Our results suggest a dose-dependent impairment of central processing of auditory information after propofol administration. These results are consistent with electrophysiological findings measuring neuronal activity directly, thus suggesting a dose-dependent impairment of central processing of auditory information after propofol administration. However, propofol did not totally blunt primary cortical responses to acoustic stimulation, indicating that patients may process auditory information under general anaesthesia.

This article deals with technical aspects of intraoperative functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for monitoring the effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in a patient with Parkinson's disease. Under motor activation, therapeutic high-frequency stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus was accompanied by an activation decrease in the contralateral primary sensorimotor cortex and the ipsilateral cerebellum. Furthermore, an activation increase in the contralateral basal ganglia and insula region were detected. These findings demonstrate that fMRI constitutes a promising clinical application for investigating brain activity changes induced by DBS.

Digital mammography screening with dose-efficient photon counting enables desirable detection rates of small invasive cancers and DCIS. Higher detection rates compared with statewide performance occurred with subsequent screening but had higher recall rates.

The average glandular dose for all three digital screening units was below the AGD of the analog mammography screening units (1.7 mGy) used in the German trial projects. Nevertheless, the performance indicators of the European guidelines were fulfilled with respect to the prevalent tumor detection rate and tumor size distribution while meeting an acceptable recall rate. This first evaluation of a digital screening unit in Germany demonstrates that the quality standards are met at lower radiation dosage levels than in screen-film mammography.