3.18.2013

Esaote’s New Weight-Bearing MRI Improves Imaging For Patients With Pain

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For many patients, diagnosing their back, hip, or knee pain is best accomplished by imaging anatomy in a weight-bearing, or standing, position. At the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons in Chicago, Esaote introduces the new G-scan Brio with eXP technology to give physicians a cost-effective tool for performing both traditional and weight-bearing musculoskeletal MRI exams.

G-scan Brio is an open, non-claustrophobic musculoskeletal MRI system designed for cost-effective operation and patient comfort. New eXP technology is a combination of hardware and software that enables faster imaging exams while decreasing power consumption and reducing operating costs.

Traditional MRI systems require the patient to lie down on a bed and be transported into an immovable tube for the exam. With G-scan Brio, a patient will lie down on the bed, and then the bed and open magnet both rotate on a central axis, enabling the patient to be examined in a weight-bearing position. Physicians can now compare weight-bearing and traditional supine studies to make the most accurate diagnosis.

“For many patients, their symptoms worsen when they’re standing or in a weight-bearing position,” said Douglas Smith, MD, founder of Musculoskeletal Imaging Consultants in San Antonio, TX. “Traditional MRI systems scan these patients in a recumbent position, which fails to explain their symptoms. Consequently, many patients don’t receive the proper treatment and suffer needlessly.”

New eXP technology combines powerful hardware platform with advanced software to decrease imaging time by as much as 40%, which is critically important when imaging patients with pain. Since many patients have metal implants, new Metal Artifact Reduction sequences minimize metal artifacts associated with MR imaging.

source: Business Wire

3.12.2013

Study: Brain Imaging After Mild Head Injury/Concussion Can Show Lesions

SAN DIEGO, March 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Brain imaging soon after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) or mild concussion can detect tiny lesions that may eventually provide a target for treating people with mTBI, according to a study released today and that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013.

Studies of brain tissue once a person has died have shown that different types of lesions are associated with more severe TBI. "Our study suggests that imaging may be used to detect and distinguish between these lesions in a living person with mTBI and this finding has important implications for treatment," said Gunjan Parikh , MD, with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, MD. Parikh is also a member of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study involved 256 people with an average age of 50 who were admitted to the emergency department at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda and Washington Hospital Center in the District of Columbia after mild head injuries. They underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans. Of those, 104 had imaging evidence of hemorrhage in the brain (67 percent reported loss of consciousness, and 65 percent reported amnesia, or temporary forgetfulness). People with hemorrhages underwent more detailed brain scans with advanced MRI within an average of 17 hours after the injury.

source: PR Newswire

3.01.2013

FluoroPharma Medical Announces Initial Data From Phase II Study for CardioPET(TM) (FCPHA)

MONTCLAIR, NJ -- (MARKETWIRE) -- 02/28/13 -- FluoroPharma Medical, Inc. (OTCBB: FPMI), a company specializing in the development of novel diagnostic imaging products that utilize positron emission tomography (PET) technology for the detection and assessment of disease before clinical manifestation, today released images from the Phase II clinical trial for CardioPET™ (FCPHA) to assess myocardial perfusion and fatty acid uptake in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients.

CardioPET, one of FluoroPharma's first in class PET imaging products, is a perfusion and fatty acid uptake indicator, which is designed to be used as a cardiac imaging agent and may be a more specific alternative to currently available diagnostic tests. Management believes its pharmacokinetic characteristics could be especially valuable in patients who are unable to exercise.

The Phase II trial is an open label study designed to assess the safety and diagnostic performance of CardioPET as compared with myocardial perfusion imaging and angiography, the current gold standard. Trial sites are located in Belgium and results continue to be expected over the next six months.

According to Prof. Roland Hustinx, one of the investigators in the trial and head of nuclear medicine at the University Hospital in Liege, "The images obtained from CardioPET are high quality and agree with previous clinical findings."

source: FluoroPharma