK injuries

The Society of Radiographers in the U.K. has published a guidance to help prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders, the most common work-related illness in Britain.

Studies have repeatedly shown that radiographers and other healthcare professionals who carry out sonography examinations are at particularly high risk of suffering painful conditions affecting the back, shoulders, neck, and arms. These include tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tenosynovitis.

"Too many sonographers are being made ill by their work and, in some cases, have to retire because of disabling repetitive strain injuries," said Kim Sunley, the health and safety officer for the Society of Radiographers.

Increasing volumes of work and demanding work schedules within some organizations, exacerbated by staff shortages and the pressures of working in a target-driven environment, may have an impact on the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among sonographers, according to the report.

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Ultrasound to Diagnose Down's Syndrome Questioned

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A leading expert in the field of ultrasound research is questioning the usefulness of obstetric ultrasound to diagnose Down's syndrome.

Hylton Meire, an ultrasound expert and consultant radiologist in England, raised the possibility the procedure is not as useful as has been suggested, and he emphasized there is lack of scientific data to support the practice.

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College, society drop out of surgeon-sponsored breast ultrasound accreditation program

The American College of Radiology and the Society of Breast Imaging have walked away from the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, an ambitious effort to certify breast ultrasound and ultrasound-guided interventions backed by the American College of Surgeons. They disagree with the program's accreditation standards, especially minimal physician qualifications for interpreting breast ultrasound and performing ultrasound-guided breast interventions.

After nearly two years of discussion, the ACR and SBI withdrew from deliberations after failing to persuade the NAPBC board to adopt the ACR's long-established standards, practice guidelines, and accreditation programs related to breast imaging and image-guided interventions, according to a statement issued by the college.

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Real-Time 3-D Ultrasound Speeds Patient Recovery

Mayo Clinic physicians have adapted real-time 3-D ultrasound imaging devices -- including one designed to look at an infant's heart -- so that they can watch as they use a needle filled with anesthetic to numb individual nerves located inches under the skin. In this way, they can quickly block nerve function in selected areas of the body prior to surgery, an advance that may spare patients from use of general anesthesia and sends them home faster and with less need for pain medication.

Mayo anesthesiologists have demonstrated the benefits of real-time 3-D ultrasound in nerve blockade in more than 150 surgeries of varied types. Their presentations at scientific meetings and publications in peer-reviewed journals have informed other physicians worldwide into how this next-era ultrasound imaging technology may assist in peripheral nerve block placement -- the technique of disabling targeted nerves so that a patient doesn't feel pain from surgery.

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In-Depth View Of The Brain Provided By 3-D Ultrasound Scanner

Biomedical engineers at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering have adapted a three-dimensional ultrasound scanner that might guide minimally invasive brain surgeries and provide better detection of a brain tumor's location.

The "brain scope," which is inserted into a dime-sized hole in the skull, may be particularly useful for the bedside evaluation of critically ill patients when computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) equipment is unavailable, the researchers said. They report the development in a forthcoming issue of the journal Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology, which is currently available online. The work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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ASE: 3D Echo Tops 2D and M-Mode for Kids' Hearts

SEATTLE, June 21 -- When assessing the left ventricle in children, real-time three-dimensional echocardiography offers the best combination of accuracy and efficiency, according to a small trial reported here.

Measurement of left-ventricular size, function, and mass is the most common and essential application of echocardiograph in pediatric clinical practice and research, said Xiluzhang Lu, M.D., of Baylor in Houston, and colleagues, at the American Society of Echocardiography meeting.

However, little data have existed on the relative accuracy, reproducibility, and efficiency of M-mode, 2D, and 3D echo techniques for acquiring left ventricular measurements, Dr. Lu added.

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Ultrasound a Safer Alternative to Invasive Breast Biopsy

A new study has determined that the use of ultrasound for the monitoring of certain breast lesions with a low likelihood of developing cancer may be a safer and more reassuring option than a biopsy.

Chairman of Radiology at Steyr's Ambulatory Care Center in Austria, Dr. Oswald Graf, who was also study author, opined that this method of observing some masses can help women avoid unessential and insidious biopsies.

In a breast ultrasound, images of breast tissues are made with the help of sound waves. This is not as invasive as a biopsy because tissue samples are not collected for analyses as they are with biopsies.

