THE QSUM QUIPS

 

ISSUE #17

OCTOBER 2012

To All Our Colleagues, Friends and Customers,   

 

Anyone reading this newsletter is well aware that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.  In fact, you don't even need to work in this industry to know that. That's due to the huge efforts over the past decade to make this more than just a

women's issue.   

Optical Imaging
Optical mammography sheds new light on breast cancer.

 

The strides that have been made -- and continue to be made -- are so encouraging.  See the New Technology

section of QSUM

Quips for some examples of advances, such as:   

  • vaccines for prevention,   
  • methods using water and optical imaging for screening and detection, and  
  • non-surgical therapy for treatment.  

Another highlight of this month's issue is the video section, featuring the HBO documentary, The Education of  Dee Dee Ricks.  We've included a couple clips of this moving story. It premiers on October 27, so mark your calendar.  

 

Thank you for being part of this exciting and life-saving branch of medicine.  We continue our commitment to bring you the information and tools you need to do this invaluable work.   

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Cynthia Henke & Hudson Jones
QSUM Biopsy Disposables

 

IN THIS ISSUE
Thought For The Day
New Technology
Breast MRI
Breast Ultrasound
PET/PEM/BSGI Information
Mammography
Brachytherapy
New Products
Free CE Credits
Cindy's Favorite Recipe
Video Picks of the Month
Social Media Links
JOB OPPORTUNITIES

Breast Imager 

Full-time; Regular  

Fairfax / DC Suburbs, Virginia 

Contact: Janet Hoffman 

 

 

Mammography Technologist

Concentric Healthcare Solutions  

Full-Time 

Scottsdale, AZ

Posting on CareerBuilder 

 

 

DIC Ultrasound Technologist 

Full-time - Experienced 

North Shore-LIJ Health System

New Hyde Park, NY

AHA Career Center 

   

 

Breast Health Navigator

Full-time

Norwalk, CT

Norwalk Hospitals  

 

 

Thought For The Day
"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."  
-- Anais Nin  
NEW TECHNOLOGY
Prostate Biopsy: Targeted Biopsy Using MR-Ultrasound Fusion
Prostate Biopsy: Targeted Biopsy Using MR-Ultrasound Fusion

Cancer, 5 Other Areas Focus of Vaccine Market.  Breast cancer is perhaps the area with the most vaccine development activity.

RadNet Joins GE Healthcare to Evaluate Breast Cancer Detection Processes. GE Healthcare and RadNet will evaluate the clinical breast cancer detection process to quantify inefficient diagnostic patterns and identify optimal paths to lower cost and improve patient outcomes.

Optical Mammography Sheds New Light on Breast Cancer. The noninvasive technology uses near infrared (NIR) light to scan breast tissue, then applies an algorithm to interpret that information.

Know Error - Breast biopsy kit that contains all the necessary components to collect biopsy samples and confirm that specifmens being evaluated belong to the patient being diagnosed.

Start-up Densitas fine-tunes breast density detection software. The software, also called Densitas, produces fully automated breast density measurements on a continuous scale from 0 to 100, in real-time.

Image and Pathological Changes after Radiofrequency Ablation of Invasive Breast Cancer: A Pilot Study of Nonsurgical Therapy of Early Breast Cancer.
 
This "smart bra" uses sensors and predictive analytics to aid in early breast cancer detection. Welcome to the 21st century, where an inconspicuous device in your bra could help catch breast cancer early.

New Ultrasound 3D Tomography. Developed by physicists and radiologists, the new technology, called Computed Ultrasound Risk Evaluation Device -- or CURE -- does not use radiation, lasts one minute and is completely pain-free.

New Screening Test Encourages Wider Participation.  Ascendant Diagnostic�s first product in development is an in vitro diagnostic assay to detect early stage breast cancer utilizing the proteomic profile present in tears.
BREAST MRI
Preop MRI No Help in Breast Cancer Outcomes. Additional surgeries were just as frequent in breast cancer patients who underwent MRI scans prior to full or partial mastectomy as in those who did not have the preoperative imaging.

Novel MRI Technique Could Reduce Breast Biopsies. Water diffusion measurements with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) could decrease false-positive breast cancer results and reduce preventable biopsies.    
New QSUM MRI Titanium Scalpel 
New QSUM MRI Titanium Scalpel
 
QSUM's MRI Biopsy Tray - includes Nonferro-magnetic scalpel and 20g needle

  

BREAST ULTRASOUND

Basic Interventional Tray
 
The hand-held USB device -- which is roughly the size of a computer mouse -- works in a similar way to existing ultrasound scanners, using pulses of high frequency sound to build up a picture of the unborn child on the computer screen.

