Perspectives of a Canadian in the Old/Deep/New/Geographic South: This is where I ramble on about nothing in particular and post a few nice pictures.
Coming up in a couple of months is the inaugural Southeast LinuxFest going on at Clemson University on June 13. The event features a number of prominent speakers from the Linux and Open Source world and should hopefully be a fun and informative event.
The SouthEast LinuxFest is a community event for anyone who wants to learn more about Linux and Free & Open Source software. It is part educational conference, and part social gathering. Like Linux itself, it is shared with attendees of all skill levels to communicate tips, ideas, and to benefit all who use Linux/Free and Open Source Software. LinuxFest is the place to learn, to make new friends, to network with new business partners, and most importantly, to have fun!
Today’s the last day of RSNA, and I’ll be wrapping it up with a final refresher course on emerging PET applications and a session on radiation safety in CT. Then it’ll be time to find my way to the airport and head home. A recap of today’s sessions will have to wait until tomorrow, unless I can score some free wifi at the airport while I’m waiting for my flight.
RSNA was a pretty good show this year with vendors showing off lots of interesting new devices. There was a much more international flavour on the exhibit floor this year than in previous years I’ve been to RSNA. Germany, Korea and China all had multi-vendor trade booths set up which I thought was interesting.
A lot of great sessions on radiation dose optimization and management, so I have a lot of things rolling around in my head and a few ideas to work out.
RSNA moment: East meets west cuisine. Part of the breakfast the hotel sets out is biscuits and gravy. Yesterday morning while I was grabbing some breakfast, the Asian guy in front of me dished out a small bowl of sausage gravy, grabbed some toast and sat down. I doubt he knew about biscuits and gravy, but he seemed to like the gravy enough to go back and get a second bigger bowl of it.
The technical exhibits closed at 2PM today. Just before closing, I was walking past the AFIP booth. The AFIP booth dude called out to me and said “Hey doc, I got a present for you” and plunked down a copy of the 2008-2009 edition of Radiologic Pathology (2 volumes) and told me to take it. I guess he didn’t want to haul it back to wherever he was headed. So now I’m coming back with a telephone sized 2 volume set of books crammed in my suitcase. A little more than I was expecting to come back with. Turned out to be a $150 freebie. Wow.
It’s not exactly something that’s all that useful to me, so I’ll probably donate it to the department library or something.
Today was the last full day for me at RSNA. Very informative sessions on ACR PET/SPECT accreditation and radiation dose management today. Dose management has become a very big topic for radiologists and physicists alike, but there still needs to be a lot of education done for radiologists, physicists, technologists and referring physicians. There are a lot of things that can be done to reduce radiation dose from modalities, but that will only go so far. Ultimately it will have to come down to changing the way referring clinicians order exams and radiologists taking a bigger role in protocoling and deciding what exams are really necessary.
Went back to the Siemens booth to get a closer look at their Zeego robotic angio unit. What do you get when you combine a robotic arm with an x-ray unit? Very cool, and very slick.
The great big flat panel display was also pretty sweet too. It’s still pending FDA 510(k) clearance so it’s not available with the Zeego in the US yet.
RSNA moment: I stopped by the GE booth to check out the Infinia SPECT/CT scanner. One of the Japanese GE reps came by and started yammering away at me in Japanese for a good 5 minutes before I could tell him I didn’t speak Japanese.
