December 9, 2009 – Of the 1,200 cardiologists and cardiovascular ultrasound technicians recently surveyed, 87 percent said the new 2010 CMS Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) could force them to stop accepting Medicare patients, reduce staff or shut down their practice completely.

December 8, 2009 – The Cleveland Clinic Heart and Vascular Institute is constructing a new cardiovascular building on its main campus to develop and commercialize cardiovascular technology.

December 8, 2009 – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday issued recommendations to lower radiation exposure during CT perfusion scans, after it discovered more cases of overexposure.

December 7, 2009 – An agreement has been struck to integrate the Veran ig4 Navigation system and GE Healthcare’s Innova imaging systems to aid visualization during interventional procedures. The partnership was announced last week in Chicago at RSNA 2009. The system is designed to aid interventional radiologists, but will likely find applications in cardiac and EP cath lab procedures.

December 7, 2009 – New OEM ultrasound software solutions for dynamic 3D assessment of the fetal heart, 3D ultrasound breast analysis and contrast quantification were introduced by TomTec Imaging Systems last week at the RSNA 2009. TomTec offers a comprehensive portfolio of radiologic solutions to ultrasound OEMs. For more information: www.tomtec.de