Rather than have a cardiology PACS separate from reporting tools, Infinitt North America has combined the two and highlighted that capability at ACC.10 earlier this month in Atlanta.

Diagnostic imaging and health IT technologies provider Agfa HealthCare released its enterprise-wide cardiology image and information management system, Impax Cardiovascular Review Station Remote, earlier this month at the annual conference of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) in Atlanta.

While nuclear cardiologists await a normal supply of molybdenum-99 (Mo-99), the parent isotope of technetium-99m (Tc-99m), they have found ways to cope, including using other radiopharmaceuticalswhich can challenge standard protocolsor by relying more on PET and CT imaging.

When I wrote an article two years ago for Cardiovascular Business (Sept/Oct 2008, page 40), I outlined the potential impact the severe 2008-2010 Medicare cuts would have on non-hospital outpatient cath labs (OPCLs). At that time, three OPCL members of the Cardiovascular Outpatient Center Alliance (COCA), an educational and advocacy association, had decided to either sell to local hospitals or close their doors. I anticipated that many more would likely follow their lead if COCA could not educate CMS to change the reimbursement mechanism for OPCLs.

Better EMS and cath lab collaborations reduce door-to-balloon times and lead to better patient care, particularly in STEMI patients, said Ivan C. Rokos, MD, of University of California, Los Angeles, during a presentation at the 59th annual American College of Cardiology scientific session last week.

Cardiovascular Business News sat down with Michael Reitermann, CEO of Siemens Healthcare in the U.S., at ACC.10 to discuss the challenges and solutions regarding the U.S. healthcare market.

Toshiba America Medical Systems highlighted its ultrahelical mode, a new cardiac software solution for its Aquilion One 320-detector-row and Aquilion Premium 160-detector-row CT scanners that reduces radiation dose exposure by 21 percent.

More and more coronary CT angiography (CCTA) exams are scanned with low-radiation protocols, which means the images can be a lower quality than usual. TeraRecon, a provider of advanced visualization technologies, has responded by enhancing its post-processing algorithms to reduce noise that potentially can cause artifacts. The company highlighted this application, along with other tools, at ACC.10 in Atlanta.