A new approach to treating kidney failure could one day free people from needing dialysis or having to take harsh drugs to suppress their immune system after a transplant.
Whether it’s work or play that prevents us from getting enough shut-eye during the week, assuming we can make up for it by sleeping in over the weekend is a mistake.
A family physician at Tufts University School of Medicine offers advice for how to treat allergies and how to tell if symptoms are due to allergies, the common cold, the flu, or Covid-19.
New robotics technology that can provide remote medical treatment to casualties in high-risk emergency environments, has been developed by researchers at the University of Sheffield.
By using genetic data on multiple traits from people of non-European ancestry, scientists have improved the accuracy of polygenic scores in predicting disease risk for all.
Patients with heart disease could benefit from less extensive interventions thanks to technology that creates 3D computer models of blood flow through the heart's arteries, according to new research.
A new method for cheaply producing heart valves in the span of minutes shows great promise. The scientists describe the method as "a cotton-candy machine with a hair dryer behind it."
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh have found that the accuracy of detecting bowel cancer is increased to almost 100% by carrying out a common test twice rather than once.
An algorithm developed using artificial intelligence could soon be used by doctors to diagnose heart attacks with better speed and accuracy than ever before, according to new research.
With resuscitation cardiac arrest, every minute matters – and permanent damage comes quicker than most people think, say Swiss researchers and make the case for improved information.
A new study led by the University of Edinburgh has identfied areas of the brain susceptible to damage from high blood pressure, affecting memory loss, thinking skills and dementia.
US scientists report using a single-atom-thick nanomaterial to simultaneously detect Covid-19 and flu viruses — at much lower levels and much more quickly than conventional tests for either.
New research has debunked the idea of an “obesity paradox”, whereby overweight or obese patients with heart failure are less likely to end up in hospital or die than people of normal weight.
According to Dutch researchers, people with low income are up to 1.5 times more at risk of a heart attack or stroke than their wealthier compatriots. Ethnicity was also identified as a risk factor.
Arthroplasty for femoral neck fractures has seen enormous progress in recent years, but complications due to infections are still a major problem. With good preparation and the right technique, however, orthopaedic surgeons can take away much of the horror of this scenario. At the Heraeus Symposium as part of the German Congress of Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery (DKOU), three experts discussed…
ECRI’s annual top ten technology hazard list alerts hospitals and healthcare providers of situations, products, and procedures they need to diligently monitor and/or take steps to improve. This non-profit technology Pennsylvania research firm has worked for over 50 years to make healthcare safer. The list reflects the organization’s collective judgment about the health technology risks that…
Researchers have developed a new tool and technique that uses “vortex ultrasound” – a sort of ultrasonic tornado – to break down blood clots in the brain.
Both hot and cold environments trigger a stress response and can lead to cardiovascular problems. Results of a new study are especially interesting in light of the current multiple global crises.
Women are told to improve their lifestyle to prevent heart disease while men are advised to take statins. That’s the finding of a study presented at the ESC Asia scientific congress.
Highlights:Assists in the handling of capillaries and their targeted draining on POCT-analysers and test strips or into vesselsSuitable for different capillaries regarding measurements and preparationsAvailable individually or completed with capillaryHandling:Fix capillary in the PAC while using oneway glovesThe capillary is filled as usual – afterwards the thump is put gently on the upper…
Dimension: CC: 2450 × 1150 × 1300 mm (w ×h × d), IM: 2305 × 1150 × 1180 mm (w × h × d)Throughput: CC: 2,000 tests/h, up to 24,00 tests/h with ISE, IM: up to 500 tests/hNumber of Parallel Tests: CC: up to 69 tests, IM: up to 36 testsHighlights:M1000 is a chemistry and immunoassay integrated system for large laboratories, with high…
In surgery, artificial intelligence (AI) is applied mostly in imaging, navigation, and robotic intervention. However, AI can also play a major role in preoperative planning. Objective decisions-making, optimal utilisation of operating theatres and less overtime are additional advantages that are achieved with the use of AI in surgery.
Innovative smart weighing scales are adding a new dimension to home monitoring for healthcare. By collecting data via sensors and proprietary technology as people stand on them, the scales can assess health metrics to give users more precise measurements for a deeper understanding of their body.
A smart-ring medical device is emerging as an effective and discreet wearable for round-the-clock blood pressure monitoring. Using photoplethysmography (PPG) signals to measure the bloodstream 24/7 through the wearer’s finger, a new feature of the “Cart-I plus” ring from manufacturer Sky Labs enables it to constantly monitor hypertension without user intervention.
White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on the brain seen on MRI represent a biomarker associated with a 50/50 risk of death within five years after a first incident acute ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA).
Increasing accessibility of remote and home monitoring for patients with pulmonary diseases can help improve treatment and rehabilitation adherence, and support health systems and hospitals in tackling waiting lists. The various advantages of remote monitoring systems will be highlighted in a Medica session focusing on “Preventing chronic diseases with diagnostics and analytics”.
Despite treatment, chronic lung diseases such as COPD or cystic fibrosis can become so severe that a lung transplant is necessary. Dr Urte Sommerwerck explains which patients might be considered for transplantation and why follow-up is as important as the surgery itself.
Methamphetamines, cocaine, opiates, and cannabis are associated with an increased likelihood of developing atrial fibrillation, a newly-published 11-year study shows.
Not just uncomfortable, but hard on the heart: Accumulating research suggests a link between hot flashes during the menopause and cardiovascular disease risk in women.
Blood pressure is one of the most basic parameters in any healthcare status assessment and holds considerable diagnostic significance. However, clinicians should never underestimate the complexity behind the assessment, cautions Dr Rhian M. Touyz.
The hearts of men and women are different – while this insight has been established for quite some time now, it might even surprise cardiologists just how deep these differences really run. In her presentation at this year’s ESC, Diana Bonderman, MD, gave a comprehensive roundup on sex differences in risk factors and subtypes of heart failure.
The critical times in a woman’s life of pregnancy and the menopause – and their relation to heart health – is explored at the ESC. The defined field of gender-specific cardiology is becoming an increasingly important area of focus, experts say.
Using left ventricular pressure-strain loops as a non-invasive way to assess myocardial work has benefits for cardiologists in terms of diagnosis and prognostic stratification for a wide range of heart conditions.
A research team has created the first gel-based cartilage substitute that is even stronger and more durable than the real thing, offering a promising solution for patient suffering from knee pain.
New research shows that cell-cell signaling could play a key role in the thickening of arteries due to high blood pressure.
Researchers have developed adeno-associated virus variants that target heart muscle cells and can thus be used for the precise treatment of heart diseases.
Muscle strength is a powerful predictor of mortality that can quickly and inexpensively be assessed by measuring handgrip strength, researchers show in a new study.
Patients are 20% less likely to die of sepsis because a new AI system developed at Johns Hopkins University catches symptoms hours earlier than traditional methods, an extensive hospital study shows.
A new US study indicates that the number of overlapping procedures managed by an anaesthesiologist increases the risk of death or complications after surgery.
Similar to the way exercise helps muscles adapt to workouts, short, repeated bouts of reduced circulation with a blood pressure cuff may help prevent the worst outcomes of heart attacks and strokes.
Older people with hypothyroidism, also called underactive thyroid, may be at increased risk of developing dementia.
Researchers have developed cutting-edge imaging technology to help doctors better diagnose and monitor patients with heart failure. The state-of-the-art technology uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to create detailed 4D flow images of the heart.
People who develop an abnormal heart rhythm after surgery have an increased risk of subsequently being admitted to hospital with heart failure, according to a study of over 3 million patients.
The European Society for Emergency Medicine (EUSEM) held their annual congress on October 27th to 31st, 2021 in the city of Lisbon, to promote education, training and research in European acute care.
Individuals with diabetes display a substantially increased risk of disease in left-sided heart valves compared to controls without diabetes, a new comprehensive register study shows.
Researchers have developed 3D printed artificial heart valves designed to allow a patient’s own cells to form new tissue.
Researchers have developed a novel way to fabricate diagnostic devices using paper-based microfluidics that can be rapidly prototyped and scaled for manufacturing.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a smart stent that can monitor hemodynamic parameters. The wireless and battery-free device can transmit the data to the outside of the body.
A wireless, bioelectronic pacifier could eliminate the need for invasive, twice-daily blood draws to monitor babies’ electrolytes in Newborn Intensive Care Units or NICUs.
Recently, a Korean research team has developed a 3D foot imaging technique that vividly captures peripheral blood vessels, even thinner than 1 mm. It combines photoacoustic and ultrasound images.
A new study enables developers to determine vaccine safety via smart sensors that measure objective physiological parameters. This could end the reliance on subjective reports of study participants.
Sleep problems could hint at a heightened risk of heart disease, caution experts at the ESC Preventive Cardiology 2022 congress.
Researchers are developing wearable devices to catch early signs and symptoms of diseases or monitor sick patients. We spoke to wearables and medical device expert Professor John Rogers about the benefits, challenges, trends and innovation within the sector.
SARS-CoV-2 has heavily impacted global society with high pressure on public health and economics. MolGen is proud to assist in relieving some of the pressure and support the testing framework.
Reducing inflammatory mediators in the blood before surgical treatment of cardiac bacterial infection does not improve clinically relevant outcome, a new study shows.
Scientists at the Spanish Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC) have led the development of a new 3D ultrasound method that improves the assessment of cardiovascular risk in healthy individuals.
The system could enable significant advances for the 40,000 pediatric congenital heart disease patients born each year.
Combining questions about a person's health with data from smartwatch sensors, a new app can predict within minutes whether someone is infected with COVID-19.
New study results show that though men are more likely to have heart conditions, the impact on their memory and thinking skills is lower.
