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Molecular Musings

Dirtier than a Toilet?
May 15, 2008 12:01 PM by Joyce Ward
Have you looked at your keyboard lately? I usually don't, unless I accidentally spill something on it. Then I read in an article on ABC News about a study by a microbiologist in the United Kingdom that showed that the typical office keyboard had contamination Read More...
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Heading to the Big Easy?
April 30, 2008 4:52 PM by Joyce Ward
I just got my airplane reservations to fly down to New Orleans this June 14 for the SNM annual meeting. I am looking forward to the conference which allows me to learn the latest research in nuclear medicine and PET and to connectwith old friends and Read More...
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What Did I Want in the Refrigerator?
April 16, 2008 5:30 PM by Joyce Ward
Next Monday will be my 66 th birthday and while I think my mind is as sharp as it used to be when I was a spring chicken of 55, I sometimes find myself forgetting where I put my keys or why I went over to the refrigerator. These small lapses are not new. Read More...
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Canadians Protest PET Restrictions
April 11, 2008 2:52 PM by Joyce Ward
When you look at some of the arguments for a national health care, our system is often compared unfavorably with the national health system in Canada. Generally, this is done by people who have never had to deal with that system first hand. Now it is Read More...
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Dealing with Questions
April 4, 2008 2:09 PM by Joyce Ward
Over on our March 14th Mammography Matters blog, Wanda Francisco discussed dealing with the questions of patients who wanted to know what they were seeing on the screens of the new digital mammogram machines . It seems that some of the digital mammography Read More...
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CMS Strikes Out FDG for Infection Imaging
March 21, 2008 11:53 AM by Joyce Ward
In the battle to get CMS to understand the value of diagnostic imaging, this month saw one gain, the decision not to limit CTA imaging, and one loss, a decision to continue national non-coverage of FDG PET for infection and inflammation imaging. Explaining Read More...
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CTA Victory Also Helps Fusion Imaging
March 18, 2008 3:47 PM by Joyce Ward
At first glance, the furor over reimbursement for CT angiography (CTA) may not seem to be something that concerns nuclear medicine technologists. After all, the CT experts often predict that CTA could replace some of the current myocardial perfusion scans Read More...
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4,600 Karats of Garnet—That’s Some Bling
March 7, 2008 2:34 PM by Joyce Ward
Nuclear medicine technologists are used to working with crystals, such as BGO, LSO, NaI and GSO, as scintillation materials to catch gamma and positron emissions. Soon, however, they might be working beside 4,600 karats of semi-precious garnets too. This Read More...
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PET/CT Job Concerns
February 21, 2008 5:30 PM by Joyce Ward
When PET/CT first came out, it looked like a great opportunity for expanding the job base for nuclear medicine technologists. When the CT only gave attenuation and some positional information, there were fewer problems with who could run the systems. Read More...
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The Plaque is the Culprit
February 12, 2008 4:00 PM by Joyce Ward
There has been much excitement in the nuclear medicine community over the new PET imaging agents that are designed to attach to the amyloid plaque in Alzheimer's disease. Both FDDNP and the Pittsburgh compound B have shown that nuclear medicine can be Read More...
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Everything Old is New Again
February 6, 2008 2:37 PM by Joyce Ward
Yesterday, I attended the Molecular Summit in Philadelphia. Put on by The Dark Report ( http://www.darkreport.com/ ), the meeting was designed to show the need for integration of imaging and diagnostics (think radiology and laboratory), as medicine moves Read More...
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Treading Towards Retirement
January 29, 2008 12:13 PM by Joyce Ward
Last April, I was a short on CME for the ARRT. The problem is that although I constantly educate myself on nuclear medicine and attend many CME lectures, I do it as part of my job as a writer, so I do not get any credit for these educational activities. Read More...
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Got Abstracts?
January 25, 2008 12:01 PM by Joyce Ward
The other day the SNM sent out a message saying that nuclear medicine students had until Feb.7 to submit abstracts for the SNM annual meeting this June in New Orleans. That reminded me of when I was a student at William Beaumont School of Nuclear Medicine Read More...
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Ghosts of Christmases Past
December 26, 2007 12:57 PM by Joyce Ward
I spent Christmas at my daughter's house and, as usual, we had way too many presents and too much to eat. The impact of progress is never more apparent when comparing the presents I got as a girl and those I bought for my daughter, with those my grandchildren Read More...
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An Early Christmas Present
December 21, 2007 11:41 AM by Joyce Ward
It looked like the Scrooge of this Christmas, at least for nuclear medicine technologists, was going be Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which shut down the National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River (Canada) that supplies the molybdenum Read More...
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