MRI Technique Predicts Future Alcohol Abuse in Teenagers
The objective of the technique is to establish a possible neural marker that could identify which teenagers would abuse alcohol when they entered adulthood and devise interventions that might delay alcohol use. The researchers used BOLD MRI on 29 participants who drank minimal alcohol between the ages of 12 and 14, and over the course of the study, 15 had evolved into binge drinkers. The BOLD inhibitory control test was used to determine blood flow changes that happened in tandem with neuron activation. In the group ’s initial imaging round at age 18, participants were asked to press a button when they saw any shape th...
Source: radRounds - January 18, 2020 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Using AI and MRI to Detect ADHD
Researchers from theCincinnati Children ' s Hospital Medical Center are utilizingmultichannel deep neural network model (mcDNN) in conjunction with MRI to predict attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children, according to a studyrecently published inRadiology: Artificial Intelligence. In the United States, a total of 6.1 million children have been diagnosed with ADHD. Many children with ADHD also struggle with at least one other mental, emotional, or behavioral condition, and 30 percent of youth suffer from anxiety. To lessen the symptoms, many children undergo a combination of behavioral therapy and medic...
Source: radRounds - January 18, 2020 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
North Carolina Imaging Center Sued for Substandard Mammograms
A group of former patients of Raleigh Radiology filed a lawsuitthis month against the imaging center for producing substandard mammograms and not meeting American College of Radiology (ACR) standards. Lawyers of plaintiff Emily Cram, a Wake County resident, filed the December 31 suit on her behalf. Cram had undergone three mammograms at Raleigh Radiology ’s Blue Ridge location between November 7, 2017 and November 6, 2019, a period of time of which the ACR stated in a review that the clinic didn’t meet their imaging standards. After the ACR review, the center was mandated to inform all patients that mammography servi...
Source: radRounds - January 18, 2020 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
MRI Shows Us the Neural Underworking of Depression
Two teams of researchers are using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to examine the neural patterns associated with major depressive disorder (MDD). Both groups presented their findings at the most recent Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in Chicago. Centers for Disease Control estimates that 16 millionAmerican adults suffer from depression every year. Depression is commonly linked with anxiety, and many patients turn to therapy or medication to diminish symptoms. In an attempt to better understand how depression operates in the brain, researchers from Columbia University ’s department of psychiatry...
Source: radRounds - December 23, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Is Mammography + MRI the Key for Early Detection of Breast Cancer?
Dense breast tissue not only increases a woman ’s risk of developing cancer, it also makes it more difficult for physicians to identify possible tumors. However, emerging research from University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands has found that implementing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening in addition to mammography can be a more effective cancer diagnosis method in patients with dense breast tissue than mammography alone. Over the course of two years, the group of researchers led by Carla van Gils evaluated 40,000 women with immense dense breast tissue with mammography and 4,783 were designated to rec...
Source: radRounds - December 23, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Anesthesia before MRI Results in Death of Teen
A 14-year girl in England has died due to complications of being anesthetized prior to her imaging scan.Alice Sloman ’s heart was twice the size of normal hearts, a condition that put her in danger when administered anesthesia. Before her scan, she was described as “extremely anxious” and “hypersensitive,” prompting physicians to give her a dose of general anesthesia. According to her parents, they repea tedly insisted to her doctors that she suffered from a series of symptoms including breathlessness.However, the anesthesia was a miscalculated decision, and three days later Sloman died. Coroner Dr. Simon Fox e...
Source: radRounds - December 23, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
MRI Shows How Excessive Screen Time Impacts White Matter in Young Children
A new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) cross-sectional studyusing diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has found that young children who spend more than an hour a day in front of a screen have more disorganized and underdeveloped white matter than children with lower screen time quotas. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends an hour of daily screen time, and warns that children who spend more than two hours in front of a screen are at risk for a variety of developmental delays, such as impaired cognition, language delay, poor sleep, and decreased parent-child engagement. To understand the repercussions of excess...
Source: radRounds - November 15, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Is Your Identity at Risk When You Undergo a Facial MRI?
Facial recognition software could jeopardize patient confidentiality standards when used to analyze MRI images, according to a new study conducted by the Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic researchers used MRIscans from 84 volunteers who had undergone head scans. The volunteers were photographed from five different angles, and the researchers also generated an image of each face from the MRIs, making sure to include the outline from the skin, fat, and the skull ’s bone marrow but avoiding the bone or hair. The researchers then used Microsoft Azure facial-recognition software to see if it could identify the faces in the MRI ima...
