All articles tagged with #medical imaging
A 50-year-old man was diagnosed with a 31-cm papillary renal cell carcinoma, an exceptionally large tumor that presented with suspected lung and bone metastases. This case highlights that papillary renal cell carcinoma can exhibit aggressive, atypical imaging features, challenging the assumption that this subtype is always small and less aggressive.
A large international study published in The New England Journal of Medicine reveals that silent atherosclerosis is far more common in young adults than previously believed. Using advanced imaging on over 16,800 healthy participants in Denmark and Spain, researchers found that 57.1% of adults aged 18 to 70 had detectable artery plaque. Notably, approximately 1 in 13 adults under 30 showed signs of the condition despite having no symptoms or known cardiovascular disease. The findings suggest that traditional risk scores fail to identify many individuals with existing disease, highlighting the need for earlier detection methods.
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy has transformed from a 1930s physics experiment into a cornerstone of chemical analysis, largely due to Richard Ernst’s 1991 Nobel-winning innovations in Fourier transform and 2D NMR. Despite persistent limitations in sensitivity and the need for expensive superconducting magnets, modern advancements in hyperpolarisation, microcoils, and benchtop systems are expanding its utility. Researchers are now applying NMR to study working batteries, corrosion, and lung conditions using xenon-129, while also leveraging its principles for quantum computing, proving the technique remains vital decades after its inception.
Siemens Healthineers has introduced the Accela radiotherapy system, a new platform designed to advance cancer treatment through improved imaging and delivery. The launch, highlighted at the ASTRO 2026 conference, positions the system as a key driver for future revenue growth. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets view the platform as a significant catalyst for the company's financial performance, while Bernstein notes ongoing near-term challenges. The Accela system represents a strategic expansion for Siemens Healthineers in the competitive radiation oncology market.
Epic rolled out a diagnostic image exchange across its Care Everywhere network, enabling providers to retrieve and share diagnostic-quality CTs, MRIs and X-rays with a single click using open image-exchange standards. The feature expands beyond reports to full images, reducing manual transfers, preventing duplicate scans, and speeding care, while supporting TEFCA alignment and broader healthcare interoperability goals.
Astronauts on SpaceX Fram2 mission used portable X-ray devices to capture diagnostic-quality images in orbit—the first time X-rays have been taken in space. Three radiologists evaluated the inflight X-rays against pre- and post-mission scans and confirmed clinical diagnostic quality, overcoming weight, radiation, and microgravity challenges. This milestone expands crew health imaging beyond ultrasound and demonstrates in-orbit radiography feasibility.
Astronauts on a civilian mission performed diagnostic-quality X-ray imaging in orbit with a portable wireless system, capturing images of hands, forearms, chests, abdomen, and pelvis that radiologists on Earth deemed suitable for diagnosis. This marks the first in-space X-ray images and could enable rapid medical assessments and onboard hardware checks on future missions, though imaging time and keeping subjects still pose challenges. AI-assisted analysis and more rugged, compact systems are anticipated to expand use on Moon and Mars missions.
Midjourney, best known for AI art, announced Midjourney Medical, a spa-like venture in San Francisco that uses a water tank and 40 ultrasound modules to perform full-body scans and reconstruct MRI-like images; the project relies on Fullbody Ultrasound Computational Tomography, aims for 50,000 scanners by 2031 and up to a billion scans per month, with FDA approval planned as it expands to a spa by late 2027; Butterfly Network provided the hardware under a co-development deal, but the collaboration and regulatory, data privacy concerns remained under the radar in the initial announcement.
Midjourney is expanding from image generation into medical hardware with a spa-style full-body ultrasonic scanner called Midjourney Medical that can produce a high-resolution 3D body map in under 60 seconds; the project includes spa locations (first in San Francisco), a collaboration with Butterfly Network for ultrasound-on-chip tech, and plans to gain FDA approval with ambitions for widespread rollout by 2031 to reduce deaths and healthcare costs.
President Donald Trump will visit Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Tuesday for a routine medical and dental check-up—his third in-person doctor’s visit in a little over a year—after doctors said advanced imaging found no abnormalities and that he remains in excellent health.
Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center and Rostock University Medical Center unveiled a metamaterial-based MRI antenna that strengthens signals from deep tissues, enabling higher-resolution images of the eye and occipital brain regions and potentially shorter scan times without new equipment. Tested at 7.0 Tesla on volunteers, the compact antenna can be adapted to different body parts, may help reduce heating near implants, and could enhance MRI-guided therapies; larger clinical studies are planned and the approach targets broader organ imaging in the future.
A Mayo Clinic AI model detected early signs of pancreatic cancer on CT scans up to three years before diagnosis, outperforming radiologists by about threefold. Pancreatic cancer has a dire prognosis with about 13% five-year survival, and the tool is in clinical trials, potentially helping high-risk individuals, though experts emphasize that human oversight remains essential as AI enters medical practice.
A new Human Organ Atlas using hierarchical phase-contrast tomography (HiP-CT) at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility delivers detailed 3D images of 87 organs from 54 donors, exposing cellular-level anatomy and disease features (including aspects of COVID-19 and cancer) with unprecedented precision. The dataset era—exceeding terabytes—aims to support medical training, research, and AI model development, with the broader goal of eventually imaging entire bodies at 10–20x higher resolution than today’s capabilities, potentially transforming anatomy study and diagnosis.
Elon Musk urged X users to upload medical data—including X-rays, MRIs and CT scans—to Grok to train the AI in interpreting images, a plan critics say risks patient privacy since social-media shares aren’t HIPAA-protected and data may not reflect diverse patient populations; Grok’s diagnostic accuracy remains mixed amid competition from health-focused AI like OpenAI’s ChatGPT Health.
In 1991, a groundbreaking experiment used MRI technology to observe sexual intercourse in real time, challenging long-held assumptions about human anatomy and revealing new insights into the body's functioning during intimacy, with lasting influence on medical understanding and public curiosity.