Higher quality images and shorter acquisition times than stand-alone PET systems are among the benefits of adding 64-slice CT.

Over the last decade, hybrid imaging has become a standard of care in radiology, cardiology, nuclear medicine and oncology. Integrated scanning systems offer a number of advantages for physicians and patients.

 A panel of seven clinical experts and public policy leaders offer insight on personalized medicine, technology, biomarkers and the DRA.

PET/CT has come a long way since Time magazine awarded the scanner one of its Medical Inventions of the Year award in December 2000. Published literature since 1996 has established strong evidence for the advantages of PET/CT over PET and CT alone for characterizing lesions as malignant or benign, and for staging, restaging and therapy monitoring of cancer. In addition, emerging applications include imaging of cardiovascular diseases and infection.

PET/CT has come a long way since Time magazine awarded the scanner one of its Medical Inventions of the Year award in December 2000.

Numerous clinical studies have compellingly demonstrated that FDG-PET generally outperforms not only individual diagnostic tests, but also a combination of tests to diagnose and stage many cancers. Physicians and patients need to be informed.

United Healthcare’s decision to require MRI accreditation after March 1, 2008, initiated a trend among payers that is likely to gain steam. It has also sent hospitals and freestanding imaging centers scrambling to secure MRI accreditation from the American College of Radiology, which has accredited over to 5,000 MRI units since beginning its MRI

As little as one extra MRI per day can generate more than an additional $200,000 in incremental revenue annually. But most imaging centers use crude scheduling systems that do not accurately present a center’s potential throughput. David A. Dierolf, director of performance improvement, Outpatient Imaging Affiliates (OIA), Nashville, Tenn, outlined