https://medicalxpress.com/diagnostic-radiology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Diagnostic radiology In a new study published recently in the journal Nature, researchers at Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Health have created the first growth charts for white matter in the brain over a human lifetime. The work brings together nearly two decades of Vanderbilt research collaborations, the university's extensive MRI data collections, and an advanced AI-enabled computing platform. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-brain-reveal-lifetime-white-growth.html Thu, 28 May 2026 13:20:02 EDT news699191039 Two researchers at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), have developed a new strategy based on artificial intelligence and computer simulations that makes it possible to obtain detailed brain information more quickly from MRI scans using far less data than usual. The method, published in the journal Communications Medicine, can reduce the time required for certain advanced MRI scans by up to 90% while maintaining a high level of accuracy, paving the way for more efficient and accessible neuroimaging in clinical settings. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-ai-simulations-advanced-brain-mri.html Wed, 27 May 2026 17:40:03 EDT news699118742 Engineers at the University of California San Diego have created a soft, wearable ultrasound patch that can continuously monitor a fetus for hours at a time—and it can do so consistently even as the fetus and umbilical cord constantly move during pregnancy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-wearable-ultrasound-patch-high-pregnancies.html Tue, 26 May 2026 05:00:01 EDT news698917441 Glioblastoma is one of the most treatment-resistant brain tumors, making it especially difficult to treat. Part of that resistance stems from its unique tumor microenvironment—the complex mix of cells and biological activity surrounding the tumor. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-qa-advanced-imaging-brain-cancer.html Fri, 22 May 2026 17:00:03 EDT news698679850 A new cardiac magnetic resonance imaging-based measurement may improve how physicians assess a common heart valve condition, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian investigators. The findings support the broader use and further study of the new metric known as effective right ventricular ejection fraction (eRVEF). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-mri-technique-valve-disease.html Thu, 21 May 2026 13:20:02 EDT news698584322 A team of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic's Cardiovascular Innovation Research Center, has developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system capable of interpreting some of the most complex heart scans in medicine, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), without the need for manually labeled training data. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-ai-cardiac-mri-manual-general.html Thu, 21 May 2026 05:00:03 EDT news698480052 Catching pancreatic cancer early can increase the five-year survival rate from 15% to 80%. Patients with pancreatic cysts, frequently detected during unrelated abdominal CT or MRI imaging, can develop malignant pancreatic cancers. In a new study, Mass General Brigham investigators showed that patients with low-risk pancreatic cystic lesions (PCLs) have approximately 14 times higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer than the general population. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-early-cysts-pancreatic-cancer-sooner.html Wed, 20 May 2026 17:00:03 EDT news698511062 UBC Okanagan researchers, working with scientists at BC Cancer–Kelowna, have developed a groundbreaking AI model that can help identify breast cancer patients who may face a double-threat—that of cancer and cardiovascular disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-ai-flags-heart-breast-cancer.html Wed, 20 May 2026 15:00:11 EDT news698501101 Stanford Medicine professor Leanne Williams talks about her work leveraging a data-driven approach to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-harnessing-brain-imaging-shift-mental.html Wed, 20 May 2026 08:40:05 EDT news698481601 Millions of people are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease each year, comprising 60% to 70% of dementia cases worldwide. While cognitive impairment and structural brain changes are indicative of Alzheimer's disease progression, the process to accurately predict who will develop Alzheimer's is time-consuming and requires a variety of techniques, including brain imaging, blood biomarkers, and neurocognitive testing by a neuropsychologist. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-baseline-mri-ai-alzheimer-cognitive.html Mon, 18 May 2026 16:20:06 EDT news698337001 PET tracers are used in PET scans. PET scans make it possible to visualize and measure biological processes in the body. By injecting a small amount of radioactive tracer into the body, doctors can, for example, see how much energy certain tissues consume or whether they have high metabolic activity. This is particularly valuable for detecting tumors or assessing brain function. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-patients-production-specific-pet-scan.html Fri, 15 May 2026 13:20:04 EDT news698068681 As large medical imaging datasets become widely available, researchers are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to extract useful information from scans that were never manually annotated. Automated "anatomy segmentation" tools—programs that label organs and structures in images such as CT scans—promise to make large-scale studies feasible. But as many new models appear, an important question remains: how can researchers compare these tools when no ground truth exists? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-ai-anatomy-segmentation-ground-truth.html Wed, 13 May 2026 14:34:32 EDT news697901642 Medical imaging routinely used in cancer care may hold far more biological information than previously thought. An international study involving Umeå University guest professor Lukas Kenner shows that PET/CT scans can capture the molecular activity of particularly aggressive head and neck tumors, opening new possibilities for more precise diagnosis and treatment planning. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-routine-scans-reveal-tumor-aggressiveness.html Wed, 13 May 2026 13:16:59 EDT news697896962 A new Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) position statement provides evidence-based support for the use of genicular artery embolization (GAE) as a minimally invasive treatment option for patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) who have failed conservative therapy and are not candidates for or wish to delay total knee arthroplasty. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-position-statement-highlights-role-genicular.html Tue, 12 May 2026 22:20:04 EDT news697819922 Lung cancer remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide, making early and accurate diagnosis essential for improving patient outcomes. Chest computed tomography (CT) scans are widely used to detect pulmonary nodules, but interpreting these images requires careful assessment of multiple features, including shape, margins, and internal structure. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-vision-language-diagnosis-ct-scans.html Tue, 12 May 2026 18:20:01 EDT news697817822 Why do some premature babies suffer brain damage and others not? A new study led by pediatrician and neonatologist Dr. Fleur Camfferman (VUB/UZ Brussel) takes us closer to the answer. By examining not the supply but the flow of blood to the brain, doctors can see much more quickly which babies need extra protection. This discovery opens the way to a treatment tailored precisely to the needs of the smallest patient. