Cationic CT contrast agents are more sensitive for imaging joint cartilage compared with most commercially available contrast agents, according to a study published online Sept. 1 in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Cardiac-resynchronization therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) decreased the risk of heart failure events in relatively asymptomatic patients with a low ejection fraction and wide QRS complex, compared with those who received implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) alone, according to a MADIT-CRT trial presented Tuesday at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Clinical trial services supplier BioClinica has acquired the CardioNow unit of Agfa HealthCare for an undisclosed sum.

Merge Healthcare has completed its acquisition of Confirma, a developer of computer-aided detection (CAD) applications for MRI.

HealthPartners of St. Paul, Minn., said it has achieved cost savings by integrating its digital medical images and radiology reports into patients' EMRs.

The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005 has had a disproportionately negative impact on radiologists private office MRI and CT practices compared with other physicians, according to a study published in the September issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

A federal judge has cut the potential damages Covidien's Mallinckrodt subsidiary can receive in its patent infringement case over medical injectors against two U.S. divisions of BraccoLake Success, N.Y.-based E-Z-EM and Acist Medical Systems of Eden Prairie, Minn.

New Jersey radiologist Bruce N. Saffran, MD, who was awarded about $500 million in a 2008 patent infringement case against Boston Scientific, filed suit Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas over Abbott's Xience V everolimus-eluting coronary stent.