Dear AuntMinnieEurope Member,
Hot on the heels of casting major doubt upon the French national breast screening program, the ever-vocal antiscreening lobby has now turned its attention to the Dutch.
In an article published yesterday in BMJ, a group of authors with a long track record of questioning the benefits of mammography has launched a fresh attack on the Netherlands. As has been the case with their previous studies, opinion is divided about the scientific credibility of their key findings, but it's vital for the medical imaging community to be aware of their analysis. Find out more in our Women's Imaging Community, or by clicking here.
New information continues to emerge about the clinical potential of 3D printing. First up we have a report from Germany about how low-cost, 3D-printed kidney phantoms can provide shape-specific details that improve the quantification of SPECT/CT scans. Visit our Advanced Visualization Community, or click here.
The Italians are keeping active in this area too. A team from Pavia has found the use of 3D-printing technology to plan the positioning of hearing implants is feasible and a concrete alternative to current methods. You can read that story here.
Meanwhile, the authors of a French survey have found when it comes to radiation dose, staff are not as vigilant with x-ray units as they are with CT systems. Particularly alarming is only around 30% of the country's 5,100 x-ray departments complied with the requirement to submit dose information for the period 2013 to 2015. The authors recommend diagnostic reference levels need updating across much of clinical practice. To get the story, click here.
A story broke on Friday about a backlog of 23,000 chest x-rays at a U.K. hospital, and this revelation has led to a review of radiology reporting across the National Health Service in England. Click here for the full details.
