Announcements

Update to ARDMS CME submissions
Update March 2021:
ARDMS recognizes that Registrants have faced unimaginable challenges since early 2020 and, while they are unable to cancel the CME Audit due to accreditation standards, additional time has been granted to earn and submit CME documentation.

For this audit of CME periods ending on December 31, 2020, selected Registrants may submit CMEs earned between January 1, 2018 and May 31, 2021. The additional time to earn the CMEs in 2021 is to help offset the challenges of 2020. CME submissions must be received by May 31, 2021.

Due to COVID-19, ARDMS can only accept application documents that are uploaded to your MY ARDMS account. Do not mail or fax any application documents at this time. For more detailed information regarding application and examination administration changes please visit:
https://www.ardms.org/important-notice-regarding-covid-19/

The APCA PVI examination application period is now open year-round! The Physicians’ Vascular Interpretation (PVI) examination tests basic vascular knowledge and skills essential to physicians practicing vascular surgery and vascular medicine. The RPVI examination assesses Applicants’ understanding of vascular anatomy and hemodynamics as well as ultrasound result interpretation.

The Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation (RPVI) certification is awarded by APCA, the Alliance for Physician Certification & Advancement, a new Council created to meet the specific needs of physicians. To earn your RPVI certification you must pass the PVI examination.

For more information visit:
http://www.apca.org/certifications-examinations/Registered-Physician-in-Vascular-Interpretation/Pages/Physicians-Vascular-Interpretation-(PVI).aspx#!PVI-prerequisites

ARDMS CME Bank
As a benefit for being an ARDMS Registrant, you may choose to use the ARDMS CME Bank to store CMEs in MY ARDMS. You can upload CMEs that meet ARDMS CME requirements as well as other CMEs applicable
to your credentials at other organizations. Features of the ARDMS CME Bank Include:
  • Secure online tool to electronically store CME information
  • Quick and easy uploading system
  • Ability to sort CME information by date, specialty and provider
  • Easy print and reporting features
  • Integrated online CME Audit
Learn more about the ARDMS CME Bank at:
http://www.ardms.org/Maintain-Certification/CME/Pages/CME-Bank.aspx



Articles

2/2/21
Imaging Impacts of COVID-19 Vaccinations

An editorial in Clinical Imaging summarizes why it is important to understand the impact COVID-19 vaccinations can have on imaging studies, stating that familiarity with “these findings and pitfalls will help radiologists prepare for possible imaging challenges in immunized patients in the future.” Radiology could play an important role during the vaccinations by providing services tied to MRI or ultrasonography, serial computed tomography, FDG-PET, and molecular imaging, according to Dr. Ali Gholamrezanezhad and colleagues, who also notes that the “clinical value of current imaging technology on the study of vaccine efficacy is a pertinent field of concern and, as demonstrated, a valuable asset for diagnostic medicine.”

Highlights:
  • Imaging methods enable us to track the immune cell dynamics in vivo,
    which holds valuable research attention in the vaccination field
  • Serial CT imaging might be a great indicator of vaccine efficiency in
    research settings
  • Vaccination causes various confusing radiologic patterns that pose
    diagnostic challenges for clinicians and pitfalls for reading radiologists

Read the full article:
Katal S, Pouraryan A, Gholamrezanezhad A: COVID-19 vaccine is here: vaccines-related imaging findings. Clinical Imaging, January 27, 2021.
https://www.clinicalimaging.org/article/S0899-7071(21)00025-5/fulltext


11/12/20
Implantable US device planned for spinal cord patients

A team of biomedical engineers and neurosurgeons at Johns Hopkins has received $13.48 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)—the research and development arm of the U.S. Department of Defense, who brought us the technologies that led to computer networking and the internet—to develop implantable devices, including ultrasound devices, that would benefit the thousands of U.S. service members and civilians who sustain spinal cord injuries every year.

About the size of a small Band-Aid, a high-resolution ultrasound device using miniaturized electrodes could help doctors monitor and even treat the blood flow changes and necrosis that occur immediately after traumatic injury to the spinal cord. Nicholas Theodore, professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering, and Amir Manbachi, assistant professor of neurosurgery and biomedical engineering, will lead the five-year initiative to bring these devices from concept to implementation. The program will place the technology on a fast track that would otherwise require decades and will involve numerous research institutions, scientists, and clinicians.

