It’s that time again, when more than 55,000 professionals in the industry assemble at Chicago’s McCormick Place for the Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA). The theme for the 89th annual event is “RSNA ’03: Communication for Better Patient Care.” Once again, organizers are promising a venue where professionals affiliated with the medical imaging field can network, discover, and learn on the largest of scales.

“RSNA gives you access to the most current research results, cutting-edge technology, and the chance to network with your peers,” says 2003 RSNA President Peggy J. Fritzsche, MD. “This year’s meeting theme recognizes the importance of the role of [better patient care] as well as your place in the medical community.”

With that in mind, Medical Imaging has compiled product descriptions from a healthy handful of the companies that will be exhibiting at RSNA. We’ve highlighted the big players’ newest endeavors—GE Medical Systems’ Light Speed Pro 16 CT scanner, Hitachi’s HI VISION 8500 Premium Ultrasound System, and Toshiba’s T.CAM series of cameras, to name a few. And we’ve also included some of the smaller companies that have come a long way in attending RSNA to display their products, including TeraRecon’s new 3D CT Cone Beam Scanner, Fonar’s Stand-Up MRI, Resonance Technology’s CinemaVision system, iCAD’s new iQ CAD system, and many others. Grouped by product type (eg, MRI, CT, or Ultrasound), the newest product releases and all of their features are highlighted over the next 30-some pages.

Of course, what’s here is just a sampling of the products that are on display and demonstrated by the more than 20,000 vendors expected at this year’s event. To find out what happens in Chicago—from new product releases and merger announcements to breaking news and an attendee perspective, be sure to pick up the January issue of Medical Imaging, which will feature a complete RSNA wrap-up. Enjoy the show!