A novel artificial intelligence score provides a more accurate forecast of the likelihood of patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease dying within 10 years than established scores used by health professionals worldwide. The research was presented at EuroEcho 2021, a scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
The Swiss-based CAMAG DBS Laboratory in collaboration with the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern, Switzerland, has developed a novel approach for the fully automated analysis of the direct alcohol marker phosphatidylethanol (PEth) in dried blood spots (DBS). The use of a DBS autosampler with an embedded hematocrit (HCT) scanner combined with an LC-MS system permits analysis of large…
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction was previously considered largely untreatable. A research team at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association (MDC) led by Professor Michael Gotthardt has now succeeded for the first time in improving cardiac function with the help of a synthetic nucleic acid, as the researchers report in the journal Science…
Since Compamed could only be held digitally last year, due to the pandemic, the event now takes place publicly again. Almost 500 registrations from exhibitors prove that there is a high level of interest from medical technology suppliers – a huge step towards reaching normality again.
Wearable technology has become an important part of medicine, from tracking vital signs to disease diagnosis. In surgery, wearable technologies can now assist, augment, and provide a means of patient assessment before, during and after surgical procedures. Wearable technologies are applied before the patient even reaches the operating room, for example in prehabilitation, i.e. pre-treatment…
In May 2022 a shortage of several lab tests may come as many manufacturers struggle to comply with EU regulation requirements covering in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVDR, Regulation (EU) 2017/746). Even modified tests and laboratory-developed tests will present a problem for hospitals and labs as explained by Dr Thomas Streichert.
The skin bacterium Staphylococcus aureus often develops antibiotic resistance. It can then cause infections that are difficult to treat. Researchers at the University of Bonn have uncovered an ingenious way in which a certain strain of Staphylococcus aureus protects itself against the important antibiotic vancomycin. The results have now been published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021 was awarded jointly to two scientists who made important discoveries regarding our receptors for temperature and touch. Our ability to sense heat, cold and touch is essential for survival and underpins our interaction with the world around us. In our daily lives we take these sensations for granted, but how are nerve impulses initiated so that…
A study found that women who contract Covid-19 during pregnancy are at significantly higher risk of developing pre-eclampsia. In their study, researchers said their systematic review shows that women with SARS-CoV-2 infection during pregnancy had 62% higher odds of developing preeclampsia than those without the infection during pregnancy.
Hologic, Inc. shared the findings from its inaugural Hologic Global Women’s Health Index, the world’s most comprehensive, globally comparative survey about women’s health.
A two-minute passive-test that measures people’s brain waves in response to a series of images, 'Fastball EEG', could help expand early dementia diagnosis.
Infectious disease diagnostics are notoriously slow. The gold standard for laboratory diagnosis of bacterial and fungal infection involves growing the pathogen from a clinical specimen – an overnight event, or even longer. The healthcare focus is on improving the use of antibiotics for better patient outcomes and reducing the environmental pressures that drive antibiotic resistance. To impact…
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to give stroke patients a personalised and more accurate risk for suffering a recurrence, according to a new study presented at the European Stroke Organisation (ESO) Conference. Experts believe the study will help to identify the most important factors for preventing stroke recurrence and has the potential to help prevent many thousands of strokes a year…
The first large-scale, long-term trial of a new strategy using combinations of very low-doses in one capsule, has demonstrated significantly improved control of high blood pressure - the leading cause of heart attack and stroke. This first large-scale, randomised controlled clinical trial of starting this novel combination blood pressure medication brought blood pressure under control in 80…
People who work night shifts are at increased risk of developing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation (AF), according to research published in the European Heart Journal. The study is the first to investigate the links between night shift work and AF. Using information from 283,657 people in the UK Biobank database, researchers found that the longer and…
Researchers at the Medical Faculty of the University of Freiburg have developed an improved therapeutic approach to resuscitate people after cardiac arrest - often without neurological complications. Around 50,000 people suffer sudden cardiac arrest in Germany every year. When occurring outside a hospital, the chances of survival are only ten percent. Survivors often suffer from severe permanent…
Efforts to understand cardiac disease progression and develop therapeutic tissues that can repair the human heart are just a few areas of focus for the Feinberg research group at Carnegie Mellon University. The group's latest dynamic model, created in partnership with collaborators in the Netherlands, mimics physiologic loads on engineering heart muscle tissues, yielding an unprecedented view of…
A study of more than 18 million pregnancies has shown a strong and graded relationship between women’s heart health and pregnancy outcomes. The research is published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The researchers examined the presence of four risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women prior to pregnancy: unhealthy…
Athletes appear to be almost two and half times more likely than non-athletes to experience irregular heart rhythms (atrial fibrillation), suggests new research. In addition, those athletes involved in mixed sports such as football, rugby or netball appear to have the highest risk when compared with athletes taking part in endurance sports such as Nordic skiing, orienteering or rowing.
Researchers know that electricity can help speed up bone healing, but “zapping” fractures has never really caught on, since it requires surgically implanting and removing electrodes powered by an external source. Now, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have expanded on this principle and developed a device to speed up bone healing.
Medical monitoring tech company Umana Medical announced a collaboration with the Preventive Cardiology and Medical Prevention, Center of Cardiology at the University Medical Center Mainz and Bayer AG on a clinical study (MyoMobile study) to explore a novel real-time remote cardiac monitoring device in patients with heart failure.
Nanoelectronics and digital technologies company Imec presents a proof-of-concept for determining arterial stiffness, a risk marker for cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and heart failure, and monitoring blood pressure. Imec’s approach uses an ultrasound sensor to measure the central pulse wave velocity. Measuring pulse wave velocity closer to the heart is also a more reliable proxy for…
A study involving virtual rather than real patients was as effective in evaluating a medical device used to treat brain aneurysms, according to new research. The findings are proof of concept for what are called in-silico trials, where instead of recruiting people to a real-life clinical trial, researchers build digital simulations of patient groups, loosely akin to the way virtual…
Interdisciplinary team from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the university’s McKelvey School of Engineering finds better way to design clot-prone grafts currently used for dialysis.
For the first time, a prospective, international study has shown that chest pain caused by problems with the very small vessels supplying blood to the heart is an important health problem that increases the risk of heart attacks, stroke and death due to cardiovascular reasons. The study, which is published in the European Heart Journal, recruited 686 patients from 14 institutions in seven…
Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in the United States, and it’s increasingly understood that they share common risk factors, including tobacco use, diet, blood pressure, and obesity. Thus, a diagnostic tool that could screen for cardiovascular disease while a patient is already being screened for cancer has the potential to expedite a diagnosis, accelerate treatment, and…
In Germany, more than 200,000 people suffer a heart attack every year. Despite good medical care, many are left with reduced cardiac output. This is particularly true for patients with severe heart attacks: more than 30 percent of those affected develop heart failure, and almost half of them die within the next five years. Experts at the Department of Cardiology and Angiology at Hannover Medical…
Researchers used AI to identify which daily changing clinical parameters best predict intervention responses in critically ill Covid-19 patients. The investigators used machine learning to predict which patients might get worse and not respond positively to being turned onto their front in intensive care units (ICUs) - a technique known as proning that is commonly used in this setting to improve…
A new research project will embrace the combination of 5G telecommunications technology and AI to offer continuous remote monitoring to seriously ill heart failure patients, for example those with Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs).
Spinal fusion is frequently performed to restore spinal stability in patients with spinal diseases, such as spinal stenosis, vertebral fractures, progressive deformities, and instability. In the past two decades, there has been marked increase in the number of people over 65 years in age who have needed spinal fusion surgery.
In a recent study by University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers, findings indicate that among patients with heart failure, obesity is associated with a higher risk of heart failure hospitalization or death due to cardiac causes. However, achieving biomarker-based treatment goals in heart failure improves the prognosis for patients irrespective of their obesity status.
Chest pain is misdiagnosed in women more frequently than in men, according to research presented at ESC Acute CardioVascular Care 2021, an online scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). The study also found that women with chest pain were more likely than men to wait over 12 hours before seeking medical help. “Our findings suggest a gender gap in the first evaluation of…
Digital Covid-19 ‘symptom checkers’ may stop some patients from getting prompt treatment for serious illness, suggests an international case simulation study. Both the US and UK symptom checkers consistently failed to identify the symptoms of severe Covid-19, bacterial pneumonia, and sepsis, frequently advising these cases to stay home, the findings indicate. The availability and use of…
Working in intensive care units poses special challenges for healthcare workers. They have to safely and reliably detect whether the condition of their seriously ill patients is deteriorating in a life-threatening way, and they have to do so under great time pressure because every minute counts. The stress level increases even more when the patients are children and adolescents. In paediatric…
Research scientists at Aarhus University and Aarhus University Hospital have investigated the mechanisms by which hypertension leads to arterial damage and atherosclerosis. The results may facilitate the development of new therapies. Hypertension is a prevalent condition affecting approximately one third of all adults. It is also the leading global cause of morbidity and mortality. The condition…
Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a soft, stretchy skin patch that can be worn on the neck to continuously track blood pressure and heart rate while measuring the wearer’s levels of glucose as well as lactate, alcohol or caffeine. It is the first wearable device that monitors cardiovascular signals and multiple biochemical levels in the human body at the same…
Around 50% of patients who have been hospitalised with severe Covid-19 and who show raised levels of a protein called troponin have damage to their hearts. The injury was detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at least a month after discharge, according to new findings published in the European Heart Journal. Damage includes inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), scarring or…
The impact of Covid-19 in Africa has been vastly underestimated, warn researchers in a new study. Outside of South Africa, this is the first study to provide systematic surveillance data capturing the impact of Covid-19 in Africa. Their findings are based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results for 364 deceased people of all ages at the University Teaching Hospital morgue in Lusaka,…
Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of fatalities in Germany. Medical wearables which measure vital parameters such as the blood pressure, heart rate and blood oxygen levels in real time could help detect these diseases early, and treat them on a preventive basis. In daily life and during sports activities, in the form of fitness bracelets or smart watches, these small, portable…
Researchers in Oxford have developed a machine learning algorithm that could significantly improve clinicians’ ability to identify hospitalised patients whose condition is deteriorating to the extent that they need intensive care. The HAVEN system (Hospital-wide Alerting Via Electronic Noticeboard) was developed as part of a collaboration between the University of Oxford’s Institute of…
The first evidence from genetic data that high blood pressure is causally associated with the most common heart rhythm disorder is published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Over 23 million people around the world suffer from heart failure. The disease is usually treated with a transplant, but because donated hearts are hard to come by, there is an ongoing need for alternative therapies. With new developments in cardiac assistance systems, we can delay the need for a transplant – or even eliminate it altogether,” says Professor Yves Perriard, head of EPFL’s…
Coronavirus-associated concerns dominate the Top 10 list of important technology hazard risks for hospitals, in an annual report published by ECRI, a nonprofit technology Pennsylvania research firm. The list is derived from ECRI’s team of technology experts who monitor hospital and healthcare organizations, and published to inform healthcare facilities about important safety issues involving…
Engineers at EPFL’s Center for Artificial Muscles have developed a silicone aorta that can reduce how hard patients’ hearts have to pump. Their breakthrough could offer a promising alternative to heart transplants. “Over 23 million people around the world suffer from heart failure. The disease is usually treated with a transplant, but because donated hearts are hard to come by, there is an…
Pregnancy complications and early menopause increase women’s future risk of heart disease. Cardiologists, gynaecologists and endocrinologists recommend how to help middle-aged women prevent later heart problems in a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) consensus document published in European Heart Journal, a journal of the ESC.