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-brain-vein-uncover-hidden-injury.html Mon, 11 May 2026 17:40:09 EDT news697729251 Surgery is a complicated endeavor. Even a successful surgery can lead to complications, and even the best surgeons sometimes have unsuccessful surgeries. A surgeon must rely on visual cues and their own experience to avoid hitting a nerve or a blood vessel, mistakes that can turn a simple surgery into a much more challenging one. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-laser-acoustic-imaging-hidden-nerves.html Mon, 11 May 2026 08:40:01 EDT news697359330 When a person first exhibits signs of having a stroke, the timing of treatment is critical to restore blood flow to the brain and support recovery. In addition to studying and implementing ways to treat patients faster, investigators have been studying how to make predicting and treating stroke more precise. A new study in the journal Stroke introduces a concept of brain imaging known as blood-brain core imaging, or "leaky core," that could potentially accelerate this progress and transform the way that many strokes are treated. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-blood-brain-barrier-scans-personalize.html Sat, 09 May 2026 05:07:55 EDT news697522019 Developed at Aalto University over several years, a new ultrasonic needle for tumor diagnostics has been trialed in collaboration with Helsinki University Hospital (HUS). According to the resulting peer-reviewed study, salivary gland tumors could be diagnosed with far greater precision using the innovative needle. The work is published in the journal European Radiology Experimental. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-ultrasonic-needle-yields-samples-larger.html Thu, 07 May 2026 15:40:05 EDT news697384622 New multiplexed imaging technology using standard clinical MRI systems can simultaneously map more than 20 biomarkers in high resolution, providing a comprehensive view of the brain with a single scan. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-mri-technology-brain-biomarkers-minute.html Wed, 06 May 2026 17:40:01 EDT news697303562 According to leading radiologists, elective MRI screenings are not recommended and can do more harm than good. In a new editorial in JAMA, experts from the University of Michigan Health and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health outline the downsides of these increasingly popular scans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-doctors-urge-caution-elective-mri.html Wed, 06 May 2026 16:20:04 EDT news697302181 Using a deep learning model to analyze the composition of large muscles on MRI, German researchers found that the proportions of intermuscular fat and lean muscle mass were associated with high blood pressure and unhealthy lipid and blood sugar levels. Results of the study were published in Radiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-hidden-muscle-fat-poses-danger.html Tue, 05 May 2026 10:00:10 EDT news697097221 Researchers used AI to analyze whole-body MRI scans from more than 66,000 participants to create the most detailed reference map to date of how fat and muscle are distributed in the human body across age, sex, and height. The study was published in Radiology. Results of the study show that the quality and amount of skeletal muscle, not just visceral fat, are strong predictors of diabetes, major cardiovascular events, and mortality. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-ai-body-composition-health.html Tue, 05 May 2026 10:00:05 EDT news697097101 Medical imaging devices such as endoscopes transmit their data via cables to monitors and hospital information systems. In collaboration with partners, Fraunhofer researchers in the OWIMED project are working to make data cables superfluous in the operating room of the future. The project team has developed a prototype for an endoscope that uses light to transmit the images from a laparoscopic procedure in the abdominal cavity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-powered-link-wireless-endoscope-stream.html Mon, 04 May 2026 13:20:06 EDT news697112101 Researchers at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon have for the first time managed to identify with an imaging technique whether nervous impulses in the brain of rats are flowing in a "bottom-up" (feedforward), carrying information about visual input, or a "top-down" (feedback) direction, carrying information about expectations or predictions on a given task or about the perception of the world around us. Their results, published in Nature Communications, could have important implications for understanding changes in the brains of people with hallucinations, Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism, and other conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-ultrafast-mri-uncovers-brain-scan.html Mon, 04 May 2026 10:20:08 EDT news697107961 A Concordia-led team of researchers has developed a new AI-driven robotic system that can perform cardiac ultrasound scans autonomously. The researchers say this approach could expand access to cardiac imaging in remote or underserved areas, reduce operator fatigue, and standardize scan quality. The work is published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ai-powered-robotic-heart-ultrasounds.html Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:40:01 EDT news696779341 Researchers at University of Tsukuba have found that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) microdynamic motion shows region-specific alterations after mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Using a specialized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique, the team noninvasively visualized these CSF changes, which have been difficult to quantify with conventional imaging. The approach is expected to advance the understanding of the relationship between post-traumatic brain conditions and cognitive function. The study is published in Frontiers in Neuroscience. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-mri-reveals-cerebrospinal-fluid-shifts.html Thu, 30 Apr 2026 15:40:08 EDT news696777241 A new study by researchers at National Jewish Health and collaborating institutions has found that different patterns seen on lung scans can signal how severe sarcoidosis may be, and how it affects breathing. The research was published online in the journal CHEST. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-lung-scans-reveal-important-differences.html Wed, 29 Apr 2026 22:00:01 EDT news696662516 The Nuffield Department of Women's & Reproductive Health at the University of Oxford, together with Serac Healthcare Limited, announces the publication of Phase 2 data in The Lancet Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The findings highlight the potential of the novel molecular imaging agent, 99mTc-maraciclatide, as a non-invasive tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of endometriosis. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-advance-endometriosis-diagnosis.html Wed, 29 Apr 2026 18:30:06 EDT news696698760 "Contrast harms the kidneys"—this belief has been present among patients for years, and sometimes also among physicians. In clinical practice, it may raise concerns about imaging examinations and procedures that use contrast agents. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-contrast-agents-imaging-kidneys.html Wed, 29 Apr 2026 18:20:06 EDT news696696994