According to a study presented by researchers at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital a rapid decline in metabolic activity on a PET scan after radiation therapy for non-small cell lung cancer is correlated with good local tumor control. In addition, the researchers also found that the higher the metabolic activity and tumor size on a PET scan before treatment, the more likely a patient is to die from lung cancer.

Memorial Hermann Imaging Center (Richmond Avenue) has the state’s first Siemens MAGNETOM(R) Verio Open Bore 3T MRI. This state-of-the-art machine allows for more precise diagnosis, better pre-surgical planning and exceptional patient comfort. With the open bore design, the tight confines in older MRIs are a thing of the past. In this device, the bore, or the long tube, is more than two feet wide and only four feet long.

UCF’s Teaching Academy has put on display a new brain-scanning instrument with the potential to aid research in mental illness, stroke rehabilitation, seizure detection and learning disorders. The instrument, also called the functional Near-Infrared Imaging system, was developed by Hitachi Medical Corp., an international medical-supply developer in Tokyo. The system uses infrared light to monitor oxygen levels in the brain, which are associated with increased brain activity and performance.

The University of Florida (UF) Veterinary Medical Center has installed a new clinical imaging system to enable veterinarians to obtain diagnostic images of previously inaccessible and larger parts of the body, such as the upper legs of horses. The new 1.5 Tesla Titan MR, made by Toshiba, has never previously been used by any academic veterinary medical center in the United States.