A new type of ultra-efficient, nano-thin material could advance self-powered electronics, wearable technologies and even deliver pacemakers powered by heart beats.
One of the most vexing aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic is doctors’ inability to predict which newly hospitalized patients will go on to develop severe disease, including complications that require the insertion of a breathing tube, kidney dialysis or other intensive care. Knowledge of a patient’s age and underlying medical conditions can help predict such outcomes, but there are still…
Bacteria or viruses like influenza that cause pneumonia can spread across large regions of the lung within hours. In the modern intensive care unit, these bacteria or viruses are usually controlled either by antibiotics or by the body’s immune system within the first few days of the illness. But in a study published in Nature, investigators at Northwestern Medicine show Covid-19 pneumonia is…
Stringent endoscope cleaning between procedures is vital. However, with so many steps in the process – plus high demand for rapid turnaround of endoscopes – contamination and biofilm build-up are still being reported. Endoscope hygiene and cleaning protocols were central to an online event organised by Pentax Medical, with important contributions from leading specialists. The event examined…
Nearly twice as many people were admitted to hospital for Covid-19 at the height of the pandemic than were for influenza at the peak of the 2018/2019 flu season, a study of French national data published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal has found (Covid-19, 89,530 patients vs influenza, 45,819 patients).
Italian neurosurgeon Professor Francesco Di Meco, explored the current and potential role of intra-operative ultrasound in neurosurgical oncology during the annual meeting of the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) this October. The extent of resection is considered a prognostic factor in operative neuro oncology surgery and image-guided surgery is being regarded as one of the…
The coronavirus pandemic has had a severe impact on healthcare services but one area where that has been felt particularly deeply is with lung cancer screening. With sessions cancelled, treatment delays and social-distancing and safety requirements, many patients have been affected. However, as services begin to pick up again and lung cancer screening returns, three experts closely associated…
Higher than normal blood pressure is linked to more extensive brain damage in the elderly, according to a new study published in the European Heart Journal. In particular, the study found that there was a strong association between diastolic blood pressure (the blood pressure between heart beats) before the age of 50 and brain damage in later life, even if the diastolic blood pressure was within…
As a world leading manufacturer of medical devices, the subclassification of Contec Medical products includes numerous series for multi-parameter monitoring, ECG, oximeter, blood pressure, telemedicine health, respiratory sleep, and more. With the frequently increasing occurrence of respiratory diseases, Contec Medical reports on its great efforts in the research and development of related…
Contec Medical Systems (Qinhuangdao) Co., Ltd., Stock Code: 300869 was officially listed on August 24, 2020. The company currently has a market capitalisation of more than 50 billion yuan.
Beckman Coulter announced the launch of its Access SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulin M (IgM) assay in countries accepting the CE Mark. The new IgM antibody test demonstrated 99.9% specificity with 1,400 negative samples and 100% sensitivity at >18 days post symptom onset and post positive PCR. Beckman Coulter’s IgM assay is part of a full suite of testing solutions the company is developing to…
Asian ethnicity is strongly linked to COVID-related stroke, reveals an analysis of stroke centre activity in England and Scotland during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and accepted for publication in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
Specialists from the Department of Fundamental Medicine of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) with Russian and Japanese colleagues have probed into mechanisms of COVID-19 inside-the-body distribution linked to erythrocytes damaging.
Costantino Balestra, Professor of Physiology at Haute Ecole Bruxelles-Brabant in Belgium, uses point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in environments that could not be more different from a typical hospital setting. His expertise lies in studying the effects of extreme conditions on the human body, including temperatures, altitudes, and ambient pressures, for example, in deep oceans. One of his areas…
This year, the MEDICA LABMED FORUM will offer a high-profile programme with top speakers which is free for registered online visitors.
Over-activity in a single brain region called the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) underlies several key symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders, but an antidepressant only successfully treats some of the symptoms. A new study suggests that sgACC is a crucial region in depression and anxiety, and targeted treatment based on a patient's symptoms could lead to better outcomes.
Researchers have found that a class of commonly-used heart drugs may also improve patients’ responses to anti-cancer immunotherapies called PD(L)1 inhibitors, according to preliminary findings to be presented at the 32th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics.
An up-and-coming gene therapy for blood disorders. A new class of medications for cystic fibrosis. Increased access to telemedicine. These are some of the innovations that will enhance healing and change healthcare in the coming year, according to a distinguished panel of clinicians and researchers from Cleveland Clinic. In conjunction with the 2020 Medical Innovation Summit, Cleveland Clinic…
There are many reasons why for some patients a visit to the doctor’s office is difficult or well-nigh impossible – limited mobility after surgery, old age, or a handicap. For others, particularly in rural areas, the doctor is often far away and/or difficult to reach due to poor public transport. In times of corona, another important issue emerged: infection protection.
A deadly combination of two mosquito-borne viruses may be a trigger for stroke, new research published in the The Lancet Neurology has found. University of Liverpool researchers and Brazilian collaborators have been investigating the link between neurological disease and infection with the viruses Zika and chikungunya. These viruses, which mostly circulate in the tropics, cause large outbreaks of…
Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have developed the world’s smallest ultrasound detector. It is based on miniaturized photonic circuits on top of a silicon chip. With a size 100 times smaller than an average human hair, the new detector can visualize features that are much smaller than previously possible, leading to what is known as…
Heart patients hospitalised with COVID-19 can safely continue taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), according to the BRACE CORONA trial presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2020.(1)
Bacteria and other microorganisms in the digestive tract are linked with dozens of health conditions including high blood pressure, high blood lipids, and body mass index (BMI) according to research presented at ESC Congress 2020. “Our study indicates that microbiota might have an important role in maintaining health and could help us develop novel treatments,” said study author Dr. Hilde…
Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven have developed a new algorithm for the rapid screening for COVID-19. The software is intended for use in Emergency Rooms (ER), to quickly exclude the presence of corona in incoming patients. As a result, doctors need to conduct fewer standard coronavirus tests, increasing efficiency. The quick scan…
Patient data are a treasure trove for AI researchers. There’s a problem though: many algorithms used to mine patient data act as black boxes, which makes their predictions often hard to interpret for doctors. Researchers from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and the Zhejiang University in China have now developed an algorithm that not only predicts hospital readmissions of heart…
The SARS CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19 may have been named prematurely. As more has become known about the infection, the severe disease does not appear to be a respiratory syndrome at all. Patients who only have a respiratory illness tend not to have a severe condition, while patients who develop a severe condition tend to have non-respiratory conditions, primarily thrombotic or hyper-immune…
As the corona pandemic continues, mechanical ventilators are vital for the survival of COVID-19 patients who cannot breathe on their own. One of the major challenges is tracking and controlling the pressure of the ventilators, to ensure patients get exactly the amount of air they need. Researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have developed a technique based on self-learning…
L-type calcium channel blockers (LCCBs) — the most widely used drugs for treating hypertension — may harm the heart as much as help it, according to a new study. The research team, led by the Pennsylvania State University, found that in rats and human cells in vitro, LCCBs cause changes in blood vessels — known as vascular remodeling — that reduce blood flow and increase pressure.…
There are at least 10 risk factors that appear to have a significant impact on a person’s likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease that could be targeted with preventative steps, new research suggests. Focusing on these factors, which include cognitive activity, high body mass index in late life, depression, diabetes, and high blood pressure, could provide clinicians with an evidence…
The discovery of two novel biomarkers, called FKBPL and CD44, has the potential to change the way preeclampsia is managed according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Preeclampsia can cause high blood pressure and organ failure in mothers and lead to preterm births and even stillbirth.
Patients with raised blood pressure have a two-fold increased risk of dying from the coronavirus COVID-19 compared to patients without high blood pressure, according to new research published in the European Heart Journal. In addition, the study found that patients with high blood pressure who were not taking medication to control the condition were at even greater risk of dying from COVID-19.