Source: radRounds - November 15, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
New Portable MRI Could Change the Way We Approach Emergency Imaging
Jonathan Rothberg, an entrepreneur with a knack for developing creative solutions for imaging needs, is adding a portable MRI scanner about the size of a photo booth to his growinglistof accessible imaging inventions. The scanner was spun out of Rothberg ’s latest startup, Hyperfine. According to STAT News, the MRI is priced around $50,000, it ’s 20 times cheaper to build than traditional MRI, 10 times lighter, and consumes 35 percent less energy than a 1.5 Tesla MRI. It was designed for emergency situations, and can be easily wheeled around and patients don’t need to remove any metal accessories to use it. Ke...
Source: radRounds - November 15, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Are Out-of-Pocket Expenses Deterring Women from Breast Cancer Screenings?
Patients who are diagnosed with a 2 percent chance of developing breast cancer are less likely to return for the recommended 6-month scan if they have high out-of-pocket expenses, says a new studypublished in theJournal of the American College of Radiology. Researchers from Johns Hopkins ’s Department of Radiology studied records of more than 190 women who were given the BI-RADS category 3 assessment between February 1, 2011 and June 30, 2017. They found that 57 percent went to their scheduled follow-up MRI within 10 months, 18 percent received the examination slightly after 10 mo nths, and 24 percent (or 45 patients)...
Source: radRounds - October 19, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
What Happens When the State Won ’t Let You Purchase a Scanner
A general surgeon in North Carolina wants to buy a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine to make procedures more affordable, but the state won ’t allow him. Now he’s suing. According to the lawsuit, Forsyth Imaging owner Gajendra Singh, MD, was concerned about the fact that many patients were struggling to afford imaging services. He wanted to offer imaging services at affordable prices, and help his patients easily determine their out-of-pocket expenses. He had built a transparent pricing model, and posted procedure rates on Forsyth ’s website. He claims that his prices are lower than other local imaging c...
Source: radRounds - October 19, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Radiologists Identify the Relationship Between Lung Injury Patterns and Vaping
Once considered a safer alternative to cigarettes, radiologists are now drawing connections between vaping and lung injury patterns, according to a studypublished this month in theAmerican Journal of Roentgenology. This isn ’t the first time that radiologists are voicing concerns about the adverse effects of e-cigarettes. A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studypublished in August showed that a single session of vaping causes reduced blood flow and damaged vascular reactivity in the femoral artery. The researchers also found that the vaping solution consists of potentially harmful chemicals that when inhaled, impact ...
Source: radRounds - October 19, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
MRI Helps Us Distinguish Benign from Malignant Meningioma
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could be a successful technology for understanding the severity ofmeningioma, according to a studyrecently published inClinical Radiology. Determining if meningioma is high grade or low grade can help physicians decide how the tumor should be managed. Researchers from the American University Beirut Medical Center ventured to find out if MRI could help identify the meningioma grade before it ’s removed from the patient, making surgery easier and safer. The researchers analyzed scans of 71 patients who had undergone surgeries to remove intracranial meningiomas at American University bet...
Source: radRounds - September 22, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
Anti-Radiation Poison Pill Also Effective at Eliminating GBCAs from the Body
The chelator pill, a medication that was developed to rid the body of radioactive elements, has a 96 percent efficacy rate at preventinggadolinium from depositing in bodies of patients who have just undergone MRI, according to researchers from theU.S. Department of Energy ' s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) are used in around a third of all MRI procedures. They ’ve been a controversial topic in recent years, and traces of the agent can remain in the brain for years after screenings. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has requiredhealthcare providers to issue a GBCA Med...
Source: radRounds - September 22, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
How Can We Improve Referring Physician-Patient Discussions About Breast Cancer Screenings?
Many radiologists are concerned that mammography information provided by referring physicians is confusing for patients, and they want to be more involved in screening-related discussions, according to a studyrecently published in theJournal of Breast Imaging. The group of researchers led by Shadi Aminololama-Shakeri, MD,Chief of Breast Imaging Section at theUniversity of California Davis in Sacramento, California found thatthere is a wide variety of breast cancer screening guidelines across professional societies, and the lack of uniformity makes understanding the purpose of mammography confusing and frustrating for pa...
Source: radRounds - September 22, 2019 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
