Medical Scans and Race Cars, Who Knew?

What do you not think about when thinking about diagnostic imaging?  Chances are you don’t think about your car, or for that matter a race car. Let’s face it, a CT scanner and MRI scanner don’t really move as quickly on a track. It’s also a safe assumption that it’s not very likely to see a race car produce an accurate brain scan. It’s very interesting to note that race cars and scanners do have something in common, auto lubricant.

Apparently auto lubricant makes scanners work ten times faster without sacrificing image quality. Silicon is typically what’s used, when combined with auto lubricant it speeds up. Auto Lubricant is an inexpensive way to help speed up the scan. Researchers at UC- Berkley stated, “Like a book, MoS2 is made of individual sheets. You can tear off a single sheet or a bunch of them and make very thin and thus flexible electronic devices."


This kind of discovery adds an element of affordability considering the affordability of auto lubricant. This also means that diagnostic imaging systems could operate at several thousand rates per second as opposed to hundreds. It’s great to see how something so simple can have such a positive effect on complex technology.


If a scan is sped up it means a smoother process, which means a happier patient. Anything that can be done to make a patient not focus quite as much and the negative aspects of having a scan done is worth trying and implementing. It’s certain that this will be a big hit as time goes on.


It’s early still in this development but chances are that it won’t take long to see the development take steam and create some opportunities.


ClermontRadiology.com

The Fight Rages on to Eradicate Breast Cancer

For many years breast cancer has stood out as a killer of women. The survival rates often times depend heavily on detection as well as many other factors. The decrease in breast cancer is due in large part to the heavy push for early detection through mammography and also preventive procedures. As the push to eradicate breast cancer continues so too does the push to improve existing diagnostic techniques.

According to an article published on medicalnewstoday.com “Digital tomosynthesis is an effective tool for reducing the recall rate in breast cancer screening.” Diagnostic imaging is continuing its move forward in order to aid in the fight against breast cancer. With mammograms improving in terms of quality it’s great to see that there is something other than the known screen tool. According to the article it was stated that “Digital mammography is the gold standard for breast cancer screening, but may yield suspicious findings that turn out not to be cancer.” It’s fair to say that with the big drive against cancer, it’s vital to be certain.

Perhaps with the many new technologies and hybrid modalities coming out, there may be a chance that new developments will only help in the battle. While a CT scan, MRI, or common X-Ray will not soon be the golden standard, the improvements will likely help make those as a strong backup. Considering some of the statistics of breast cancer, it’s a breath of fresh air to see these developments come full circle. The statistics on breast cancer are not, by any extent, relaxing. Some of the following facts are a great example:

• About 1 in 8 U.S. women (just under 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
•  In 2011, an estimated 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 57,650 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.
• About 39,520 women in the U.S. were expected to die in 2011 from breast cancer, though death rates have been decreasing since 1990 — especially in women under 50. These decreases are thought to be the result of treatment advances, earlier detection through screening, and increased awareness
• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.
•  In 2011, there were more than 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S.
• About 85% of breast cancers occur in women who have no family history of breast cancer. These occur due to genetic mutations that happen as a result of the aging process and life in general, rather than inherited mutations.

Breast cancer is a serious and very difficult problem that has been plaguing women in the US and through the world for years. The more that can be done, not only in medical technologies, but in healthcare in general, the more progress that will be made against it.

It’s interesting to see how this particular development will aide in creating new pushes for R&D. With healthcare drivers in emerging markets like the Philippines creating new opportunities for improvement, it will be great to see these types of developments filter out to make things better all around.

If you have any questions about diagnostic imaging procedures please feel free to give us a call. We look forward to answering any questions you may have.

What Diagnostic Imaging Did

Often times people look at diagnostic imaging as unnecessary, or going to far. Past an X-Ray people tend to look at the MRI or CT scan as a bit too much. Imaging does serve a major function and it does provide a service that aides people. Without imaging patients may never discover that they have tumors, complex conditions, and other issues, maybe not as severe. So what exactly is it about imaging that makes it special?

The fact is that diagnostic imaging played a crucial part in aiding the victims of the unfortunate bombing at the Boston Marathon. It was stated in an article published on medscape.com that “In the Boston Marathon bombing, radiologic imaging of blast injuries played a key role in emergency response, with findings illustrating optimal timing and use of modalities and techniques.”  Emergency response in this situation is crucial. There were victims that lost limbs and inhaled enormous quantities of smoke.

The injuries also included negative effects in the vowels, in the ears, and in the lungs. A blast radius that encompasses a large area can create some seriously negative effects on the victims. The Boston Marathon tragedy was one that proved why diagnostic imaging serves such a major purpose.

While a diagnostic imaging procedure may not be comfortable, or for that matter pleasant, it’s definitely necessary, especially in this type of situation. People affected by the bombing were getting horrible ringing in their ears, coughing up a little blood and so on. The article stated that “Prompt imaging was critical for assessing these injuries. Many patients underwent one or more operations, and rehabilitation from the injuries for many patients will be prolonged and difficult.”

While imaging was not the sole solution to this set of problems it was definitely a player with major impact in a tragic situation that changed many lives.

ClermontRadiology.com

A Look at Doctor Damadian

It’s always good to know a little bit about the creation of things. History can be fun and it can also go a long way toward helping people at ease. In diagnostic imaging there is a lot of fun history that can help relax a patient’s mind. So what kind of history is there that people want to learn about? Any modality has something of a fun fact really. MRI and CT scanners, X- Rays, all of them are interesting and reveal the origins of the often feared “procedure.”

If we stop to look we can find fun and interesting facts about the creation, and the creators. If we take a minute we can likely find some interesting facts about the MRI. Let’s see if we can come up with a few interesting facts about the inventor of the MR machine:

• The inventor of the MR machine was Raymond Damadian
• Raymond was a musician; he attended Julliard and played a mean violin.
• Raymond is an MD with a BS in mathematics.
• Served in the US Air Force
• Proposed the first body scanner in 1969, at the age of 33
• Damadian conducted the first experiments on rats.
• His company created the whole body scanner
• He is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame and has been since age 53

While these facts do not necessarily serve as a way to educate a patient on needs for procedures or the nature of procedures themselves, it’s good to know. Often times small talk between a patient and doctor may work to ease the patient’s mind prior to a procedure. It’s certain that a talk about Raymond Damadian’s life and genius achievements will not really make a procedure’s outcome better, but the knowledge may just help alleviate what could be bad news.

If you have any questions about imaging procedures, please feel free to give us a call. We here at Clermont Radiology look forward to answering any questions you may have. 

ClermontRadiology.com