Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives managed to squeak out a healthcare reform victory (220-215) late Saturday evening, after ratifying the Stupak-Pitts Amendment that will prohibit abortion funding for both the public option and affordability credits.

Memorial Hermann Imaging Center in Houston has implemented the Magnetom Verio Open Bore 3T MRI from Siemens Healthcare.

Time-resolved MR angiography (TR-MRA) is a useful sequence for the assessment of ovarian vein reflux, which may aid the evaluation of pelvic congestion syndrome, according to research published this month in the American Journal of Roentgenology.

A task force commissioned by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) has recommended that radiation dose delivered to the prostate and nearby organs in brachytherapy procedures should be carefully analyzed using post-implant CT or MRI and uniformly documented in each patient.

A vacant ambulance bay at St. Margarets Hospital in Essex, England, is the site of a newly developed MRI suite that is housing a Siemens Healthcare Magnetom Essenza MRI system.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) released a statement yesterday charging that medical imaging cuts contained in the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule may restrict imaging services to large hospitals, produce longer commutes and wait times to receive care, and could cause delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other serious illnesses.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Friday announced final changes for policy and payment rates during the 2010 calendar year, which, if implemented, could cut by up to 38 percent the amount doctors will receive when they use medical imaging equipment for procedures such as MRI and CT scans. The rule affects more than one million physicians and non-physician practitioners who are paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

Merge Healthcare and medical device and services for diagnostic imaging provider Medrad have revealed their plan to expand their European Union distribution agreement for CADstream.