Dear AuntMinnieEurope Member,
Two years into the pandemic, are infection control standards slipping in radiology departments?
This question arises after an on-the-spot inspection at an MRI facility highlighted poor hygiene practices, sloppiness, and a problem with cleanliness. Admittedly, the London hospital was undergoing a refurbishment at the time, but the report claims that basic procedures were overlooked. Find out more in the MRI Community.
In other news, fresh advice on contrast media safety -- specifically, how to prevent extravasation -- has been issued by European experts. Prof. Olivier Clément, head of the Contrast Media Safety Committee of the European Society of Urogenital Radiology, and his team are concerned that extravasation tends to be underreported.
Radiomics has much to offer when it comes to improving clinical images, especially CT, but inconsistent tissue characterization within CT images can weaken radiomics features. To address this issue, a study from the Charité in Berlin has focused on which particular reconstruction techniques perform best in improving CT image quality.
Also in the CT Community, you can read our story on how dark-field CT can measure clinical properties that conventional CT can't (and why a German team says the technique is edging ever closer to human clinical use).
Finally, we have a report that includes impressive images from CT and conebeam CT of the facial skeleton using cinematic and volume rendering. The research results suggest that these technologies could improve depth perception and dimensionality as well as surface sharpness and contrast.
Looking ahead, the online European Congress of Radiology begins next Wednesday. Watch out for our coverage of the event.
