Publications & Research
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Cardiovascular molecular imaging is a new discipline that integrates scientific advances in both functional imaging and molecular probes to improve our understanding of the molecular basis of the cardiovascular system…
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The outcome measure we use is not subject to lead-time bias, and our measures of medical innovation are based on extensive data on treatments given to large numbers of patients with different types of cancer. We estimate difference-in-difference models of the age-adjusted cancer mortality rate using longitudinal, annual, cancer-site-level data on over 60 cancer sites…
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The accurate visualization of interventional devices is crucial for the safety and effectiveness of MRI-guided interventional procedures. In this paper, we introduce an improvement to the visualization of active devices. The key component is a fast, robust method (“CurveFind”) that reconstructs the three-dimensional trajectory of the device from projection images in a fraction of a second…
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Myocardial Fat Imaging
April 2010The presence of intramyocardial fat may form a substrate for arrhythmias, and fibrofatty infiltration of the myocardium has been shown to be associated with sudden death. Therefore, noninvasive detection could have high prognostic value…
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IIR GRAPPA for Parallel MR Image Reconstruction
February 2010Accelerated parallel MRI has advantage in imaging speed, and its image quality has been improved continuously in recent years…
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The Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) conducted a survey of its members with freestanding/outpatient imaging centers to collect imaging equipment specific information in anticipation of possible actions to be taken by the United States Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)…
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A public opinion survey released on the eve of President Obama’s Joint Address to Congress on health care shows that Americans recognize the value of medical imaging as a critical component of high-quality health care…
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Optimal Utilization Of Advanced Diagnostic Imaging Equipment: Principles and Implications
September 2009Basic tenets of operational research suggest that adopting MedPAC’s recommended 90% utilization factor would have significant negative consequences for patients…
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Study Demonstrates Significant Benefits of F-FDG PET in Evaluating Colorectal Liver Metastases
July 2009In a randomized multi-center study of 150 patients with colorectal liver metastases recommended for surgery, Ruers et al evaluated the benefits of F-FDG PET by comparing the utilization of F-FDG PET combined with CT to the utilization of CT alone for staging and developing surgical recommendations…
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In a multi-center study, Dr. Daniele Regge and her team examined a cohort of 937 patients, each of whom had one or more of the following three determining factors that may increase a patient’s susceptibility to colorectal cancer: the existence of advanced neoplasia in a first-degree relative, a personal history of colorectal adenoma, or a positive result from a fecal occult blood test (FOBT)…
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In his evaluation, Dr. Lichtenberg sought to determine the reach and effect of certain variables on life expectancy: the effect of the quality of medical care, behavioral risk factors (obesity, smoking, AIDS incidence), and other variables (education, income, and health insurance coverage) on life expectancy…
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In order to test whether the “more is better” hypothesis holds for diagnostic imaging, researchers examined the association between the use of inpatient diagnostic imaging services (CT, MR, ultrasound and x-ray) and three risk-adjusted hospital outcome measures: mortality, length of stay and total inpatient hospital costs…
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A recent study published in Cancer showed that fewer than 25% of average-risk Medicare beneficiaries undergo complete screening for colorectal cancer…
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CT Angiography Shown to Be Safe, Effective Screening Method for Ruling out Cardiovascular Disease
May 2009In the first long-term study to follow a large number of patients who have undergone emergency room computed tomography angiography (CTA), Dr. Judd Hollander and his team at the University of Pennsylvania tracked 481 patients for one year after receiving a negative scan (i.e., a scan that showed no serious coronary blockages or damage to the heart)…
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Breast Cancer Risk Assesment and MRI
April 2009Mammographic density is known to be a significant risk-factor in the development of breast cancer among middle-aged women, but little is known about its development early in life. In this cross-sectional study, researchers used MRI to measure breast water percentage, which is a proxy of breast density, in 400 mother-daughter pairs…
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The purpose of the study was to quantify the impact that ultrasound of the hands and feet have on rheumatologists’ diagnosis and diagnostic confidence and on patient management…
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Racial Disparity in Breast Cancer Types
March 2009Breast cancer is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disease, varying substantially in incidence and mortality according to race/ethnicity. To better understand the clinical and pathological features associated with breast cancer, researchers at the Boston University Medical Center created a database of all invasive breast cancer patients seen at their institution…
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Benefits of ROE and DS System on Outpatient Imaging
February 2009In 2008, researchers from the University of Florida Health Center and Massachusetts General Hospital sought to determine the effect certain appropriateness criteria measures – specifically a computerized radiology entry (ROE) and decision support (DS) system – might have on the growth rates of outpatient CT, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, and ultrasonography (US) procedures over time…
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Cost Impact of Early Colorectal Cancer Detection
February 2009A recent study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology provided an in-depth analysis of long-term and phase-specific treatment costs related to colorectal cancer (CRC)…
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High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy in the Curative Treatment of Patients With Localized Prostate Cancer
December 2008High-dose-rate brachytherapy is a relatively new radiotherapeutic intervention that is used as a curative treatment for patients with many types of cancer. Advances in mechanical systems and computer applications result in a sophisticated treatment technique that reliably delivers a high-quality radiation dose distribution to the intended target…
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We previously reported aggregate data showing that PET was associated with a change in intended management for over one third of patients participating in the National Oncologic PET Registry (NOPR). Here, we present results for specific cancer types and indications for testing…
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of electrocardiographically gated 64-multidetector row coronary computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) in individuals without known coronary artery disease (CAD)…
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Positron emission tomography (PET) is widely used in clinical oncology as one of the most impactful and effective means of diagnostic imaging methodology. However, Medicare reimbursement for PET scanning is currently only approved by the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) for nine (9) specific oncology tumor types…
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With 250,000 surgeries per year, acute appendicitis is the most common indication for emergency abdominal surgery in the United States. It’s also one of the most difficult to diagnose…
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The purpose of this study was to determine long-term outcomes in patients receiving stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) as a boost after external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)…
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The study found that using CCTA as a gate-keeper for catheterization reduces costs by $1,454, a savings of nearly 50%. The results held true within a wide range of assumptions—when higher costs for scanning are assumed, and/or lower costs for catheterization, and/or more patients going on to catheterization than the study shows, large cost savings still result…
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A Randomized Controlled Trial of Multi-Slice Coronary Computed Tomography for Evaluation of Acute Chest Pain
January 2007Multi-slice computed tomographic coronary angiography can definitively establish or exclude coronary disease as the cause of chest pain. However, inability to determine the physiological significance of intermediate severity coronary lesions and cases with inadequate image quality are present limitations…
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Despite substantial increases in utilization of inpatient CT, MR imaging, and other imaging technologies, diagnostic imaging costs increased at approximately same rate as did total costs for inpatients with several diagnoses. CT and MR imaging do not appear to be driving the cost increases seen between 1996 and 2002…
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Effect of Computed Tomography of the Appendix on Treatment of Patients and Use of Hospital Resources
January 1998In patients with clinically suspected appendicitis, computed tomography (CT) is diagnostically accurate. However, the effect of routine CT of the appendix on the treatment of such patients and the use of hospital resources is unknown…






