Week in Review | March 31, 2018

The majority of chest, abdominal and pelvic CTs are scanned off-center—a phenomenon that could impact both dose and image quality, a group of Atlanta researchers reported this month in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology.

The cost of healthcare, especially advanced imaging studies, has been under scrutiny for several years now, leading to countless discussions about what is and is not essential to patient care. In a new commentary published by Academic Radiology, the author argues that image reinterpretation by a subspecialist radiologist can provide significant value and should not be viewed as wasteful or unnecessary.

As the influence of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) continues to spread throughout medical imaging, radiology training programs may need to update their curricula and prepare for both the short- and the long-term effects of these new technologies, according to a new commentary published in Academic Radiology.

Interrupting radiologists during image interpretation—an inconvenience that can disrupt the physician’s workflow an average of five times an hour—increases reporting times and decreases accuracy, especially in complex cases, according to research published in this month’s edition of Academic Radiology.

Edward J. Cronin Jr., AHRA’s CEO, has announced he is retiring at the end of the year after 14 years in the position.

A cheaper alternative to x-ray imaging could increase optical mammography (OM) sensitivity by as much as 1,000-fold while minimizing ionizing radiation exposure in patients undergoing breast cancer screenings, the Optical Society announced this month.

Skeletal x-ray utilization among Medicare beneficiaries is up, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology. Utilization is up 5.5 percent among radiologists and more than 11 percent among nonradiologists.

Patient and public awareness of interventional radiology (IR) remains low, according to a study published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology.

While it might not be on every physician’s daily radar, graduate medical education (GME) funding is still key to quality healthcare and has implications for both academic centers and private practices. 

Screening mammography utilization dropped in 2010 after years of growth, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. The decline in utilization, the authors noted, seems to have been brought on by revised breast cancer screening guidelines released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) in 2009.

Ever since artificial intelligence (AI) became one of the biggest topics in radiology, there has been a debate about whether AI would eventually replace radiologists.