FDA OKs Device to Screen Dense Breasts. ABUS is to be used along with standard mammography in women with a negative mammogram and no breast cancer symptoms 

Echo IDs Heart Problems From Breast Cancer. A novel echocardiography technique could help identify early signs of cardiotoxicity in women being treated for breast cancer.  
PET/PEM/MBI/SPECT/CT INFORMATION
Positron emission mammography (PEM) is emerging as a useful modality for identifying lesions, particularly in dense breasts. The lesion size that is detectable with the PEM unit is as small as 1.6 mm, or the width of a grain of rice.

Spectral Mammography Could Accurately Measure Breast Density, Determine Cancer Risk. "Spectral mammography vs. standard mammography is like comparing color television to black and white TV,"

Challenges remain for Gamma Medica after bankruptcy filing. The outcome could impact the nascent market for MBI technology.
STEREOTACTIC / SURGICAL BIOPSY
 
QSUM - Stereotactic products
QSUM's Autoguide Drape


Stereotactic Guided Breast Biopsy Performed by a Surgeon.  A White Paper provided by Siemens. "With continuing technological advancements and the associated increase in image quality, stereotactic guided breast biopsy has become a viable option in obtaining breast tissue samples for diagnosis.


Delay in Breast Tissue Analysis Risks False Findings. Time to tissue fixation significantly affected determination of estrogen receptor (ER) status in breast tumors.

Device May Cut Re-Excision Rate in Breast Cancer. Re-excision after breast-conserving surgery occurred 50% less often with intraoperative margin assessment by a device that distinguishes cancer cells from normal tissue, results of a randomized study showed.  

 

Preoperative needle breast biopsies can lead to improved treatment outcomes. The advantage of the needle biopsy approach is that women may avoid an operation if the results are benign, and can get the benefit of appropriate preoperative planning if cancer is detected. 

 

What can I do to prepare for a breast biopsy?? 

What can a woman do to prepare for a breast biopsy?

GENERAL MAMMOGRAPHY

FUJIFILM's Aspire wins the New Product Innovation Award for Digital Mammography.  Congratulations! Read Frost & Sullivan's full report on the significance of this award.

Young Women Skip Mammo After USPSTF Recommendations. Two years after publication of the screening guideline, the mammography rate among women 40 to 49 remained more than 5% lower than the baseline level.

BRCA Mutations May Be "Achilles' Heel" for Some Metastatic Breast Cancers. It may be possible to exploit this weakness with a drug regimen that includes Veliparib.

Type 2 Diabetes Linked To Breast Cancer Risk. According to a new study, having type 2 diabetes appears to give post-menopausal women a 27% higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Study Divides Breast Cancer Into Four Distinct Types. Researchers have identified four genetically distinct types of the cancer.

Delay in Breast Tissue Analysis Risks False Findings. Evaluation of operating room practices revealed significant variation among surgeons in the proportion of procedures that resulted in a time to tissue fixation longer than 60 minutes.

Are Invitro Fertilization and Breast Cancer Linked? The management of infertility usually involves hormone use, which can have a direct effect on the breast, or increasing the estradiol level.

Least Aggressive Breast Cancer Still Poses Long-Term Risk, Study Finds. Women with luminal A tumors (a subtype of breast cancer generally believed to have the best prognosis) were still at risk for death from the cancer more than 10 years after their diagnosis.

Study Links Breast Cancer Risk to Early-Life Diet and Metabolic Syndrome. Diet and related factors early in life can boost the risk for breast cancer.

Dense Breast Notification Laws: Study Shows Pros and Cons. These findings expose many of the weaknesses of current breast ultrasound research and highlight the prematurity of breast density notification laws.

Current Issues in Diagnostic Breast Pathology. Recommendations for terminology and diagnostic criteria for a number of key areas of practice in breast pathology where terminology can be confusing and where accurate communication will ensure appropriate clinical management.

What You Need to Know about Breast Cancer: Advanced Stage Diagnosis. A three-part series of Blog Talk Radio shows, sponsored by The Columbia University Department of Surgery Clinical Breast Cancer Program.

Some Deadly Breast Cancers Share Genetic Features with Ovarian Tumors. One of the most deadly subtypes is genetically more similar to ovarian tumors than to other breast cancers.

Echo IDs Heart Problems From Breast Cancer. A novel echocardiography technique could help identify early signs of cardiotoxicity in women being treated for breast cancer.

In Breast Cancer Screening, the Test Matters. So far, we have found 33 percent more cancers with 3D images than with 2D.

Devicor Enters Mammotome Distribution Agreement With Carbon Medical. Devicor, parent company of Mammotome, will have exclusive rights to market a new beta-glucan tissue marker developed by Carbon Medical Technologies.

