Dual-source CT for chest pain assessment

Comprehensive CT angiography protocols offering a simultaneous evaluation of pulmonary embolism, coronary stenoses and aortic disease are gaining attractiveness with recent CT technology. The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a specific dual-source CT protocol for chest pain assessment. One hundred nine patients suffering from acute chest pain were examined on a dual-source CT scanner with ECG gating at a temporal resolution of 83 ms using a body-weight-adapted contrast material injection regimen. The images were evaluated for the cause of chest pain, and the coronary findings were correlated to invasive coronary angiography in 29 patients (27%). The files of patients with negative CT examinations were reviewed for further diagnoses. Technical limitations were insufficient contrast opacification in six and artifacts from respiration in three patients. The most frequent diagnoses were coronary stenoses, valvular and myocardial disease, pulmonary embolism, aortic aneurysm and dissection. Overall sensitivity for the identification of the cause of chest pain was 98%. Correlation to invasive coronary angiography showed 100% sensitivity and negative predictive value for coronary stenoses. Dual-source CT offers a comprehensive, robust and fast chest pain assessment

What scans we will read: imaging instrumentation trends in clinical oncology

Oncological diseases account for a significant portion of the burden on public healthcare systems with associated costs driven primarily by complex and long-lasting therapies. Through the visualization of patient-specific morphology and functional-molecular pathways, cancerous tissue can be detected and characterized non- invasively, so as to provide referring oncologists with essential information to support therapy management decisions. Following the onset of stand-alone anatomical and functional imaging, we witness a push towards integrating molecular image information through various methods, including anato-metabolic imaging (e.g., PET/ CT), advanced MRI, optical or ultrasound imaging. This perspective paper highlights a number of key technological and methodological advances in imaging instrumentation related to anatomical, functional, molecular medicine and hybrid imaging, that is understood as the hardware-based combination of complementary anatomical and molecular imaging. These include novel detector technologies for ionizing radiation used in CT and nuclear medicine imaging, and novel system developments in MRI and optical as well as opto-acoustic imaging. We will also highlight new data processing methods for improved non-invasive tissue characterization. Following a general introduction to the role of imaging in oncology patient management we introduce imaging methods with well-defined clinical applications and potential for clinical translation. For each modality, we report first on the status quo and point to perceived technological and methodological advances in a subsequent status go section. Considering the breadth and dynamics of these developments, this perspective ends with a critical reflection on where the authors, with the majority of them being imaging experts with a background in physics and engineering, believe imaging methods will be in a few years from now. Overall, methodological and technological medical imaging advances are geared towards increased image contrast, the derivation of reproducible quantitative parameters, an increase in volume sensitivity and a reduction in overall examination time. To ensure full translation to the clinic, this progress in technologies and instrumentation is complemented by progress in relevant acquisition and image-processing protocols and improved data analysis. To this end, we should accept diagnostic images as “data”, and – through the wider adoption of advanced analysis, including machine learning approaches and a “big data” concept – move to the next stage of non-invasive tumor phenotyping. The scans we will be reading in 10 years from now will likely be composed of highly diverse multi- dimensional data from multiple sources, which mandate the use of advanced and interactive visualization and analysis platforms powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) for real-time data handling by cross-specialty clinical experts with a domain knowledge that will need to go beyond that of plain imaging

Performances Comparison of Si, GaAs and GaN based Resonant Tunneling Diode in Presence and Absence of Electric Field

The size, shape, and orientation of the lower lateral crural cartilages of the nose affect the aesthetic appearance of the lower nasal third and, at times, nasal airway function. The lower lateral crura should ideally be slightly concave in the anterior one-third and flat in the posterior two-thirds. More excessive convexity along the lower lateral crura is often seen in the boxy, bulbous, and parentheses tip deformities. The authors describe clinical evaluation and discuss management with scoring/cartilage weakening, lateral crural mattress suturing, interdomal/transdomal/lateral crural spanning sutures, dome division, lateral crural overlay, lateral crural turnover graft, lateral crural strut graft, and lower lateral crural reversal