September 2006 | Vol. 24, No. 9

Industry News

October is Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month (MUAM)

Celebrate Ultrasound! Every October, SVU and other medical ultrasound organizations join together to increase public awareness of medical ultrasound and promote its value in health care through Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month (MUAM). The first MUAM was celebrated in October 2003.

The goal of Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month is to increase the public’s knowledge about medical ultrasound and its many uses in health care. Although much of the general public is familiar with the use of medical ultrasound during pregnancy, many people are unaware that ultrasound can be used throughout all stages of life and for various medical indications. Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month provides ultrasound professionals with the opportunity to educate the public about the many uses of this fast growing technology, as well as a chance to celebrate their profession.

SVU encourages its members to participate in Medical Ultrasound Awareness Month by familiarizing and educating their patients about medical ultrasound through specially planned activities and educational materials. We also would like to hear about what your vascular lab did for MUAM 2006 so that we can report on it in the e-Spectrum online newsletter.

To review and download a free MUAM Promotion Kit including special MUAM logos, suggested activities, a sample news release and more, go to the SVU website at www.svunet.org/events/MUAM/index.htm

The six participating organizations in MUAM October 2006 who share the common goal of familiarizing and educating the public about medical ultrasound are the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM), American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography (ARDMS), American Society of Echocardiography (ASE), Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI), Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS), and of course the Society for Vascular Ultrasound (SVU).

Vascular Technology Interpretation Course in Louisiana

The Baton Rouge General Medical Center (BRGMC) is sponsoring a vascular technology interpretation course on September 30-October 1, 2006 at the BRGMC-Bluebonnet, Conference Room I & II, 8585 Picardy Avenue, Baton Rouge, LA 70809. This course addresses cerebrovascular, extracranial and intracranial, peripheral arterial, peripheral venous, and abdominal vascular testing interpretation. Target audience is physicians (vascular surgeons, radiologists, cardiologists, neurologists) and vascular technologists / sonographers. The BRGMC designates this educational activity for a maximum of 15.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) (tm). Technologists/sonographers will earn up to 15.5 CME credit hours. Registration fee is $250 (2 days) and $175 for (1 day). Please contact Connie Rome at (225) 387-7736 for more information.

ARDMS Changes Three-Year CME Period

ARDMS reports that due to popular demand, it has changed the three-year “rolling” CME cycle (triennium) in which ARDMS credential registrants must earn their CMEs to a “fixed” three-year CME period.

ARDMS credential registrants are still required to complete at least 30 credit hours of ARDMS-approved continuing medical education (CME) within a three-year period in order to maintain Active status. However, now the time period in which to earn your credit hours will move in block sets of three years instead of rolling each year.

Each Registrant’s three-year CME period was calculated based on the original certification date. For instance, a Registrant whose three-year CME period is Jan. 1, 2004 - Dec. 31. 2006 must earn a total of 30 CMEs during that three-year period of 2004, 2005 and 2006. The next three-year CME period would be 2007, 2008, 2009. The three-year CME period after that would be 2010, 2011, 2012. And so on.

It is also important to note that due to this conversion to a three-year CME period, you may actually have additional time to earn your CMEs. Based on the year you became registered, you can use a chart on the ARDMS website (www.ARDMS.org) to find out your three-year CME period and your next three-year CME period after that.

NOTE: If your ARDMS credential was revoked and you had to retest in order to re-earn your certification, you would use the date of your re-certification.

AIUM and SDMS Respond to Ultrasound Fetal Brain Development Article

A recent Associated Press article on a recent study at Yale University suggest that exposure to ultrasound can affect fetal brain development. In the study, when pregnant mice were exposed to ultrasound, a small number of nerve cells in the developing brains of their fetuses failed to extend correctly in the cerebral cortex, said the Associated Press.

According to the Associated Press, Pasko Rakic, chairman of the Neurobiology Department at Yale University School of Medicine, said, “Out study in mice does not mean that use of ultrasound on human fetuses for appropriate diagnostic and medical purposes should be abandoned.” However, Dr. Rakic said women should avoid unnecessary ultrasound scans until more research has been done.

In light of the recent press reports related to the upcoming article by Ang et al, “Prenatal Exposure to Ultrasound Waves Impacts Neuronal Migration in Mice” to appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) offers the following information:

In the recent PNAS article, the fetal mice exposed to ultrasound were found to have small but detectable effects only after extended duration of ultrasound exposure, conditions beyond those commonly used in diagnostic ultrasound imaging. The whole brain exposure in the rapidly developing mouse brain used in this study differs significantly from the short duration of diagnostic ultrasound imaging to selected sites in the human fetus.

The AIUM Bioeffects Committee monitors and reviews the literature related to the effects of ultrasound and their relationship to the use of ultrasound in humans. The AIUM encourages patients to make sure that practitioners using ultrasound have received specific training in fetal imaging to ensure the best possible results.

The AIUM has always advocated the safe and effective use of ultrasound for fetal diagnosis, as evidenced by our official statements on the prudent use of ultrasound and on the practice of providing keepsake videos when there is no medical benefit.

The Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (SDMS) states in a news release that “Sonograms in humans are very safe when done properly. According to SDMS, Credentialed sonographers provide sonograms that use “as little as reasonably achievable energy (also known as ALARA standards) to ensure the fetus is not exposed to high levels of ultrasound energy for significant periods of time during normal sonograms. In the hands of a credentialed sonographer, the benefits of a medically indicated sonogram outweigh the risks, and should not cause undue concern to the patient.”