MALE BREAST CANCER GENE FIND. The world's largest study into the causes of male breast cancer has found a gene that can increase the risk of the disease by up to 50%.

Disparity in Breast Cancer Between Black and White Women Can Be Eliminated by Regular Screening. When women of both races received regular breast cancer screening, there was no difference in the rate of how many of them presented in the disease's later stages.

Young Women With the BRCA Gene Mutation Face Complex Decisions About Life Plans. Young women who learn they have BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations felt differently about options for relationships, treatment, childbearing and careers.

Digital Mammography Improves Population-Based Breast Cancer Screening.  New research from the Netherlands.  Results of the study are published online in the journal Radiology.  

More Data Refute Breast Cancer Tie to Insulin. Use of the long-acting insulin glargine (Lantus) doesn't appear to carry an increased risk of breast cancer.

When It Comes to Treating Breast Cancer, 'Doing Less Does More' for Patients. This approach kills the cancer while improving cure rates and decreasing the chance of the cancer returning.

 

 

BRACHYTHERAPY

QSUM product Brachy Bandage
QSUM's Breast Brachytherapy Bandage

Multicatheter brachytherapy with accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) for early breast cancer provided durable disease control for as long as 15 years.   

 

QSUM PRODUCTS
 

All the products pictured in QSUM Quips can be purchased online. Just click a photo to access the product page where you can place an order, or go to our website to shop around. 

Mammo Ribbon IP Breast Bar pink gloves  

 

 

We also have a webstore at www.dotmed.com. Just type "QSUM" in their search bar for an easy way to order products.

 

FREE CE CREDITS:

Does Higher Gadolinium Concentration Play a Role in Morphologic Assessment of Brain Tumors?  

 

A CE/CME (pre-recorded) Webinar 

 

Presented by Howard A. Rowley, MD, Chief of Neuroradiology and Joseph Sackett, Professor or Radiology at the university of Wisconsin School School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI.  1 Free CME issued with a passing grade of 70% on the online post examination.    

  

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis: Concepts and Rationale 

 

Per the recommendations of the ACR and the FDA-mandated training for new technology and equipment, all members of the healthcare team must be trained in why, when and how to appropriately use DBT for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of patients with breast disease.

 

A certified 70-minute prerecorded webinar for radiologists and radiologic technologists.

Expiration date of this link: July 1, 2013

Faculty: Jules H. Sumkin, DO, FACR and Margarita L. Zuley, MD

Credit: 1.25 AMA PRA; 1.0 ARRT

Offered by ICPME, made possible by an educational grant from Hologic

 

A clip of the course:

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis
Digital Breast Tomosynthesis

 

 

 

My Favorite October Recipe: Saut�ed Chicken and Kiwi over Wild Rice

 

This simple saut� is packed with protein and antioxidants. 

 

Recipe - October2012 - Chicken and Kiwi  

 

 Click the link above, or the photo, for the full list of nutrition facts, and a printable copy of the recipe.

 

 

VIDEO PICK OF THE MONTH
HBO Documentary Films: The Education Of Dee Dee Ricks
HBO Documentary Films: The Education Of Dee Dee Ricks

The Education of Dee Dee Ricks is an intimate and passionately told documentary chronicling how a successful businesswoman and mother's life changes dramatically.
 
After being diagnosed with breast cancer, Dee Dee sets out to make life easier for less fortunate cancer patients.
 
Filmmaker Perri Peltz brilliantly captures Dee Dee's treatment and transformation, her heartache and eventual triumph. Dee Dee's humor shines through as she helps her two young sons adjust to her new baldness, jokes with doctors and discusses dating with her wigmaker.
 
One of the most poignant moments in the film is Dee Dee's meeting with Dr. Harold Freeman, a man dedicated to making diagnosis and treatments more accessible to all. Forever changed after meeting Dr. Freeman, Dee Dee commits herself to helping him raise funds for his center and spreading the word about patient navigation.
 
Another key moment comes when Dee Dee meets Cynthia, another woman battling breast cancer. Although their personal situations differ dramatically, the two women form a deep bond.
 
The Education of Dee Dee Ricks tells the story about a Harlem doctor's heroism, the friendship of two women and how one woman was transformed by the experience.
 
The film will premiere on HBO on October 27 and made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival in May.

2011 Patients of Courage: Dee Dee Ricks
2011 Patients of Courage: Dee Dee Ricks

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newsletter 

We hope you found some interesting and useful news in this month's issue.  If you did, please share it with your social networks or pass this newsletter along to others. It's easy to do by clicking links found at the top and bottom of this page. 

 

Thank you!

 

 Cindy Henke

 QSUM Biopsy Disposables

 (877) 304-4446 Toll Free

 http://www.qsum.net

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