Dear AuntMinnieEurope Member,
Ravaged by turf battles and financial irregularities, the imaging department at London's world-famous Hammersmith Hospital was in turmoil in the mid- to late-1990s. Dr. Philip Gishen was the person who sorted out the mess, and now he's branching out into private teleradiology services.
To read about his views on this emerging field, go to our PACS Digital Community, or click here.
Many of you will have your own experiences of "ordercomms," the electronic interface clinicians use to make radiology requests. PACS and ordercomms do talk to each other -- usually a one-way transition from ordercomms to PACS -- but they tend to be completely different systems. Our columnist Dr. Paul McCoubrie has some fascinating thoughts on this topic. Find out more by clicking here.
Virtual autopsies continue to attract attention, but the critical issue is being able to identify which cases you can correctly diagnose on imaging without autopsy. For the latest information on the subject, visit our CT Digital Community, or click here.
Automated breast volume scanning also shows immense promise. Authors from Heidelberg University Hospital in Germany have published an important article about the technique in the European Journal of Radiology. Read our news report here.
Meanwhile, Dutch researchers have found that in cases of head and neck cancer, additional information from FLT-PET may be of complementary value in intensifying treatment and in de-escalating treatment when early evaluation indicates high responsiveness. Get the story here.
A new survey by the European Society of Radiology shows that monitoring of access to confidential patient imaging information hasn't kept up with changes in technology. Furthermore, Europe lacks clear guidelines on patient confidentiality and invasion of privacy, as well as updated patient consent policies. To learn more, click here.
