Dear Cardiac Imaging Insider,
With cardiac MRI, CT, and ultrasound growing by leaps and bounds, nuclear medicine can't sit around on its laurels, and indeed it is not.
In a story that wraps up our series on the future prospects of each cardiac imaging modality, Dr. Manuel Cerqueira, chair of molecular and functional imaging at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, sees a bright landscape for nuclear applications.
Small, dedicated cardiac SPECT systems are producing accurate diagnoses and prognoses with the aid of new cameras, new crystals, and especially new attenuation correction methods based on CT. Such hybrid pairings can also provide a useful second life for old single- and four-slice scanners that were once headed for obsolescence. Instrumentation is another force that will significantly impact the near-term future of nuclear cardiology, Cerqueira said in a recent presentation.
Meanwhile, PET/CT has many strengths of its own, such as the ability to measure absolute myocardial blood flow. For obese or otherwise difficult-to-image patients, larger hybrid systems are the best bet, especially if money and space are no object. Learn more about nuclear cardiac imaging in this issue's Insider Exclusive, brought to you before our other AuntMinnie.com members can read it.
For the latest news in those other cardiac imaging modalities, visit the Cardiac Imaging Digital Community, or scroll through the stories below.