According to Theodore, "The main factors that make a device useable in a war theatre are size and ease of application in low-resource settings—both of which can only improve our clinical approaches as well." Manbachi attests that the achievement "will be a real engineering feat.… We want to take this technology and shrink it for use on structures the size of a pinky finger, while still capturing clear ultrasound images of the spinal cord microvasculature." The data these devices will provide will make it possible for physicians to respond in real-time to a patient’s condition via medications or possibly electrical or ultrasound stimulation to improve blood flow, stop inflammation, introduce pain relief, and administer therapies to stop tissue damage.

Read the full article:
https://hub.jhu.edu/2020/11/11/darpa-funds-spinal-cord-injury-project/


9/30/20
ARDMS Credentials 100,000 Active Sonographers
Delivering higher standards of care for patients across the globe

The American Registry for Diagnostic Medical Sonography® (ARDMS), the internationally recognized standard in sonography credentialing, announced it has reached an organizational milestone with its 100,000th active credentialed sonographer. ARDMS credentials reflect general diagnostic medical sonography, cardiac sonography, vascular sonography and musculoskeletal sonography. ARDMS credentials empower sonographers around the world to provide exceptional patient care through rigorous assessments and continual learning. ARDMS has been credentialing sonographers for more than 45 years.

Each day, more than one million patients are cared for by ARDMS sonography Registrants. Credentialed sonographers improve patient care and public safety by establishing and accounting for a specified standard of proficiency, including prerequisites in education and clinical experience, as well as passing ARDMS examinations. The care sonographers provide has a significant impact on patient diagnosis and treatment.

“Sonographers are highly skilled professionals, the virtual eyes of the physician. Unlike many other imaging modalities where a picture is taken and everything is in the picture, Sonographers must find, identify then capture the images that serve as a basis for diagnoses at every stage of patient care,” said Heather Richoux, RDMS, RDCS, ARDMS Registered Sonographer and Board Chair of the ARDMS governance organization Inteleos™. “My ARDMS credentials signify to my patients and employers that I am qualified to deliver the best care possible supported by the industry's highest standards.”

ARDMS is a Council within Inteleos, a non-profit governance and management organization with a mission to define, assess, and advance healthcare standards around the world. In addition to ARDMS, Inteleos also manages the Alliance for Physician Certification & Advancement (APCA™) and the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certification AcademyTM. Sonographers, physicians and other medical imaging professionals from 70 countries have been certified by Inteleos.

“Patients undergoing a sonogram, regardless of who they are, where they’re from or their social or economic status, can be confident that an ARDMS credentialed sonographer will deliver high quality care,” said Tricia Turner, RDMS, RVT, ARDMS Registered Sonographer and Chair of the ARDMS Council. “Inteleos and ARDMS have raised the standard of care for millions of patients around the world, and as more sonography professionals become credentialed, more patients will have access to standardized quality care.”


9/25/20
No transducer? New device converts ultrasound signals directly to visible light images

A team at North Carolina State University has developed the first ultrasound imaging device that converts acoustic signals directly into light images. The device uses an organic LED (OLED) deposited onto a piezoelectric crystal to bypass signal processing, producing real-time images. Potential advantages of this approach include:
• Elimination of complex signal processing through direct conversion of US voltages to light
• High conversion efficiency between mechanical and optical energy
• Higher resolutions
• Significant cost reduction in advanced US techniques
• Greater accessibility of advanced US imaging to medical applications, especially in fetal imaging, drug delivery, and early cancer detection
• Engineering applications, e.g., structural health of buildings and infrastructure.

Read full article:
https://physicsworld.com/a/ultrasound-signals-are-converted-directly-to-visible-images-by-new-device/


August 2020
GPs' use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) influences diagnostic outcomes

This study considered the impact of POCUS on the diagnostic processes of twenty GPs with 574 of their patients over a one-month period. Clinical use of POCUS was highly variable among these GPs in terms of the indication for performing POCUS, scanning modalities, and frequency of use. POCUS was used in patient consultations with a median frequency of 8.6% and a median scan time of 5 minutes. Many different organs were scanned, covering more than 100 different tentative diagnoses. POCUS resulted in a change in diagnoses in 49.4% of the patients, an 89.2% increased confidence in the diagnosis, a change in treatment for 26.5% of patients, and a different management plan for 50.9% of patients, with an absolute reduction in intended referrals to secondary care from 49.2% to 25.6%. It was concluded that in nearly three out of four consultations, use of POCUS altered the diagnostic process and clinical decision making.

Read the full article:
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/10/9/e037664