Image analysis technology provider iCAD has combined several of its offerings to create a new MRI product suite for cancer detection, staging, localization, treatment planning and serial monitoring of the breast, prostate and other organs.

A bioabsorbable atrial septal defect (ASD) repair implant (BioSTAR, NMT Medical) has proved comparable to the Amplatzer Septal Occluder (ASO, AGA Medical) in children, but the BioSTAR was associated with longer procedure times, according to a study published in the July issue of Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions.

PHILADELPHIACT perfusion assessment of rectal cancer after hypofractionated radiotherapy correlated well with FDG-PET assessment and showed an increased tumor perfusion. Researchers suggest the increased vascularity could improve the bioavailability of cytotoxic agents in rectal tumors, often administered early after radiotherapy treatment, according to a poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM).

The Center for Technology and Aging will provide grants to five healthcare organizations to test the efficacy and quality of remote home monitoring to improve chronic disease management and post-acute care.

New York Governor David A. Paterson has made available $140 million in grants to health facilities across the state to advance health IT and support capital restructuring and long-term care improvements.

PHILADELPHIASix years ago, Jim Donnelly was told the cancer on his tongue and larynx needed to be surgically removed. Not accepting that opinion, Donnelly, a professor of business at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, decided to go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. As was evident by the standing ovation following his address at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), Donnelly has not lost his ability to speak, nor his sense of humor.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has submitted the first of two reports on the National Quality Foundation's (NQF) progress in meeting the five Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 mandated duties related to quality measures, the costs and fixed fees NQF has reported, and what NQF and the Department of Health and Human Services do to help ensure NQF's reported costs are proper.

HealthPartners, a U.S. consumer-governed, nonprofit healthcare organization, has licensed Diversinets MobiSecure Health platform to facilitate mobile communications with its 1.3 million subscribers.