The drug nimodipine could prevent nerve cells from dying after brain surgery. Pharmacists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU), in cooperation with neurosurgeons at University Hospital Halle (Saale) (UKH), have developed a new method that enables the drug to be administered directly in the brain with fewer side effects. Their findings were published in the European Journal of…
COVID-19 can cause serious cardiovascular complications including heart failure, heart attacks and blood clots that can lead to strokes, emergency medicine doctors at the University of Virgina report in a new scientific paper. They also caution that COVID-19 treatments can interact with medicines used to manage patients’ existing cardiovascular conditions.
Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute and Loma Linda University Health have demonstrated the promise of applying magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict the efficacy of using human neural stem cells to treat a brain injury—a first-ever “biomarker” for regenerative medicine that could help personalize stem cell treatments for neurological disorders and improve…
As Covid-19 spreads throughout the country, much attention has been paid to the devastating effects of the virus on the lungs. But doctors are learning how the virus may affect other organs, including the brain. Some patients with Covid-19 have had neurological symptoms, which may include an increased risk of stroke.
Despite the use of personal protective equipment (PPE), reports show that many health care workers contracted the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which raises substantial concerns about the effectiveness of the PPE.
A computational lung model can be used to reduce damage caused by mechanical ventilation – and could increase survival rates for patients significantly.
As coronavirus disease COVID-19 continues to jet and alight invisibly around the globe, scientists now report that the virus has mutated to become two strains: the older ‘S-type’ appears milder and less infectious, while the later-emerging ‘L-type’, is more aggressive, spreads more quickly, and currently accounts for about 70 per cent of cases. Worldwide, medical researchers are exploring…
Researchers at ETH Zurich and Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, have developed a method for predicting circulatory failure in patients in intensive care units (ICU) – enabling clinicians to intervene at an early stage. Their approach uses machine learning methods to evaluate an extensive body of patient data. Patients in a hospital’s ICU are kept under close observation: clinicians…
Eric Prossnitz, PhD, from the University of New Mexico Health Services and his team hope to help 93 million obese Americans fight their fat. In a paper published in Science Translational Medicine, they reported that G-1, a cancer-fighting compound they discovered some years ago, reduces fat in obese mice. Although G-1 is currently in phase 1 clinical trials for cancer, Prossnitz and his team are…
Researchers at Linköping University (LiU) have developed an algorithm that can identify patients at a higher risk of septic shock, a life-threatening condition that is difficult for doctors to predict. At the same time, it is important to recognise the symptoms as early as possible, since early treatment increases the chance of survival. A group of LiU researchers is using artificial…
Scientists from India and the USA, along with a team of international collaborators from academia and industry report the sequencing and assembly of a high-quality genome of the highly venomous, medically important Indian cobra (Naja naja). Using a combination of cutting-edge genomic technologies, the authors have assembled the most contiguous genome of this iconic venomous snake. Venom is a…
Using lipidomics, a technique that measures the composition of blood lipids at a molecular level, and machine learning, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a blood lipid profile that improves the possibility to assess, several years in advance, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The blood lipid profile can also be linked to a certain diet and degree of physical activity.…
A major £2.4 million research project is underway at the University of Birmingham aimed at improving treatment for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PCOS affects at least ten percent of all women and causes irregular periods and difficulties trying to conceive.
Low educational levels predict an increased risk of developing or dying from heart disease and stroke according to the first nationwide study of the link between education and risk of cardiovascular disease. The study, which is published in the European Heart Journal, is also the first nationwide study to look at the extent to which low income and work stress plays a role in the association…
More than one in ten cancer patients do not die from their cancer but from heart and blood vessel problems instead, according to new research published in the European Heart Journal. For some cancers, like breast, prostate, endometrial, and thyroid cancer, around half will die from cardiovascular disease (CVD). Dr Nicholas Zaorsky, a radiation oncologist, and Dr Kathleen Sturgeon, an assistant…
Stevens Institute of Technology has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Bonbouton, giving the company the right to use and further develop a graphene sensing system that detects early signs of foot ulcers before they form, so diabetic patients can access preventative healthcare and manage their health.
It’s a world’s first. The UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is collaborating with Amazon to provide reliable health information from the service’s website through voice-assisted technology. In a speech announcing the service, Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, addressed the need for dependable information.
Dr Philippe Mahiou practices anaesthesia in the Grenoble area, splitting his time between a private clinic and working as a helicopter doctor to attend mountaineering accidents. As part of his work, Mahiou routinely uses ultrasound, and understands the importance of the technology to guide anaesthesia in the operating room and assess patients in the field. When anaesthetist Dr Philippe Mahiou…
Health tech Made in Taiwan is among the mainstays of every MEDICA; this year’s fair is no exception. In co-operation with the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) of the Taiwanese Ministry of Economics and the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), 20 world-class healthcare companies are demonstrating innovative medical solutions based on national advances in Artificial Intelligence…
The EU four-year project ELSAH, which began at the dawn of 2019, aims to design a wearable to enable continuous determination of biomarker concentrations. Project coordinator Dr Joerg Schotter, Molecular Diagnostics, Centre for Health & Bioresources, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, explains the project’s objectives and potential applications for the planned wearable.
Getting a good night’s sleep is important and insufficient sleep has been linked to poor health in many studies. Analysing data collected from wearable trackers, researchers from the SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute of Precision Medicine (PRISM) and the National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS) recently demonstrated that chronic sleep deprivation is associated with increased cardiovascular disease…
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a way to 3D print living skin, complete with blood vessels. The advancement, published in Tissue Engineering Part A, is a significant step toward creating grafts that are more like the skin our bodies produce naturally. “Right now, whatever is available as a clinical product is more like a fancy Band-Aid,” said Pankaj Karande, an…
Healthcare is going digital worldwide at an incredibly rapid pace. More and more applications for prevention, diagnostics and therapy are being made into apps (with matching hardware) for smartphones and tablets or are even available as wearables for direct use on the body. Digitalisation is also striding forward in Germany, where doctors, therapists and patients still take a fairly analogue…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Ofev (nintedanib) capsules to slow the rate of decline in pulmonary function in adults with interstitial lung disease associated with systemic sclerosis or scleroderma, called SSc-ILD. It is the first FDA-approved treatment for this rare lung condition. “Patients suffering from scleroderma need effective therapies, and the FDA supports the efforts…
A study of nearly half a million people has found for the first time that those with heart or blood vessel problems benefit more from having a physically active lifestyle than do healthy people without cardiovascular disease (CVD). Increased physical activity reduced the risk of dying during a six-year follow-up period for people with and without CVD, but the researchers found the greatest…
In a busy hospital, thousands of devices and equipment are on the move every hour of every day. Beds, blood pressure monitors, wheelchairs, or infusion pumps can be taken to different locations and, at times, even ‘lost’. Keeping track of vital tools is a challenge, particularly given the massive throughput of patients and staff shift changes. However, innovative tracking systems are evolving…
Areas with a higher number of fast food restaurants have more heart attacks, according to research presented at the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ). The study also found that for every additional fast food outlet, there were four additional heart attacks per 100,000 people each year. Study author Tarunpreet Saluja of the University of…
Fourteen metabolic biomarkers can predict long term mortality in individuals helping to determine life expectancy in general populations, a new study in the journal Nature Communications reports. In the largest study of its kind, researchers from Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands and the University of Surrey investigated predictors of long-term mortality risk. Current predictors…
For patients with kidney failure who need dialysis, removing fluid at the correct rate and stopping at the right time is critical. This typically requires guessing how much water to remove and carefully monitoring the patient for sudden drops in blood pressure. Currently there is no reliable, easy way to measure hydration levels in these patients, who number around half a million in the United…
Think twice before adding that extra kick of chili sauce or chopped jalapeno to your meal. New research involving the University of South Australia shows a spicy diet could be linked to dementia. A 15-year study of 4582 Chinese adults aged over 55 found evidence of faster cognitive decline in those who consistently ate more than 50 grams of chili a day. Memory decline was even more significant if…
Healthcare in low- and middle-income countries is poorly prepared for the increasing number of people with high blood pressure, with more than two-thirds of people affected going without treatment – a new study reveals. Researchers studied health data for one million people in the Global South, discovering that less than half of those affected are diagnosed with high blood pressure or…
For over 20 years, a team of researchers at Lund University has worked on developing a drug against preeclampsia – a serious disorder which annually affects around 9 million pregnant women worldwide and is one of the main causes of death in both mothers and unborn babies. Now the researchers have published a study in the journal Scientific Reports that opens up opportunities for further…
Staff shortages are among the most urgent healthcare problems. While digitisation might offer relief, unfortunately many hospitals lag behind in transforming their processes. As pressure mounts, the chorus is heard: ‘It’s high time for bold changes’. Indeed, this was the motto of the 2019 Western German Health Congress held in Cologne, an event that focuses on health policy and health…
People with untreated White Coat Hypertension are twice as likely to die from heart disease. Researchers at Penn Medicine say findings underscore the need for increased out-of-office blood pressure monitoring
The production of artificial organs is a hot research topic. In the near future, artificial organs will compensate for the lack of organ donations and replace animal experiments. Although there are already promising experiments with 3D printers that use a „bio-ink“ containing living cells, a functional organ has never been created in this way. A European consortium coordinated by Dr Elena…
Scientists at the German Centre for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) have started a study to find out whether a monoclonal antibody restoring vascular integrity is safe and has positive effects on organ functions of patients with cardiogenic shock. The multicenter trial is sponsored by the University of Hamburg, financially supported by the biopharmaceutical company Adrenomed AG, and led by Dr.…
Fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapies are widely used, at least in the European area, for treating various types of cancer including digestive, breast, throat and brain cancer. Fluoropyrimidines are a group of anticancer drugs including the well-known 5-FluoroUracil (5-FU) and the prodrug capecitabine.
