Siemens unveils MR-PET prototype

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Siemens has unveiled the world’s first MR-PET scanner prototype. With this imaging system, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) images can be acquired simultaneously. MRI supplies anatomical (structural) information as context, whilst PET yields functional data, for example on the precise location of tumours and their metastases. See the image below for an example (courtesy of Siemens):

MR-PET slices.

This is yet another new example of “native” multi-field medical datasets, and underlines the need for research on techniques that are able to visualise this type of data.

(news via MedGadget)

Virtual colonscopy best method for screening

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Virtual Colonoscopy with an optical colonoscopy followup, where non-diminutive lesions (< 6mm) are not reported, has been found to be the most cost-effective and safest method for screening. See this MedGadget blog, and this abstract in Cancer for more details.

The TU Delft Visualisation Group is also actively performing research on Virtual Colonoscopy. Our current focus is on automatic polyp detection by using vector field visualisation techniques. Click here for the research project page, or read “L. Zhao, C. P. Botha, J. O. Bescos, R. Truyen, F. M. Vos, and F. H. Post, Lines of curvature for improved diagnosis in virtual colonoscopy, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 2006″ (you can find this article on the group publications page).

Update:
Gerwin has just notified us of a new WebMD article also on this virtual colonoscopy study, this time concerning a new article published in the October 4 2007 issue of the NEMJ.