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Radiology software developed at UB receives award

DTS display.

This DTS display showes the color-coded skin-dose distribution in real-time during a percutaneous coronary intervention. The current X-ray beam location is highlighted on the graphic and the value of the peak skin dose is given numerically on the right, along with other dose-related parameters.

By SUE WUETCHER

Published January 8, 2015 This content is archived.

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Software developed by UB researchers at the university’s Toshiba Stroke & Vascular Research Center has received a 2014 “Minnies” award from AuntMinnie.com, one of the top websites in the radiology community.

The Dose Tracking System (DTS) — marketed by Toshiba but developed by a research group led by Daniel Bednarek, professor of radiology — took first place as “Best New Radiology Software” for 2014. It debuted last March at the annual meeting of the American College of Cardiology.

The DTS gives physicians a better idea of how much radiation patients are receiving during interventional fluoroscopic procedures, such as cardiac catheter ablation, vascular embolization and stent, filter or coil placement.

The DTS provides real-time data on the delivery of radiation during these interventional procedures via a detailed, intuitive, color-coded, 3-D map of the skin-dose distribution on a graphic of the patient. It highlights, with changing colors, if and when an area targeted to receive radiation should be changed to distribute the skin dose and minimize the chances of locally concentrated radiation exposure.

The software, approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration, enables physicians to significantly reduce the risk of such radiation-based skin injuries as erythema, epilation, desquamation or skin necrosis.

The DTS has received a number of other awards and accolades, in addition to the Minnies. They include:

  • “Most Innovative Technology” at the 2012 meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
  • “Most Innovative New Technology” at the 2013 meeting of the American College of Cardiology.
  • DOTmed's “Top 5 Trends of 2014.”
  • Novation’s “Innovative Technology” designation for 2014 at the company's Innovative Technology Expo.
  • A mention in the cover story “All the Right Stuff” in the November/December 2014 issue of Imaging Economics, a magazine for the medical imaging industry.
  • 2014 Gold Cypos Award from the Japanese Society of Radiological Technology.
  • “Healthcare and Medical Equipment Component Award” from Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun Ltd., publisher of Japan’s leading business and industry newspapers.