This Article Full Text (PDF) Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hufton, A Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hufton, A

Advances in technology

North Western Medical Physics, Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Wilmslow Road, Manchester, M20 4BX, UK

This issue of the journal Imaging covers a selection of developments in imaging technology and science and their impact on clinical radiology. It is the latest in a series of occasional topics differing from the normal clinical problem format; the previous one being a review of image processing in Volume 14, Issue 6 in 2002.

Advances in medical imaging equipment go hand in hand with the desire for new or improved clinical information and better efficiency in the radiology department. At no time has this been more evident than in recent years, with tremendous developments in all imaging modalities. As described in the papers by Flohr and Ohnesorge, and Lowe and Kay, computed tomography saw major advances in the 1990s, first with the introduction of helical scanning and later with multi-detector CT. Together with reduced rotation times, this has enabled faster scanning with increased coverage during a single breathhold, as well as the achievement of isotropic resolution. As a consequence, it has been possible to develop new techniques, such as CT angiography and colonography, or vastly improve other areas, such as cardiac imaging.

Of course in recent years plain radiography has been, and is still being, transformed by the ever increasing move from analogue screen–film to digital detectors. Similarly, though perhaps less obviously, fluoroscopy is now making use of digital "flat panel" detectors rather than the more bulky traditional image intensifiers. Through the NHS Connecting for Health programme, digital imaging within a PACS (Picture Archive and Communication Systems) framework should be the norm within the next year or so. Papers by Young and by Cole and Lawinski outline the different digital technologies and describe new applications possible with digital image acquisition, such as dual energy imaging, tomosynthesis, 3D volumetric imaging from rotational angiography data and computer-aided detection (CAD).

The "newer" modalities of ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging have also seen major advances in recent years, due to combinations of new hardware design and software techniques. In ultrasound, new composite matrix array and capacitance micromachined transducer technology promise to revolutionize the way scanning is performed. In his paper, Cosgrove also describes, amongst other things, high intensity focused ultrasound for drug and gene delivery, and the recent development of microbubble contrast agents and their applications in vascular enhancement and functional studies.

The major advances in MR relate to the move to high field systems (3 Tesla) and the development of parallel imaging making use of multiple receiver coils. Together with improvements in gradient systems and new acquisition sequences, this has resulted in higher spatial resolution, better signal to noise ratio, faster imaging and greater volume coverage. The paper by Jackson, Stivaros and Moore describes these technical developments in detail, giving pictorial examples of how they have affected MR images, and outlining some of the new clinical applications such as cardiac imaging, time resolved 3D angiography and whole body imaging.

In this issue it has only been possible to cover a small, albeit significant, selection of developments in medical imaging. There are also a number of novel techniques, such as terahertz imaging, electrical impedance imaging, imaging with optical radiation and phase–contrast imaging, which have not yet found their way into routine clinical use. There appears to be little doubt that significant technical advances in existing modalities, and the introduction of new imaging techniques, will continue to have a major impact in clinical radiology.

This Article Full Text (PDF) Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hufton, A Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hufton, A