CT scanner

8 Stories

MRI Machines Go Super-Size for Chubbier US

Accommodating obesity 'a design requirement'

(Newser) - As the US gets heavier, makers of MRI machines and other medical scanners are rushing to cope—by literally enlarging their equipment. But for some Americans, the process isn't going fast enough. The Wall Street Journal recounts the story of a 630-pound Maryland mechanic who's been out of...

Kids' CT Scans Boost Cancer Risk
 Kids' CT Scans 
 Boost Cancer Risk 

study says

Kids' CT Scans Boost Cancer Risk

But in many cases, 'benefits outweigh risks': researcher

(Newser) - The radiation from CT scans can increase a child's risk of brain cancer and leukemia, a study finds, with risk increasing along with the amount of radiation. The radiation in two or three CT scans triples brain cancer risk for a kid under 15, while five to 10 scans...

High Tech Paints 3D Image of Ancient Beast of the Deep

Aquatic dinosaur had 8-foot skull

(Newser) - The 50-foot monster was the terror of the Earth's oceans some 150 million years ago, with its giant head packing a crocodile-esque jaw and razor sharp teeth that savaged anything in its way. Or at least that's the picture that's emerging of the pliosaur, as imaging scientists and paleontologists use...

Probe of Radiation ODs Spreads to 4 Sites

Agency suspects brainb scan problem could be nationwide

(Newser) - The FDA has widened a probe into radiation overdoses received during brain scans to include four hospitals, and now suspects the problem could be nationwide. Three hospitals in Los Angeles County and one in Alabama are being investigated after patients received up to eight times the normal amount of radiation...

LA Patients Get Deadly Blast of Radiation in Screw-Up

Hospital hits hundreds of stroke patients with 8 times the normal dose

(Newser) - A mistake at LA’s famed Cedars-Sinai hospital has subjected more than 200 patients to dangerous levels of radiation. Everyone who has come to the hospital with a suspected stroke since February 2008 has gotten eight times the normal dose of radiation, the LA Times reports. That was when technicians...

Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests
Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests
investigation

Costs Soar as Docs Order and Perform Tests

Fishy practice highlights challenge of medical regulation

(Newser) - As Congress wrestles with health-care reform, studies show it’s tough to regulate the status quo: Doctors’ “self-referrals” for medical imaging have continued despite efforts to legislate against them, the Washington Post reports. Doctors who own the equipment that scans patients stand to make more cash—and tend to...

The Secret of the Strad's Superiority

Scientist find mellow tone is in the wood

(Newser) - Stradivarius violins—300 years old and valued at least $3 million each—are universally recognized as producing the richest sounds. Now, the Daily Telegraph reports, scientists believe they know why. X-rays of several old and new instruments show the wood used by 17th-century violin makers has a more uniform density...

Boom in CT Scans Alarms Docs
Boom in CT Scans Alarms Docs

Boom in CT Scans Alarms Docs

Radiation can unnecessarily increase patients' cancer risk

(Newser) - Advances in CT scans may help doctors diagnose patients quickly effectively, but also expose them to dangerous levels of radiation, the Boston Globe reports. The number of CT scans in the US climbed from 20 million in 1995 to 63 million in 2005, but many aren't actually necessary—and pose...

8 Stories
Most Read on Newser