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Appropriateness Criteria For Performance Of Cardiac Ultrasound Exams Released

In an effort to ensure quality cardiac ultrasound imaging for all patients and to avoid unnecessary use of the technology, the American College of Cardiology Foundation (ACCF) and the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) in partnership with the American College of Emergency Physicians, American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, and the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance today released Appropriateness Criteria for two of the most commonly used cardiac ultrasound techniques - transthoracic (TTE) and transesophageal (TEE) echocardiography - just in time for the 18th Annual Scientific Sessions of ASE in Seattle, Washington.

The TTE/TEE Appropriateness Criteria review common scenarios found in clinical practice and address the appropriateness of ordering echocardiograms for each situation. The Criteria address a broad range of clinical situations in which TTE/TEE might be used, such as for patients presenting with signs and symptoms that could represent heart disease, like murmurs and palpitations, and conditions such as hypertension, stroke, heart valve disease, and suspected or known congenital heart disease.

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Dynamic Sonography Accurate In Diagnosing Muscle Tears

Dynamic sonography is useful in the diagnosis, management and follow-up of muscle tears and hematomas, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from Khoula Hospital in Muscat, Oman.

The study consisted of 50 male soccer players ranging from 20-30 years of age with muscular trauma in the thigh and calf. Dynamic sonography of both the affected and contralateral normal part was performed. "Ultrasound is a rapid and radiation free imaging modality available in all sports medicine emergency rooms. It is a very important tool to diagnose, follow-up and document muscle tears for proper management," said Ashok Kumar Nath, MD, lead author of the study.

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Medicare To Expand Coverage Of Ultrasound Diagnostic Procedures, USA

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today a decision to provide coverage for Doppler monitoring of cardiac output in certain settings. CMS has determined that the current evidence is adequate to revise its longstanding Ultrasound Diagnostic Procedures National Coverage Determination and remove the past noncoverage of this diagnostic test in these settings.

"Today's decision reflects CMS' commitment to using evidence-based approaches to provide Medicare beneficiaries with reasonable and necessary medical technologies as they evolve through innovation in the marketplace," said CMS Acting Administer Leslie V. Norwalk, Esq. "As we developed this decision, we used the best available medical evidence-in the form of randomized controlled clinical trials-to re-evaluate our position on this important non-invasive method of caring for patients in intensive care situations."


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Christian Science Monitor Examines Legislative Efforts To Provide Ultrasounds To Women Seeking Abortions

Ultrasounds have become one of the "latest weapons" in the "battle" between abortion-rights opponents and advocates, the Christian Science Monitor reports. According to the Monitor, six states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan and Mississippi -- have passed legislation requiring that ultrasounds be offered to women seeking abortions, and four states -- Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah and Wisconsin -- require physicians to notify women seeking abortions about the availability of ultrasounds. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 22 bills relating to ultrasounds were introduced in 15 states this year.

Abortion-rights opponents say ultrasounds are a "medical imperative" for women seeking abortions and they allow women access to all available information before deciding whether to undergo the procedure, according to the Monitor. However, abortion-rights supporters say that ultrasounds are not medically necessary and that laws requiring ultrasounds for women seeking abortions or requiring physicians to offer them are "constitutionally suspect" and a form of "emotional blackmail," the Monitor reports.

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New Ultrasound Fingerprint Identification System Suggested

Diagnostic 3D ultrasound of fingers could be used for biometric identification based on matching paired images using internal fingerprint structures that would be difficult to fake, offering the possibility of a unique automated fingerprint identification system, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

For the study, 3D images were collected of the fingers of 20 volunteers. A group of four readers, including two musculoskeletal radiologists, then attempted to match the pairs based on anatomic and physiological features of the human finger. Radiologists matching the image pairs were 100% successful, and the average success of all four readers was 96%.

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Analyst Puts Hand-Carried Ultrasound Market at $1 Billion by 2011

The hand-carried ultrasound market will top $1 billion by 2011, according to a report by ultrasound industry analyst and consultant Harvey G. Klein, PhD, president of Klein Biomedical Consultants Inc, New York City. The report, The Hand-Carried Ultrasound ("HCU") Market: A Disruptive Technology?, also names three projected market leaders by 2009—GE Healthcare, Waukesha, Wis; SonoSite Inc, Bothell, Wash; and ZONARE Medical Systems Inc, Mountain View, Calif. Medical Imaging spoke with Klein about some of the finer points of his report, which can be purchased for $10,500.

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