The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recently awarded a $2.5 million grant to Mayo Clinic’s Cardiorenal Research Laboratory to see if snake venom can improve outcomes of heart attack and heart failure patients.

Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) remains a well-entrenched imaging modality for nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) more than 30 years after its introduction. Due to SPECT’s reliability, cost-effectiveness and the wealth of data showing its clinical validation, it remains more common in MPI than its competition, positron emission tomography (PET).

Hardware and software advances are enabling echocardiography to greatly expand its capability with increased quantification accuracy, ease-of-use, increased workflow efficiencies and wider use outside of echo labs. Today, cardiovascular ultrasound systems are being integrated into point-of-care for triage, and in operating rooms and cath labs for procedural guidance to cut the use of contrast and ionizing radiation.

As an editor for DAIC and Imaging Technology News, I am a third-party observer in the cardiac and radiology markets. I also am a patient who recently received medical imaging. With both these sets of experience, I am of the opinion that physicians often miss an opportunity to connect with their patients in a critical way, one which could increase patient involvement and compliance for treatments and follow-up exams.

Medical devices employed for injecting radio-opaque contrast media into the body to enhance the visibility of tissues for a medical imaging procedure are known as contrast injectors. Over the years, with ever-increasing technological sophistication, these contrast injectors have evolved from manual injectors having manifolds with stop-cocks to automated versions, providing added accuracy and advantages. These automated versions are known as autoinjectors. Autoinjectors are capable of controlling the amount of contrast media injected, utilization rate, and are also able to increase dosage to keep pace with fast medical imaging scanners as well as alert the physician of potential hazards, such as air embolisms or extravasations.

The radial artery approach is exceptionally well-suited for diagnostic angiography and, with a lower incidence of bleeding complications, is a favorable alternative for femoral percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The most common complications with the transradial approach are asymptomatic radial artery occlusion (3-5 percent) and radial artery perforation (less than 1 percent).