Futuristic nanotechnology has been teamed with a decades-old drug tobeat atherosclerotic plaques in research conducted at WashingtonUniversity School of Medicine in St. Louis and published in theSeptember issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging. 

Researchers from the department of radiology at the Medical Universityof South Carolina in Charleston found that using a limited field ofview with cardiac CT misses a large percentage of pulmonary nodules.UCLA cardiologist Matthew Budoff, MD, however, says the currentevidence suggests it is “better to keep the field of view small, ratherthan find a lot of nodules, especially in a population at low risk forlung cancer.”

 The FDA has added Definity from Lantheus Medical Imaging to its list ofproducts with potential signals of serious risks that were identifiedearlier in the year in its Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS)database. However, the company is questioning the agencys timing, asit comes six months after the reported events.

Royal Philips Electronics has reached an agreement to acquire AlphaX-Ray Technologies, a manufacturer of cardiovascular x-ray systems inPanvel, India.

Digirad, a provider of medical diagnostic imaging systems and services,has initiated its clinical trial of a new imaging system incorporatingproprietary technology to correct attenuation in cardiac SPECT imaging.

Some research has demonstrated that performing elective percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) in low-volume facilities, especially those without onsite cardiac surgery, can result in positive outcomes. Critics say, however, that these studies are mostly single-center investigations, which do not reflect the real risk of performing elective PCI without onsite surgical backup. In fact, critics point to studies using Medicare data, which do show an increase in mortality for patients treated at facilities without surgical backup.

In recent months, at least three non-hospital outpatient cath labs performed their last cardiac catheterization procedures. Faced with rising costs and looming reimbursement cuts, these physician-driven independent outpatient facilities made the difficult decision to close their doors for good.

The federal government is following the path of some private payors by crafting legislation that ties payment for advanced imaging services to accreditation.