(Editor's Note: This report was filed late Wednesday night, Nov. 29, the day before RSNA 2006 wraps it up for this year.)

RSNA 2006 is set to go down in the record books as the best-attended show ever. And we should know -- we've been in the middle of the activity all week, and DOTmed has definitely had our best RSNA ever, meeting almost a thousand people, many who will become new DOTmed users.


Business was brisk all week at the DOTmed Booth,
located right near the entrance to the North Hall,
with almost 1,000 visitors dropping by.

Here's a snapshot of the highlights from this year's RSNA -- look for an in-depth equipment review next week.

Traffic Report - Major OEMs

Siemens's booth was shoulder-to-shoulder all week; the top attraction as far as we could tell -- could their rumored "market-share grab" be the reason?
(see related story this week)

GE was a destination-space as well, with plenty of activity and plenty to see, when you could cut through the crowds.

Philips was really busy too, but their very nicely designed space and flow-through design handled the traffic smoothly.

Toshiba was well-attended and another must-see exhibitor -- perhaps word they have a 256-slice CT in the works worked in their favor.

Kodak's traffic was heavy but moving with only minor delays as the company brought out their newest digital technology.

Agfa had the 'turnstile' spinning nicely all week and had no lack of people pushing for a better look.

Hitachi pulled up the rear on our traffic report, apparently not the first stop on the attendees itineraries, but well-worth the visit for many.

Technology-in-brief

CT (computed tomography) was the dominant story of week, with faster, higher resolution systems introduced by all the OEMs, and new CT utilization sprouting up in many places. 64-slice CTs are the new high-end standard, and word is out that Toshiba already has a 256-slice machine under development. One company was offering a portable, wireless, battery operated 8-slice cranial CT primarily targeted for use in the ER and OR.

PET/CT systems, although far less numerous, were a hot topic of debate among many people. While the technology has benefits, it also comes at cost that could keep many buyers on the sidelines.

Ultrasound introductions were numerous in 2D, 3D, color, standard, and portable configurations, and came with plenty of marketing hype that the attendees had to evaluate for themselves.

Mammography systems were well-represented, but the buzz was about new a new ultrasound technique called 'elasticity imaging' which allows radiologists to accurately distinguish benign from malignant breast lesions.

DR, CR, and RIS were also big attention-getters. (That's "direct radiography," "computed radiography," and "radiography information system"). Digital imaging, just like digital photography, is replacing film at an ever increasing rate, and RIS systems help handle and manage it all.

Molecular imaging (MI) (see related story in this week's News) was another buzz word, and definitely talked about as the wave of the future. The RSNA had a special Molecular Imaging Zone in the Lakeside Educational Center, where academic and experimental reviews of the technology were presented. Practical applications, however, are still years away. But since you'll be hearing about MI from now on, DOTmed will run a special overview on MI next week.

Look for much more detail next week in our next report about the RSNA 2006.