Two millions: this is, worldwide, the number of babies which suffer suffocation during birth every year. A resuscitation procedure is sometimes the key to avert irreparable damages for the baby. And, for successful outcomes, promptness of action and preparation are vital. Researcher Mark Thielen (Industrial Design) from the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) developed a 3D printed baby…
It’s undeniable: the bulk of our population is growing older. Yet, this demographic change has not altered laboratory medicine: the reference values for many analyses are still based on data of a younger cohort. Inevitably this could lead to serious errors in the interpretation of older patients’ test results.
A one-off operation that targets the nerves connected to the kidney has been found to maintain reduced blood pressure in hypertension patients for at least six months, according to the results of a clinical trial led in the UK by Queen Mary University of London and Barts Health NHS Trust, and supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The study, published in the journal…
Air pollution could be causing double the number of excess deaths a year in Europe than has been estimated previously, according to a study published in the European Heart Journal [1] today.
People with both diabetes and uncontrolled high blood pressure who used a smartphone app to monitor their blood pressure remotely, get tips on healthful living and connect with a health coach saw significant declines in their blood pressure within six weeks.
A minimally invasive procedure to determine whether patients with drug-resistant epilepsy are candidates for brain surgery is safer, more efficient, and leads to better outcomes than the traditional method, according to new research by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
A new study published in the Journal of Gerontology Series A has found that eating blueberries can lead to an improvement in blood vessel function and a decrease in systolic blood pressure. Researchers from King’s College London and the University of Surrey studied 40 healthy volunteers for one month. They were randomly given either a drink containing 200g of blueberries, or a matched control…
White matter on the brain is a difficult subject. Even the terminology is varied, making differential diagnosis complex. An understanding of prevalence and of the tools available to facilitate the diagnosis of individual diseases is important, Dr Gunther Fesl, radiologist at Praxis Radiologie Augsburg, explains.
The pill could be blurring your social judgement ‒ but perhaps not enough so you'd notice. By challenging women to identify complex emotional expressions like pride or contempt, rather than basic ones like happiness or fear, scientists have revealed subtle changes in emotion recognition associated with oral contraceptive pill (OCP) use. Published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, their study found…
Doctors aren’t sure what causes age-related macular degeneration, a disease that affects millions of people in the United States. Also called AMD, it is known for causing blurred central vision due to damage to the macula — a small area at the back of the eye. Currently, there is no cure. But there are known risk factors that eye care professionals often use to help determine a patient’s…
A new Cedars-Sinai study shows that using Fitbit activity monitors to measure steps taken in the days after surgery can predict which patients leave the hospital sooner. The study of 100 patients, led by Timothy Daskivich, MD, director of Health Services Research for the Cedars-Sinai Department of Surgery, showed that each step taken towards 1,000 steps the day after surgery resulted in…
In intensive care units (ICU), some monitoring device or other is always sounding the alarm. Whether it’s a patient whose blood oxygen level is too low, someone in the next bed whose intracranial pressure is rising, or someone else whose blood pressure has taken a nosedive. Or perhaps just because a patient has shifted position in bed. False alarms like this last are all too common. They…
Of the 4.3 million cardiovascular deaths in Europe in 2016, 2.1 million were the result of poor nutrition. The 28 EU member states account for around 900,000, Russia for 600,000 and the Ukraine for 250,000 of these deaths. Every second to third premature cardiovascular death could be prevented by better nutrition. These were the findings of an international research team led by the Martin Luther…
A new device developed by Stanford University researchers could make it easier for doctors to monitor the success of blood vessel surgery. The sensor, detailed in a paper published in Nature Biomedical Engineering, monitors the flow of blood through an artery. It is biodegradable, battery-free and wireless, so it is compact and doesn’t need to be removed and it can warn a patient’s doctor if…
As European health services are pressured to provide the best possible care for best possible value, some medical fields are now very much the poor relation; this is particularly true for mental health. Mental illnesses represent a great health burden and cause huge financial and societal pressure in terms of direct and indirect costs from repeated hospitalisation and treatment failures, while…
Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) are literally breaking barriers using ultrasound waves emitted from a flexible patch to accurately measure central blood pressure and help detect cardiovascular problems earlier. For a while now, smart, wearable devices have had the ability to capture how many steps we take in a day or measure our heart…
New research from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute supports the need for dietary and lifestyle interventions before overweight and obese women become pregnant. The researchers have reported the results of a large study of birth outcomes in more than 500 overweight or obese women from three public maternity units in Adelaide, Australia.
The new Vacuette branded Safelink tube holder facilitates quick and easy blood collection. The tube can be used in combination with all medical products that have a standard female luer lock connection, such as winged cannulae. Above all, it stands out thanks to its simple handling. The luer lock feature sets the Vacuette Safelink apart from the conventional Greiner Bio-One tube holders and makes…
A collaborative study led by a neurologist at Rush University Medical Center and an environmental scientist at the University of Illinois at Chicago suggests that weather patterns that cause dramatic changes in barometric pressure may increase the incidence of a type of stroke known as spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage, that is, the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain. The researchers…
More than 100 million Americans have potentially deadly fatty liver disease and most do not even know it. Overeating and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol this holiday season could put someone with the disease on the fast track to liver failure. “There are no symptoms associated with fatty liver disease and no pain, so most people never get checked or treated for it and, over time, if it is…
Here at Medica, the Taiwanese start-up Maisense is demonstrating Freescan, its artificial intelligence (AI) based solution to screen for stroke through the early detection of atrial fibrillation (AFib). Speaking of the system’s aims, Maisense summed up this huge health problem. ‘Every four minutes, someone dies of stroke. Thirteen percent of these are classified as haemorrhagic stroke. When…
Successful pilot scheme means TERR-eSanté will be rolled out for the whole of the Ile-de-France. The French have a reputation as early adopters of telemedicine driven by the desire to modernise healthcare by the judicious use of the latest technology. The first ‘carte vitale’ (national health card) with a microchip was introduced in 1998. Since 2011, the information stored on the cards has…
Researchers have developed laser-activated nanomaterials that integrate with wounded tissues to form seals that are superior to sutures for containing body fluids and preventing bacterial infection. Tissue repair following injury or during surgery is conventionally performed with sutures and staples, which can cause tissue damage and complications, including infection. Glues and adhesives have…
The baroreceptor reflex is a fascinating medical phenomenon. The reflex is controlled by specialized neurons that react in just a fraction of a second to keep blood pressure fairly consistent. For example, when you stand up, your blood pressure normally drops—rapidly. Yet you don't faint thanks to baroreceptors, which tell your heart rate to increase and push more blood to your brain. A new…
The complex structure of breast tumours makes treatment a medical challenge. A promising, novel selenium-based breast cancer nanoparticle therapy by the Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology (acib) together with other partners in the EU-project Neosetac could change that: It has proved to boost the active agent delivery and assure it's active only in the target tissue while also bringing…
One in two women and one in three men will likely be diagnosed with dementia, Parkinson's disease, or stroke in their lifetime, estimate Dutch researchers in an observational study
Pre-analytics, in particular venous blood sampling has a major impact on the quality of laboratory diagnostic results. An estimated 75 percent of all "lab errors" are caused by errors during pre-analytics. Thus, the German Medical Association’s national guideline on laboratory diagnostics includes detailed guidance on pre-analytics, in particular venous blood sampling. In their…
Doctors working in the eight-bed Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Ramón y Cajal University Hospital in Madrid extensively use point-of-care ultrasound to evaluate the condition of critically ill children, and they find it essential in their work, as Dr José Luis Vázquez Martínez, Head of PICU at Hospital Ramón y Cajal, with over 25 years’ experience in paediatric intensive care…
One of the challenges for every echocardiography lab is the technically difficult patient. Conventionally, labs use contrast agents to enhance endocardial border visualization. The application of contrast agents increases the exam time, resources and costs. Additionally, the use of contrast turns a previously non-invasive exam into an invasive procedure. Hitachi Healthcare has now developed a…
MRI has a central role in picking up myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary disease, a condition that particularly affects women but is often left untreated, with potentially fatal outcome. Heart attack in women presents differently than in men and requires a different approach when it comes to detection and prevention, according to cardiologist Allison Hays.
When delegates from around 150 countries converge on Munich for ESC Congress 2018 they will no doubt reflect on what they themselves eat. Yes, nutrition is up for debate, questioning, for example, whether weight loss therapies can also prevent heart attacks and strokes. Results from the CAMELLIA-TIMI 61 trial of 12,000 overweight individuals with established cardiovascular disease or diabetes…
Transgender individuals may be at higher risk for myocardial infarction and death due to cardiovascular disease, according to several studies. This increased risk may be due to the hormone therapy that transgender patients take for masculinization or feminization. A review authored by Michael S. Irwig, MD, associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine…
Adopting new guidelines for high blood pressure (hypertension) would dramatically increase the number of people labeled as having the condition and being recommended for drug treatment, finds a study published by The BMJ today. The findings show that, if the guidelines were introduced in the US and China, more than half of those aged 45-75 years in both countries would be considered hypertensive.
2018 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and European Society of Hypertension (ESH) Joint Guidelines for the Management of Arterial Hypertension. A first look at the new European Guidelines for the treatment of high blood pressure was presented at the European Society of Hypertension meeting in Barcelona on June 9th 2018. These long-awaited guidelines have been jointly developed by clinicians…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first stand-alone prosthetic iris in the United States, a surgically implanted device to treat adults and children whose iris is completely missing or damaged due to a congenital condition called aniridia or other damage to the eye. The iris is made of thin, foldable medical-grade silicone and is custom-sized and colored for each individual…
Clinical trial enrolment favours men, according to a study presented at Heart Failure 2018 and the World Congress on Acute Heart Failure, a European Society of Cardiology congress.1 The study found that fewer women meet eligibility criteria for trials of heart failure medication. Helena Norberg, author of the study, junior lecturer and PhD student, Umeå University, Sweden, said: “One of the…
Triggers of acute heart failure vary globally, according to late breaking results from the REPORT-HF registry presented at Heart Failure 2018 and the World Congress on Acute Heart Failure, a European Society of Cardiology congress. REPORT-HF is a global, prospective registry comparing regional differences in causes of acute heart failure, therapies, time to treatment, and outcomes. Professor Sean…
According to new research, obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be able to improve their health outlook with a particularly enjoyable form of therapy: regular sessions in a hot tub. The research found that soaking in a hot tub several times per week for two months results in improved measures of cardiovascular health, beneficial changes in fat tissue and other improvements…
Many people accept deteriorating eyesight as an inevitable part of getting older, but blurry or distorted vision – such as when straight lines appear wavy – could be signs of age-related macular degeneration. The condition is the most common cause of severe vision loss in people age 50 and older in developed countries.
