A number of exhibitors in attendance at last week’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago presented milestones in dose-technology development and hospital integration.

All major manufacturers of molecular imaging technologies now have PET/MR systems in their product portfolios. While Siemens is the only company to have an FDA approved, simultaneous PET/MR system on the market, a number of reports indicate that GE Healthcare is not too far behind in the research and development phase of an on-board and fully integrated PET/MR scanner, as evidence would have it at the 2013 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting still underway in Chicago until its conclusion tomorrow.

CHICAGO—Philips presented the new Vereos PET/CT system with solid state detectors at the 99th Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting held Dec. 1-6 at McCormick Place convention center.

CMS elected to keep the new separate cost centers for MR and CT in its final rule, but did drop the most flawed group of cost data from the calculations thereby reducing cuts to the 2 to 18 percent range depending on modality and procedure

The rubidium-ARMI (alternative radiopharmaceutical for myocardial imaging) multicenter trial has established a bar for assessing myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) that meets or even exceeds previous SPECT MPI reader scores after thorough consensus review, according to a study published Nov. 18 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.

Sorafenib, otherwise known as Nevaxar, is now approved to treat advanced thyroid cancer, as of a Nov. 22 statement from the FDA.

South African Nuclear Energy Corp. announced this month that a leak has resulted in a global shortage of molybdenum-99, the precursor for Tc-99m used in a majority of molecular imaging scans. Authorities reportedly conducted an investigation Nov. 12 at the NTP plant in Pelindaba, just shy of 20 miles from the capital of Pretoria. It was estimated that the leak began Nov. 2. and was comprised of noble gas and iodine. Repairs are underway and the NTP plant will await independent review and authorization from the National Nuclear Regulator before operation can begin again.

In a JAMA published study, researchers found that although breast MRI use has more than doubled in a decade, patterns of use do not reflect national cancer screening and treatment guidelines