In a new study, researchers in Oxford in the UK have demonstrated improved image quality using a new commercial algorithm and identified an optimal value for a key reconstruction parameter. The Bayesian penalized likelihood (BPL) algorithm outperformed a conventional ordered subset expectation maximization (OSEM) algorithm in a phantom study and in a qualitative assessment of 15 clinical scans (J. Nucl. Med. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.115.159301). {read more here}

Advocates for radiology are criticizing new data from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) that show growth in medical imaging from 2000 to 2012. In fact, the data indicate that imaging utilization has been declining since 2009. {read more here}

Early FDG-PET (2-deoxy-2[F-18]fluoro-D-glucose positron emission tomography) adapted treatment improves the outcome of early FDG-PET-positive patients with stages I/II Hodgkin lymphoma. These final results from the randomized intergroup EORTC, LYSA (Lymphoma Study Association), FIL (Fondazione Italiana Linfomi) H10 trial were presented at the 13th International Conference on Malignant Lymphoma (13-ICML). {read more here}

A blood clot is a dangerous health situation with the potential to trigger heart attacks, strokes and other medical emergencies. To treat a blood clot, doctors need to find its exact location. But current clinical techniques can only look at one part of the body at a time, slowing treatment and increasing the risk for complications. Now, researchers are reporting a method, tested in rats, that may someday allow health care providers to quickly scan the entire body for a blood clot. {read more here}