Experts in pediatric kidney disease have published a new staging system to help doctors better predict the length of time until a child with chronic kidney disease (CKD) will need to undergo a kidney transplant or start receiving dialysis. Although this type of prognostic guide exists for adults, this is the first such tool specific to children. “We designed a clinically useful, data-driven…
Technical innovations and the implementation of quality standards in anaesthesia have immensely increased patient safety. ‘Over the past 60 years, patient safety during anaesthesia has improved more than in any other medical discipline,’ according to Professor Achim von Goedecke MD MSc, Director of the Institute of Anaesthesiology and Critical Care at Landeskrankenhaus Steyr in Upper Austria.
An international research group, including scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, studying 520,000 people from around the world has identified 22 new genetic risk factors for stroke, tripling the number of gene regions known to affect stroke risk. The results show that stroke shares genetic influences with other vascular conditions, especially blood pressure, but also…
The recent ACC/AHA Guidelines have increased the number of patients said to have hypertension by up to 40 percent (new 130/80 mmHg). The international recommendation is to treat hypertension with angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs). These drugs, however, have significant adverse effects: Often a chronic dry cough leads to patients withdrawing from treatment. On rare occasions, ACEIs…
The idea that it might be possible to be overweight or obese but not at increased risk of heart disease, otherwise known as the “obesity paradox”, has been challenged by a study of nearly 300,000 people published in in the European Heart Journal.
Innovative ‘artificial lungs’, which help the patients to breathe, offer less traumatic treatment for severe diseases such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD/AECOPD). Respiratory failure is one of the most frequent causes of ICU admission. It may occur inter alia in patients with ARDS, a dangerous condition when the respiratory system…
Population imaging is key to determining disease prediction and risk prevention, and Big Data will be key to extracting information and drawing analysis from imaging results, experts highlighted during the annual meeting of the European Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB) held in Barcelona in October. Interest in cohort studies has been increasing over the years and…
Diabetic eye disease is the leading cause of blindness among people ages 40 to 60. The longer you have diabetes, the greater your likelihood of developing vision problems increases. Keeping blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels under control can help people with diabetes maintain good eye health. They must also have a dilated eye exam once a year, says Dr. Malav Joshi, an…
Google AI has made a breakthrough: successfully predicting cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks and strokes simply from images of the retina, with no blood draws or other tests necessary. This is a big step forward scientifically, Google AI officials said, because it is not imitating an existing diagnostic but rather using machine learning to uncover a surprising new way to predict these…
HORIBA UK Ltd, Medical announces that Thame and Marlow Community Hubs, within Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, have each recently installed HORIBA Medical’s latest point-of-care testing analyser, the Microsemi CRP. These new analysers are now streamlining existing diagnostic pathways in the community and helping to reduce local A&E admissions for frail patients. The Microsemi CRP is a…
Nearly a quarter of patients with chronic ischaemic cardiovascular disease are dead or hospitalised within six months, reports a European Society of Cardiology (ESC) study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology. “Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death worldwide yet some patients appear to get lost in the system after their initial visit to a hospital or…
Sutures and staples are the traditional methods for closing surgical incisions and wounds in emergency situations. However, these methods can be inadequate in complex surgeries and cannot make an air-tight or liquid-tight seal on a lung or artery wound or incision. Now researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have created a surgical glue that…
Move over, lab-on-a-chip and lab-on-paper. There’s a new diagnostic technology in research labs that is gaining credibility. It is called lab-on-skin technology and some scientists are quite excited about how it might be used for a variety of clinical purposes. A recent story published in ACS Nano titled, “Lab-on-Skin: A Review of Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Wearable Health…
Donating blood is a tangible way to help people who are struggling with serious health conditions, yet many people may not think about it or make time for it. In January – which the American Red Cross has dubbed National Blood Donor Month – blood bank supplies are typically among the lowest of the year, as many people have been traveling or busy with the holidays. Inclement weather can also…
While cognitive abilities naturally decline with age, eating one serving of leafy green vegetables a day may aid in preserving memory and thinking skills as a person grows older, according to a study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The study results were published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. “Adding a daily serving of…
No visit to the doctor’s office is complete without a blood-pressure cuff squeezing your arm and a cold stethoscope placed on your chest. But what if your vital signs could be gathered, without contact, as you sit in the waiting room or the comfort of your own home? Cornell University engineers have demonstrated a method for gathering blood pressure, heart rate and breath rate using a cheap and…
Managing diabetes and high blood pressure can feel like a solitary enterprise dependent on relationships with objects (like pills or foods) and activities (like brisk walks or early bedtimes) instead of relationships with people, but a group of West Virginia University researchers is hoping to change that. The National Institutes of Health has awarded $450,000 to Ranjita Misra, a professor of…
Liver disease is widespread in Germany. It is, in fact, the most common cause of death in patients under the age of 40, with liver cirrhosis, which can develop into liver cancer, playing a major role here. These days, modern, comprehensive treatment concepts are unimaginable without interventional radiology, for liver cirrhosis as well as liver cancer. Prof. Dr. Christian Stroszczynski, Director…
Stopping abdominal wall bleeding with contrast-enhanced ultrasound was just one of the exciting developments in CEUS presented at the Bubble Conference 2017 in Chicago. When you cut your finger you apply pressure to the wound until the bleeding stops. Professor Dirk-André Clevert from the Institute for Clinical Radiology at the Ludwig Maximilian University Hospital, Munich, Germany, remembered…
30 years ago, monitoring in most intensive care environments was via an ECG display with a numeric value for heart rate combined with intermittent manual measurements of blood pressure. Advances in technology have greatly increased monitoring parameters. Eight, for example, are included in the current minimum standards for monitoring under anaesthesia but more than ten further sensors are…
A preliminary human study was conducted to validate an advanced wearable sensor which has been developed by the start-up company BioBeat Technologies Ltd, comparing it to the common manometry method. The 2015 guidelines of the European Society of Hypertension on The requirements of the International Protocol (revision 2010) were used to define the difference between the commonly used device and…
‘Visiomed, a French leader in medical grade connected devices and services that advocate patient engagement as a primary component to maintaining good health, is proud to launch VisioCheck BW-XO7HD – the first scalable and connected mobile and evolving telemedicine station that weighs under 10.5 ounces,’ the company reports.
Primary care consultations last less than 5 minutes for half the world’s population, but range from 48 seconds in Bangladesh to 22.5 minutes in Sweden, reveals the largest international study of its kind, published in the online journal BMJ Open. Shorter consultation times have been linked to poorer health outcomes for patients and a heightened risk of burnout for doctors. And as demand for…
Central alarm management of the Xenios console via the Philipps IntelliVue MX800® patient monitoring system. Achieving the goal in an easy and efficient manner by a combination of safety and innovation. The Barmherzige Brüder hospital in Regensburg and Xenios combine both in the clinical practice.
Heart surgery significantly decreases in-hospital mortality among infants with either of two genetic disorders that cause severe physical and intellectual disabilities, according to a new study by a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine and his colleagues at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Trisomy 13 and 18, which result from having extra chromosomes, often…
Siemens Healthineers announced its Atellica NEPH 630 System is now available to laboratories. The Atellica NEPH 630 System is a low- to mid-volume nephelometric protein testing solution that simplifies laboratory operations by unifying instrument, assay, IT connectivity and remote service disciplines to deliver advancements in protein testing.
Despite prevention efforts, researchers have found a significant increase over a 10-year period in the percentage of people with stroke who have high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and other risk factors for stroke. “An estimated 80 percent of all first strokes are due to risk factors that can be changed, such as high blood pressure, and many efforts have been made to prevent, screen for and…
Multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO) are keeping infection specialists worldwide on their toes. One of these specialists travelled all the way from Leipzig to India to gain insights in one of the sources of the problem.
Combining a new compound with old drugs could provide an effective remedy against malaria and drug-resistant parasites.
The taller you are, the more likely you may be to develop blood clots in the veins, according to new research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics.
Scientists in the United Kingdom are investigating the potential of a new regenerative and tissue engineering technique that could transform veins into arteries to improve the outcomes for patients undergoing heart bypass surgery.
Over seven million people were using remote monitoring in 2016, mainly for cardiac rhythm management (CRM) and sleep apnoea therapy. The number of users will soar as they can increasingly connect to servers and clouds, Swedish analyst Anders Frick predicts.
Celebrating 40 years of PCI, cardiologists fret over their future with big data, machine learning and robots.
With 4,500 accepted abstracts, 600 sessions and 30,000 expected attendees, ESC Congress 2017 is undoubtedly the world’s largest cardiovascular event. On healthcare-in-europe.com, Dr Stephan Achenbach, Congress Program Committee Chairperson, gives an overview of issues and events unfolding in Barcelona from August 26-30.
A team from Michigan Medicine developed a health behavioral intervention called Reach Out including mobile-messaging components, which they plan to use throughout a trial.
