Given today's 24/7 news cycle, instant messaging and texting, 2009 already feels like a distant memory. But many events are worth revisiting to understand the medical technology sector. Let's review the year's milestones.

Looking at more than 3,000 DOTmed News headlines in 2009, it was a good year for PET beginning in January with the Medicare proposal to expand PET for diagnostic imaging. (See DM 7870). By December, CMS was proposing to cover PET scans for bone metastasis (DM 10914). In fact, PET was a winner overall last year with expanded Medicare coverage and applications (DM 8783, DM 9115).

But many modalities suffered from slumping sales of new equipment as documented in DOTmed reports. For example, an MRI sales decline was noted in our industry sector report in DOTmed Business News magazine (DM 10004). Same goes for CT (DM 8551). Market researchers at IMV spotted a 16% decline in mammography procedures (DM 8491). Even new bone densitometer sales were also off despite the importance of screening for osteoporosis (DM 8864).

OEM sales began the year mixed at best, then petered overall, leading to a new normal for device makers (DM 8034, DM 8773, DM 10478, DM 10490).

At the same time, some winners this year arguably include ultrasound for its affordability and versatility (DM 8739, DM 8863).

Breast MR is a clear winner due to its ability to differentiate cancers and potentially reduce costly biopsies, all without exposing the patient to radiation (DM 8197, DM 11149).

Speaking of radiation, CT took a hit in bearing the brunt of concern about exposure during medical imaging exams (DM 8097, 8190, 8477, 10047, 10893, 11025). It didn't help that patients at an esteemed institution received several times the approved dosage of scan radiation (DM 10525, DM 10650, DM 11104).

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