Hitachi Medical Corp., based in Tokyo, has committed to donating $300,000 to the RSNA Research & Education (R&E) Foundation to endow a new research seed grant every other year for 20 years.

"Hitachi Medical Systems is pleased to further our support in funding of RSNA R&E Foundation activities toward the advancement of medical imaging," said Sheldon Schaffer, vice-president and general manager of MR/CT products at Hitachi. "These activities are extremely important towards advancing the future of radiology, as emerging researchers and educators and the medical imaging community, collectively, seek out new technologies and their applications toward ever better, comprehensive and efficient solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of disease."

Hitachi has been a member of the R&E Vanguard Program since 1999 and currently supports Research Seed and Research Resident Grants. The Vanguard Program currently includes 14 companies that have committed more than $21 million to support R&E Foundation grants.

Hitachi's commitment will support the R&E Foundation's Silver Anniversary Campaign, which has raised $14.3 million toward its $15 million goal. For more information on supporting the campaign, which will finish at the end of 2009, go to RSNA.org/Campaign.

CTC Advocates Object to CMS Denial of Coverage

Legislators, advocacy groups and the American College of Radiology (ACR) are among those objecting to the May 12 decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to deny Medicare coverage for CT colonoscopy (CTC). An ACR statement asserted that the decision "may result in tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths each year from colorectal cancer, particularly among minority and underserved populations."

A letter to CMS from Representatives Kay Granger (R-Texas), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and 40 other members of Congress stated CMS is missing "a landmark opportunity to positively impact colorectal cancer screening rates." A statement from the Colon Cancer Alliance read: "Making virtual colonoscopy more easily available as an alternative to standard colonoscopy would be an important tool that ultimately motivates more Americans 50-plus (45 in certain minorities) to undergo a screening they might otherwise skip. Improved access to virtual colonoscopy has the potential to increase screening rates enough to save both lives and money."

A summary of the CMS decision is available at www.cms.hhs.gov/mcd/viewdecisionmemo.asp?id=220.

NIH Opens Center for Interventional Oncology

A new Center for Interventional Oncology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center offers a venue for investigating precisely targeted, minimally invasive, imaging-based cancer therapies. The center is a collaborative effort of the National Cancer Institute, NIH Clinical Center and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.

The center will encourage collaborative efforts in medical, surgical and radiation oncology and interventional radiology, focusing on localized treatment and drug delivery using advanced MR imaging, PET and CT. Researchers will investigate techniques including high-intensity focused ultrasound, freezing, microwave and radiofrequency ablation. The investigation will also expand to electroporation—using electricity to make cells more open to targeted drug delivery.

The center will also provide educational and training opportunities for oncologists to learn about imaging-based treatments and for interventional radiologists to gain formal training in oncology.

For more information, go to clinicalcenter.nih.gov.

SCCT Publishes Coronary CT Angiography Guidelines

The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) published CT angiography performance guidelines in the May/June issue of the Journal of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography. In addition to clinical competency, the SCCT guidelines specify that physicians should have adequate knowledge of the "as low as reasonably achievable" principle for radiation exposure and be able to explain several dose reduction strategies.

The guidelines include recommendations for physician and technologist competencies, institution and scanner standards, patient screening and preparation, patient positioning, contrast injection protocols, coronary CT angiography acquisition and image reconstruction and post-processing.

View the guidelines at www.scct.org/press room/performance_guidelines.pdf.

CMS Reviews Coverage for (FDG) PET Cervical Cancer Staging

In response to a formal request by two radiologists, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has opened a review of its coverage policies for fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET cervical cancer staging. The request was made by Perry W. Grigsby, M.D., M.B.A., a professor of radiation oncology and radiology, and Barry A. Siegel, M.D., a professor of radiology and medicine and director of the Division of Nuclear Medicine, both at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Siegel is a member of the RSNA News editorial board.

Current CMS policy covers FDG PET for monitoring treatment response to cervical cancer. All other uses are limited to women enrolled in a prospective clinical study under the CMS Coverage with Evidence Development (CED) program. Drs. Grigsby and Siegel have asked CMS to cover FDG PET more broadly—without the CED restriction—for staging in women diagnosed with cervical cancer but who do not otherwise meet the coverage criteria. "The requestors also ask that the use of FDG PET be nationally noncovered to make the diagnosis of cervical cancer, as FDG PET imaging is not helpful to make the initial diagnosis," the CMS summary noted.

The expected national coverage analysis review completion date is Feb. 6, 2010. The decision tracking sheet is available at www.cms.hhs.gov.