Diagnostic screening programs help catch cancer, abnormalities or other diseases before they reach an advanced stage, saving lives and healthcare costs. Screening programs include, lung, breast, prostate, and cervical cancer, among many others.
New research could provide useful information for cancer registries and potentially help policymakers better evaluate screening outcomes to develop more effective guidelines.
Former SCCT president Ed Nicol, MD, knows there has been interest in the potential of automated CT exams. However, he isn't so sure they are possible at this point in time for a number of reasons.
Patients with developmental difficulties are more likely to undergo a CT scan—rather than ultrasound—compared to those without cognition issues, researchers reported.
On-call trainees are a great resource during off-hours, but must avoid missing key organs during ultrasound exams to prevent unnecessary follow-up CT and MRIs, experts wrote in Academic Radiology.
NHS insitutions were already in need of imaging modalities and faculty prior to the pandemic, and now more than 600,000 people are waiting for deferred exams.
Including bone mineral density testing with patients' exams added no extra time and identified those at greater risk for fracture, Danish researchers explained recently.
Radiologists often mistake these bony lesions near the knee as more serious conditions, such as cancer, but researchers say such irregularities are typically benign.
Lead researcher Majid Fotuhi, MD, PhD, also said that completing a baseline MRI before these patients leave the hospital is “imperative" to their future treatment.