The stimulant methamphetamine, also popularly known as ‘speed,’ ‘ice’ and ‘meth,’ is linked to a heightened risk of stroke among young people, reveals a review of the available evidence, published online in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
A largely aged population is already a reality in some countries, and this will become a worldwide problem by 2047, when the number of the Earth’s old people is likely to surpass the number of young people.
People who survive a stroke or a mini-stroke without early complications have an increased risk of death, another stroke or heart attack (myocardial infarction) for at least 5 years following the initial stroke, found a new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The fourth World Brain Day (July 22) revolves around stroke – how to detect it, how to prevent it, how to treat it. Raad Shakir, president of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN), seizes the opportunity to raise awareness about a disease that is becoming more common globally – but also preventable to a large extent.
Cardiac surgeons are successfully performing more extensive surgical repairs of type A aortic dissection—one of the highest risk operations in cardiothoracic surgery. These new surgical techniques, along with improved postoperative care, are resulting in better long-term outcomes and lower rates of complications.
A machine-learning algorithm has the capability to identify hospitalized patients at risk for severe sepsis and septic shock using data from electronic health records (EHRs), according to a study presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference. Sepsis is an extreme systemic response to infection, which can be life-threatening in its advanced stages of severe sepsis and…
Research published in Experimental Physiology shows that diabetes-induced changes in heartbeat are primarily regulated by the β1-adrenoceptor. This discovery, once confirmed in humans, may lead to better treatment of heart problems in diabetics by enabling more targeted drugs to be produced.
A unique womb-like environment designed by pediatric researchers could transform care for extremely premature babies, by mimicking the prenatal fluid-filled environment to give the tiniest newborns a precious few weeks to develop their lungs and other organs.
New criteria used as an initial screening tool in the emergency department need to be re-evaluated, a specialised surgeon highlighted in a dedicated talk during the Spanish national congress of surgery this November.
High concentrations of the stress hormone, Cortisol, in the body affect important DNA processes and increase the risk of long-term psychological consequences. These relationships are evident in a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy on patients with Cushing’s Syndrome, but the findings also open the door for new treatment strategies for other stress-related conditions such as anxiety, depression…
Andrew Su, a professor at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), was sitting in an exam room with his newborn son when the idea for a new scientific study hit him.
Approximately 30,000 organ transplants occur in the United States each year. However, between 20 and 50 percent—depending on the organ type—of the transplanted organs fail within five years, most often because the recipient’s immune system attacks, or “rejects,” the donated organ.
Employing new photonics technology, European scientists are developing a new Augmented Reality surgical visor in a bid to improve accuracy of interventions, showing anaesthetic and medical data while superimposing a patient’s x-ray in perfect unison with their body, meaning surgeons never having to look away during an operation and surgery times reduced by over 20 minutes for every 3 hours.
A novel population of neurons that are only activated following chronic stress is identified. Today, stress is part of everyday life. However, when stress is chronic it can lead to distressing illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders. In their latest study, scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich have identified a population of neurons in the hypothalamus that…
In the largest study of its kind, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers and colleagues in Europe identified a gene variant that suppresses the desire to drink alcohol.
Pathology services in the UK are struggling to cope with the increasing number of patient samples that need to be tested, according to a Cancer Research UK report* published today.
Ultrasound examinations are considered cost-efficient, fast and effective. The E-FAST (Extended-Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma) is a standardised examination used in accident & emergency medicine worldwide. The procedure helps to diagnose internal bleeding and organ damage in severely injured patients in the resuscitation room and, in some regions, even during emergency…
What do Casey Kasem, Christopher Reeve and Muhammad Ali have in common? They all died of sepsis: a rapid, potentially deadly reaction that affects millions each year.
Some significant changes in the European hospital sector have occurred over the last 20 years. ‘The necessity to contain the exploding costs in particular has led to a reduction in the number of hospitals and hospital beds, and staffing levels have also been affected by the many cost cutting measures. This has not been without its consequences, as we now know,’ writes Ludwig F Rutten.
Researchers funded in part by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have recently shown that magnetic bacteria are a promising vehicle for more efficiently delivering tumor-fighting drugs.
Exuding the aroma of hi-octane fuel, the glamour of multi-coloured racing leathers, flashy sponsored brands and the glitz of the circuits, motorcycle racing can be an irresistible fast-action sport. Amid the roar of engines, the world’s leading motorcycle aces, such as Marc Marquez, Valentino Rossi or Jonathan Rea, hit around 300kmh on tracks across the globe. High-speed duels thrill the…
The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare recently raised the recommended target blood pressure for patients with diabetes. This may lead to more patients suffering from stroke or heart attack, according to a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy. The new study is the world’s largest on the subject and is based on data from the National Diabetes Register.
A study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine offers the most in-depth assessment yet of the safety and effectiveness of a high-tech alternative to brain surgery to treat the uncontrollable shaking caused by the most common movement disorder. And the news is very good.
People with high levels of four biomarkers in the blood may be more likely to develop a stroke than people with low levels of the biomarkers, according to a study published in the August 24, 2016, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Coronary interventions often rely more on art than science as the decision to treat a patient tends to be based on what clinicians can see, a subjective interpretation of cardiac imaging. Two new techniques have emerged for cardiovascular diagnostics that are enabling software to help surgeons and cardiologists measure, and thereby better manage cardiac disease.
When Michael Ziller, Head of IT at the Bethanien Hospital in Moers, Germany, was looking for a provider of cardiac IT applications that not only offered standard applications for ECGs as well as long-term ECGs and long-term blood pressure measurements, he realised there was not much on the market. ‘We had an additional challenge for this project in that we wanted all data to run via just one…
Conventional therapy for ARDS patients and for patients with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has relied on invasive mechanical ventilation. Mechanical ventilation, however, has several major drawbacks: sedation has to be induced and the air being pressed into the lungs with positive pressure can damage the pulmonary alveoli or the diaphragm. Moreover, even maximum…
Medical professionals have long known that the buildup of plaque in arteries can cause them to narrow and harden, potentially leading to a whole host of health problems — including heart attack, heart disease and stroke. While high blood pressure and artery stiffness are often associated with plaque buildup, new research from engineers at Washington University in St. Louis shows they are not…
New EU-funded project CoSTREAM targets the common mechanisms and pathways of stroke, Alzheimer’s disease to improve disease prevention and treatment, by combining clinical, genetic, epidemiologic, metabolic and radiologic research to develop an organ-on-a-chip in vitro model for the blood-brain connection that will revolutionise drug-development.
On top of the meaning and mystery that humans heap on the heart, it is first and foremost, a muscle. And one that beats about once a second for a person’s entire life, with no rest. Given its vital importance, it’s ironic researchers have only recently made direct observations of its subcellular parts in motion.
Liposomes are currently used as drug delivery vehicles but recognized by the immune system. Scientists from the universities of Basel and Fribourg have shown that special artificial liposomes do not elicit any reaction in human and porcine sera as well as pigs. The study was published in the Journal Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine.
Leading cardiologist Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, has developed a free mobile application called “Circle of Health” to empower individuals around the globe to take action to comprehensively assess and enhance their daily overall heart health. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of mortality in the world. Dr. Fuster has created “Circle of Health” for the daily promotion of…
While most Down syndrome research has focused on the brain, a new report by Johns Hopkins University biologists uncovers how the disorder hampers a separate part of the nervous system that plays a key role in health and longevity.
Feeling high levels of distress, fear and hostility prior to undergoing an angioplasty or other interventional radiology procedure may lead to a poor outcome, according to new research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Iron nanoparticles injected before magnetic resonance imaging can make tissues more visible and the same nanoparticles may allow doctors to precisely target tumors with new medicines. However, among the challenges to the practical use of nanoparticles in the human body is what scientists refer to as lack of “hemocompatibility” – nanoparticles tend to be attacked and cleared by the immune…
A common heart drug may stop the progression of angiosarcoma, a cancer of the inner lining of blood vessels, according to a study by researchers at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) El Paso.
At this year’s MEDICA, CNOGA Medical Ltd. will be introducing its new line of non-invasive, pain-free patient vital signs monitoring TensorTip™ devices, and presenting its new Singular™ platform, a secure cloud-based ecosystem infrastructure platform as well as its new mobile application for sending results to physicians, friends and caretakers. CNOGA’s easy-to-use, portable devices are…
In the world of technology, the term Industry 4.0 is already well known. Univ-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Bernhard Wolf has reveals a comparable development in medicine. Smart systems and personalisation have enormous potential, the Professor for Medical Electronics at the Technical University of Munich is convinced.
The latest member of SCHILLER’s rescue family is extremely compact and offers the latest defibrillation technology in combination with comprehensive monitoring functions. It is the first emergency monitor/defibrillator equipped with a touch screen, making it the most intuitive device on the market.
Researchers have shown that people with high blood pressure develop changes in their hearts even before symptoms appear. These changes are known to put people at risk of dying early, and the new work suggests it is possible for doctors to recognise such signs of heart disease earlier than they can today - by examining detailed images of the heart.
The University of Hawai'i Cancer Center discovery could warn patients years in advance allowing for a lifestyle change.
Eating more fruits and vegetables as a young adult may keep your arteries free of heart disease 20 years later, according to research in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
Engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, are developing a new type of bandage. Thanks to advances in flexible electronics, the researchers have created a new "smart bandage" that uses electrical currents to detect early tissue damage from pressure ulcers, or bedsores, before they can be seen by human eyes - and while recovery is still possible.
Scientists have evidence that Popeye was right: Spinach makes you stronger. But it’s the high nitrate content in the leafy greens — not the iron — that creates the effect.
Systems biology allows the mathematical visualisation through graphs and networks of complex body processes such as disease development. The aim is to improve understanding processes and triggers of diseases, so as to access and repair a damaged network. ‘We are still approaching this issue with a lot of naivety and underestimate the complexity of biological systems, and therefore of…
Researchers have identified a new test that can be used to predict the likelihood of a patient developing heart failure, or even dying following a heart attack.
