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Rad Tech Week 2021 and Revolutionary New CT Technology

by Mike Cassling on Oct 11, 2021

National Radiologic Technology Week is an annual celebration of rad techs across the nation. It was first celebrated by the ASRT in 1979 to commemorate Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen’s 1895 discovery of the x-ray. Today, it’s also become a time to recognize and raise awareness of the important role medical imaging and radiation therapy professionals play in patient care and healthcare safety.

Imaging professionals are always on the front line of healthcare. But over the past two years COVID-19 placed a tremendous burden on them as they shouldered even greater ones. Shifting priorities, sidelined diagnostic procedures, ever-tougher sanitation protocols, extended hours and workloads. The list goes on. Now, more than ever, they deserve every shoutout we can give them.

 

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This year’s National Radiologic Technology Week, Nov. 7-13, will be here before you know it. I encourage you to download Cassling’s Rad Tech Week swag to let everyone know just how much your rad tech staff are appreciated and help educate the public on their critical work. Complimentary promotional and educational resources with this year’s theme, “The Radfather,” include a poster to hang in your office or public space, personal stickers to use with fellow staff or patients, downloadable, modality-specific digital toolkits for Radiology, Surgery, MRI, CT, Nuclear Medicine and Mammography, a social media toolkit and more!

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Possibilities Realized: Photon-counting CT

Speaking of upcoming events, the annual RSNA meeting also takes place in late November (Nov. 28-Dec. 2). A recent technology announcement took me back to last year’s conference. An article on the major takeaways from RSNA20 listed photon-counting detectors (PCD), as the next major CT innovation.

The U.S. FDA in September approved Siemens’ NAEOTOM Alpha, the world’s first photon-counting CT. FDA and CT experts have called this the beginning of a “paradigm shift in CT technology…the biggest shift in technology for this workhorse radiology modality in years.”

 

Naeotom Alpha, the world’s first photon-counting CT

 

The NAEOTOM Alpha is the result of more than 20 years of research and development by Siemens’ physicists and engineers. The first clinical trials began in 2014 in the U.S. and Germany. In September, Siemen’s researchers Professor Thomas Flohr, Dr. Bjorn Kreisler and Dr. Stefan Ulzheimer were nominated for the prestigious German Future Award for their “development of the first photon-counting computed tomography (CT) scanner for routine clinical procedures.” The award will be announced Nov. 17, 2021, in Berlin.

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Be sure to register for Siemens’ Photon-counting CT launch event on Nov. 18, to learn about this quantum leap in technology and what it means for you, your facility, and your patients!

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Meet the Author

Mike Cassling, Chairman of Cassling, holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in general accounting and marketing. He completed the Graduate School of Sales and Marketing at Syracuse University in 1992. Joining the Cassling team in 1985, Mike worked in sales and served as the vice president of sales and marketing before being appointed president in 1996. Under his leadership, the company earned the #1 spot on the "Best Places to Work in Healthcare" list by Modern Healthcare and Best Companies Group, the Platinum Well Workplace Award, was named a 2011 Best Places to Work in Omaha and Best Places to Work for the Advancement of Women, as well as the 2008 Omaha Chamber of Commerce Business in Excellence Award.

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