Sophia Khan

Researchers achieve 3D imaging through single optical fibre

A team of scientists, led by the University of Glasgow’s Optics Group, has built a 3D imager able to capture video at 5Hz through a single optical fibre.

The prototype system delivers images through a 40cm long optical fibre, each frame containing up to approximately 4,000 independently resolvable features, with a depth resolution of around 5mm.

By using a pulsed laser, the device also measures the time of flight of the light and hence the range of every pixel in the image. These 3D images can be recorded at distances from a few tens of millimetres to several metres away from the fibre end, with millimetric distance resolution and frame rates high enough to perceive motion at close to video quality.

Read more: https://www.imveurope.com/news/researchers-achieve-3d-imaging-through-single-optical-fibre

Ultrasound useful for workup of DBT recalls

Ultrasound should be the first line for diagnostic workup of noncalcified masses recalled from digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) exams, according to research.

However, for asymmetries, the researchers also found that diagnostic mammography may be best without additional ultrasound, while architectural distortions still warrant mammography and ultrasound.

DBT has seen increased use in the U.S. over the past 10 years following clearance of the first systems. The study authors said this is due to the technology’s increased cancer detection rate and lower recall rate compared with conventional digital mammography.

Read more: https://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=134588

Advanced MRI technique significantly improves radiologists’ ability to image the pancreas

Newly developed advanced diffusion-weighted imaging techniques can help radiologists better visualize the pancreas on MRI scans, according to a new research.

Due to its small size, and gastric and respiratory motion, high-quality, artifact-free images of the pancreas can be difficult to achieve on MRI. Current solutions involve giving patients verbal breathing cues, but this time-consuming process doesn’t always work.

Achieving an improved image quality for pancreatic evaluation was the result of combining an approach of optimizing classic image parameters in combination with using advanced post-processing. This study demonstrates the advantages of an advanced sequence for the assessment of the pancreas in clinical patients without pancreatic pathology.

Read more: https://www.healthimaging.com/topics/diagnostic-screening/advanced-dwi-improves-image-quality-pancreas-mri

4 Radiation Oncology Technologies to Watch Out For

The American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) explained some of the recent technology trends to watch in radiation oncology at the ASTRO 2021 meeting.

The four technologies they mentioned to watch include:

• Proton therapy
• FLASH therapy
• Image guided radiotherapy
• PET guided radiotherapy

Read more: https://www.itnonline.com/videos/video-4-radiation-oncology-technologies-watch

MRI, hybrid imaging outperform conventional tests for small cell lung cancer staging

FDG PET/CT, whole-body MRI, and coregistered FDG PET/MRI outperformed conventional tests for various staging endpoints in patients with SCLC,” concluded first author Yoshiharu Ohno from the Fujita Health University School of Medicine in Japan. Whole-body MRI and FDG PET/MRI outperformed FDG PET/CT for T category and thus TNM stage, indicating the utility of MRI for assessing extent of local invasion in SCLC. MRI, with or without FDG PET coregistration, can improve the staging of patients with small-cell lung cancer.

These additional observations may relate to a superior role of MRI in assessing the extent of local soft-tissue invasion by tumor, as has been observed in settings other than SCLC.

Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211209095634.htm

New imaging technology may reduce need for skin biopsies

Dermatologists may take pictures of a suspicious-looking lesion and quickly produce a detailed, microscopic image of the skin instead of surgically removing a sample of the skin.

This could become routine in clinics, the result of a new “virtual histology” technology being developed by researchers at UCLA.

Images appear like biopsied, histochemically stained skin sections imaged on microscope slides.

Read more: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-11-imaging-technology-skin-biopsies.html

Two-photon microscope provides unprecedented brain-imaging ability

Two-photon fluorescence microscopy has significantly enhanced researchers’ ability to monitor brain activity with a microscope that provides a resolution high enough to see individual neurons and their neighbors.

The approach leverages the brief, orders-of-magnitude increase in calcium that a neuron experiences when firing. When the laser is pointed at the neuron, and the neuron is firing, calcium comes in, the protein finds the calcium and ultimately, fluoresces.

Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211202123008.htm

Medicare beneficiary growth outstripping radiologist supply

In some parts of the U.S., the number of Medicare beneficiaries is outpacing the number of available radiologists by more than 50%.

The significant increase in Medicare beneficiaries and relative stagnation of residency matches into diagnostic radiology could strain the supply and demand balance in the delivery of imaging services.

 There is a high variance in the supply and demand mismatch. This could raise potential concern for decreased access in areas with too few radiologists and inefficient resource allocation in regions with too many radiologists.

Read more: https://www.auntminnie.com/index.aspx?sec=ser&sub=def&pag=dis&ItemID=134405

Hospital sees success deploying radiology trainees as at-home ‘teleresidents’

Deploying senior radiology trainees as at-home “teleresidents” is a feasible solution to maintain productivity and social distancing amid the pandemic, according to a new research.

Read more: https://www.radiologybusiness.com/topics/leadership-workforce/radiology-trainees-residents-home-teleresidents

Eye imaging technology breaks through skin by crossing beams

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have demonstrated a method for increasing the depth at which optical coherence tomography (OCT) can image structures beneath skin.

The gold standard for imaging and diagnosing diseases within the retina, OCT has yet to find widespread use as an imaging technique for other parts of the body due to its inability to return clear images from more than a millimeter beneath the skin’s surface.

Read more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211201162033.htm