What’s the big news at RSNA this year? IT.

Those two little letters say a lot. If you flip through our RSNA Preview, which begins on page 48 and ends on page 84, you’ll notice that IT has evolved into the largest section. While there are neat new features and functionalities in each of the modalities, IT’s volume has increased markedly.

Radiology, and healthcare in general, has long been faulted for its low investment in IT that other types of businesses see as essential to increasing productivity, and thus profitability. But it seems that radiology and healthcare are turning that corner. Administrators are dedicating more budgetary dollars to managing the valuable images they create. The pure increased volume of exams completed and images per exam make IT investment essential.

Around the RSNA floor, you’ll see a wider variety of price points for PACS and other tools to facilitate integration, connectivity and workflow. Systems and tools to archive, store and transmit images — even 3D — also are more prevalent. Systems are more automated, customizable and user friendly — even to the computer-leery. The Web, too, is proving valuable in making image transmission more affordable and multi-functional. Patient data and images are now easily coupled (to the user anyway) for transmission via email, Internet or fax, or downloadable to a PDA. And these features are available to healthcare facilities large and small.

Administrators and radiologists need to take an honest look at how IT can help each modality and each department to gain efficiencies. More often than not, an IT investment will bring return far sooner than you think. Look around at the offerings on the exhibit floor, ask a lot of questions and see what works for you now — and what may be wiser to budget for two to three years out.

The need for IT investment is fueled by the increasing functionalities of radiology’s core modalities — MRI, CT, ultrasound, nuclear medicine and x-ray. Every new system makes more images, faster than before. So don’t miss the host of new systems on the floor. In MRI, higher field strength systems (1.5T) are dominating the market, while open systems are gaining in applications. In CT, multi-slice is the buzz — from four to 16-slices per rotation with greater clarity and reduced scan times. CAD for CT is also dawning. Smaller, more portable footprints and enhancements in performance and workflow are the news in ultrasound. In nuclear medicine, PET and hybrid imaging continue to get the spotlight — but vendors also are focused on boosting throughput to guard revenues. And digital, digital, digital is the story in x-ray, with digital and computed radiography and digital mammography all finding their niches.

And I want to share with you one more new thing — my new son, Owen. The 4D ultrasound image (of my fourth son) was taken at 33 weeks, while the photo below it was taken a few days after he was born in late October. The 4D exam was truly unique from the perspective of a Mom. The magic of 4D comes in the motion and the new perspective it adds — which 2D renderings can’t communicate (yet anyway). The added dimension of near real-time 4D imaging brought soft, life-like texture to Owen’s pudgy face and long legs and animated his amazing movements. When he was born, I already felt I knew him.

Mary C. Tierney, Editor
mtierney@mwc.com