January 3, 2012 – Siemens Healthcare recently announced the winners of its 2011 International CT [computed tomography] Image Contest. More than 160 institutes and hospitals from 43 countries on all continents submitted more than 600 CT images –– all captured on Siemens CT scanners using the lowest possible radiation dose. Selected by an international jury of experts, the seven winners –– which were displayed at RSNA 2011 –– hail from China, England, France, Ireland, Macau, Singapore and the United States. In addition to exhibiting a high standard of quality, the images are impressive examples of how valuable diagnostic information can be obtained even at an extremely low dose.

January 3, 2012 – Novadaq Technologies Inc., a developer of real-time imaging systems for use in the operating room, and Maquet Cardiovascular, a manufacturer of products for cardiac surgery, vascular intervention and cardiac support, announced that the companies have signed an agreement naming Maquet Cardiovascular as the exclusive distributor of Novadaq's CO2 Heart Laser systems and procedure kits in the United States.

December 30, 2011 – The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) published a paper that examines the value, technique and best practices for performing angioplasty via the radial artery in the wrist. The paper, titled “Transradial Arterial Access for Coronary and Peripheral Procedures: Executive Summary by the Transradial Committee of the SCAI,” appears in a special themed issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions on the transradial access procedure.

December 30, 2011 – DatCard and Fujifilm Medical Systems announced that the companies are expanding their decade?long reseller alliance with a new, integrated solution aimed at simplifying the exchange of clinical images and information and streamlining healthcare. Combining Fujifilm’s Synapse picture archive and communications systems (PACS), with DatCard’s new Agilisys AIX (Adaptive Image eXchange), the collaboration will enable organizations to share clinical images — quickly, safely, and on demand — via secure Internet connection. The AIX cloud?based technology will give authorized users the ability to access information anywhere, anytime, beyond the confines of their network.

December 29, 2011 – Heart failure remains by far the single biggest reason for acute hospital admission but is stubbornly resistant to treatment. The prognosis for heart failure has been only marginally improved by the introduction of new medical treatments in recent years, with continuing high rates of mortality and morbidity. However, large-scale clinical trials have highlighted the beneficial effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) in the improvement of symptoms and reduction of mortality. CRT is now recommended in the major European and American guidelines for the treatment and prevention of heart failure.