Dasher Heart Center at South Georgia Medical Center (SGMC) in Valdosta opened a new state-of-the-art operating room combining top surgical care with advanced medical imaging, the Valdosta Daily Times reports.

As email, text alerts and other modern forms of communication become the norm, radiology departments cite phone calls as a frequent source of interruptions in radiology reporting rooms. Recent research published in Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology provided five recommendations to educate referrers on how to eliminate unnecessary phone calls to radiology departments.

A donation from Adele Ringling, an heir to the Ringling Bros. Circus, helped create St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, Wisconsin. The hospital is now paying homage with a new digital radiographic portable x-ray machine decorated to resemble a giraffe, Baraboo News Republic reports.

New retrospective research published online March 1 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology shows that increased wait days to undergo MRI exams lead to minorities and patients of lower socioeconomic status missing more imaging appointments.  

Mackay—a city on Australia’s east coast—received its first PET-CT scan facilities, helping families who were forced to travel more than four hours north to Townsville to undergo the imaging procedures.

A study in the March issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology found that minority, socioeconomically disadvantaged, high-risk populations may be more prone to developing late-stage and aggressive lung cancers than more privileged communities.

Kathy McCain, a former Houston-area secretary, can’t tolerate the sound of birds chirping and hears constant ringing in her ears—a condition known as tinnitus. Her “life of misery” started five years ago after an MRI for lower back pain, she said in a PeopleHealth report.

Chinese researchers found a 51-minute 3T MR neuroimaging exam with acoustic noise pressure levels of 103.5-111.3 dBA can cause temporary hearing threshold impairment even in those wearing hearing protection.