Innovative presentations, ground-breaking science and inspirational lectures underlined the diversity of sessions at the British Cardiovascular Society 2015 conference held in Manchester this June.
The role transthoracic echocardiography plays in a number of common clinical scenarios was discussed by leading cardiac imaging experts at this year’s British Cardiovascular Society Conference.
In the battle against cancer, which kills nearly 8 million people worldwide each year, doctors have in their arsenal many powerful weapons, including various forms of chemotherapy and radiation. What they lack, however, is good reconnaissance — a reliable way to obtain real-time data about how well a particular therapy is working for any given patient.
2.5 million radial arterial catheters (RAC) are used annually in Europe (USA: 8 million), commonly to monitor arterial blood pressure and take blood samples in surgical, A&E and ICU units. They can fail. For a study of mechanisms that might lie behind premature RAC failure and complications related to RAC in clinical use*, at team at the Radiology/Ultrasound and Anaesthesiology Department,…
Researchers have successfully tested two new potential methods for diagnosing and monitoring diabetes in its standard and gestational forms. These findings, presented at the 2015 AACC Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo in Atlanta, may lead to easier, timelier, and more affordable ways of identifying and treating this chronic disease.
During the past 15 years, liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has evolved into a vital technology used to perform routine tests in many clinical laboratories. Historically, LC-MS/MS had been used primarily by research, pharmaceutical, or commercial laboratories; however, advances in the technology, decreasing costs for basic systems, intelligible software, an increased…
Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute have uncovered a new mechanism for the regulation of blood pressure. Published in Molecular Cell, the study links events at the single-cell level to a system-level effect, showing that blood pressure can drop dramatically if the protein ERAP1 is released from cells and enters the blood stream.
The vast amounts of data accumulating in breast diagnostics require new methods to extract clinical information in a practical way. When dealing with large amounts of data that is too big or too complex to be analysed with traditional data processing applications, the talk today is of ‘Big Data’. The data volume accumulating in breast diagnostics has become increasingly complex over recent…
Following up on European Hospital’s page one report (Issue 2: Cut prescriptions… Choose treatments wisely!) EH reports that the United Kingdom has also launched the campaign to help. Report: Mark Nicholls
Blood sampling via intravenous catheters frequently occurs because patients in intensive care already have intravenous catheters in place, and patients admitted to accident and emergency units are immediately set up with intravenous catheters – providing easy access to blood.
This article discusses examples of applications of genetic analyses in coagulation disorders and haematological and oncological diseases. Professor Christine Mannhalter highlights the impact changes have on the occurrence and severity of diseases and their influence on therapy response. Report: Christine Mannhalter
Non-calcified arterial plaque is associated with diabetes, high systolic blood pressure and elevated 'bad' cholesterol levels in asymptomatic individuals, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.
Some athletes who take part in endurance exercise such as marathon running, endurance triathlons or alpine cycling can develop irregularities in their heartbeats that can, occasionally, lead to their sudden death. Evidence published in the European Heart Journal by Professor La Gerche and colleagues has shown that doctors who try to detect these arrhythmias by focusing on the left ventricle of…
Many NHS hospitals in the United Kingdom have established Rapid Access Chest Pain Clinics (RACPC) to work in tandem with them in offering primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) – the gold standard treatment for heart attacks – 24 hours a day. Report: Mark Nicholls
Imaging the head and neck is only rarely practised in radiology training and is highly complex and particulate, which is why, during our discussion with Professor Birgit Ertl-Wagner, Head of MRI at the Institute for Clinical Radiology at Grosshadern Hospital, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, she pointed out that many radiologists are not comfortable with orientation around this area. When…
Health apps have the potential to make a broad impact on the health of the general population, argues one expert in The BMJ this week. But another explains that there is not enough evidence to support such claims and suggests that health apps may even be harmful.
The question as to whether or not there is a point in using medical apps on private smartphones is being asked more frequently. Issues around medical diagnostics are among the key points here. We asked Prof. Dr. Dr. Norbert Gässler, Head of the Centre for Laboratory Diagnostics at the St. Bernward Hospital, Hildesheim, for competent advice. Interview: Walter Depner
Regenerative medicine uses cells harvested from the patient’s own body to heal damaged tissue. Fraunhofer researchers have developed a cell-free substrate containing proteins to which autologous cells bind and grow only after implantation.
For people living in Chamonix-Mont Blanc medical services at the nearby community hospital have been reduced to little more than a stopover visit before being referred down the mountain to larger facilities in the network of the Hospitals of Mont Blanc Country. Report: John Brosky
Working with lab animals and human heart cells, scientists from Johns Hopkins and other institutions have identified what they describe as "the long-sought culprit" in the mystery behind a cell-signaling breakdown that triggers heart failure.
Sphere Medical, launches its in-line patient dedicated arterial blood gas analyser in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium at ISICEM 2015. The advanced Proxima System delivers true point-of-care testing (POCT) by enabling critical care staff to obtain frequent laboratory accurate blood gas measurements without leaving the patient’s bedside. This facilitates effective and timely clinical decisions…
Wrist-watches, wrist and arm bands, tags, finger rings, clips, smart glasses, shoes, insoles, smart patches (as thermometers), sensors woven into fabrics for T-shirts and socks and, of course, implantable devices as well as ingested pills were displayed by 23 exhibitors in the Wearable Technologies Show at Medica this year. Report: Cornelia Wels-Maug
Cardiovascular disease develops in a slow and subclinical manner over decades, only to manifest suddenly and unexpectedly. Prevention is crucial, both before and after clinical appearance, Report: Dr Eduardo de la Sota
Although telemedicine could improve the quality of life of patients with chronic liver diseases, viable home care systems are still lacking. However, within the EU-project ‘d-LIVER’ (www.d-liver.eu) scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, in St. Ingbert, Germany, are working with European partners to develop an IT- and cell-based system that will help chronic…
World-renowned experts discussed the situation of predomonant epidemics at the International Roche Infectious Disease Symposium in Barcelona.
We live in a connected world, a very different world than it was a decade ago, said Eric Topol MD. Mobile devices, wearable devices are driving a creative revolution, reducing costs of healthcare, increasing patient access to health information.
The ‘Fire of Life’ developed by Schiller is an intuitive visual presentation of frequency-domain heart rate variability (HRV) that makes the assessment of 24-hour results fast and simple.
By recognition and early intervention against the most significant risk factors, many heart diseases can be prevented.
Radiotherapy is being proposed to treat heart diseases, specifically for hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF).
Clinicians and companies remain committed to a procedure that failed to demonstrate efficacy against a sham-control group in pivotal clinical trial
Recently, ways to improve trauma care, particularly the care of acutely injured victims of traffic accidents, was discussed by international experts gathered at the World Trauma Congress (held in Frankfurt/Main, Germany).
On the leading edge of automation for medical laboratory testing, Siemens Healthcare rolled out an impressive suite of new products at IFCC WorldLab 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey that are ‘exactly aligned, and even anticipate, customer needs in central lab operations,’ according to Franz Walt, CEO for the Chemistry, Immunoassay, Automation and Diagnostics IT business unit within Siemens’…
Amongst the historic churches and palazzos of the Northern Italian city of Parma lies the University of Parma, which, founded in the 12th Century is one of the oldest academic establishments in the world. The city is served by Parma University Hospital (Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Di Parma) a large and renowned hospital offering 1,218 public beds.
It was the quiet before the storm. At the end of March, during the American College of Cardiology (ACC) meeting in Washington, the future of renal denervation was about to be decided with the presentation of the Medtronic-funded Simplicity HTN-3 clinical trial.
It is the quiet before the storm. At the end of March, the future of renal denevation will be decided with the presentation of the Simplicity HTN-3 clinical trial at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Washington.
Around 50% of surgical patients experience moderate to severe postoperative pain, and ‘minor’ surgery patients receive little pain care.
Despite a slight drop in sales in 2013 compared to the previous year, for 2014 the German medical diagnostics manufacturers anticipate a positive business development, according to the trend indicator presented by the business association Verband der Diagnostika-Industrie (VDGH) in Berlin.
‘The disease “cancer” is increasingly classified into sub-groups. Today, we are already dealing with a number of orphan diseases,’ says Professor Richard Greil MD, head of LIMCR at University Hospital Salzburg.
Poor growth in the first three months of pregnancy is associated with a range of cardiovascular risk factors in childhood, finds a study published on bmj.com.
Today it is not difficult to wire a bathroom weight scale so it can talk to a smartphone. What becomes more interesting is to make sense of what they are saying.
Specialising in BP monitors, Omron Healthcare BV of Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, is extending portfolio with two new designs for medical professionals.
At October’s annual congress of trauma and orthopaedic surgeons in Berlin, the session Ultrasound beyond trauma and orthopaedic surgery – What can we learn from neighbouring disciplines? exposed the unexploited potential of ultrasound for trauma and orthopaedic surgery, EH correspondent Bettina Döbereiner reports.
The CMEF autumn show turned out to attract crowds from China, East and Central Asia, Africa, Europe, the U.S., and further regions.
Clinical chemistry influences almost all medical disciplines: most diagnoses are made or confirmed only after the laboratory has determined at least one or two parameters.
When it comes to hospital choice, patients no longer rely on their doctor’s advice alone. Improved health literacy and a growing awareness of potential risks (e.g. hospital acquired infections, medical errors) are encouraging patients to choose carefully by considering the quality of care delivered, patient satisfaction scores, patient safety and comfort in general.
At Bracco Suisse SA in Geneva all efforts are dedicated to contrast media for ultrasound scans. During their visit to the firm’s research centre and manufacturing site, Daniela Zimmermann and Ralf Mateblowski met with François Tranquart MD PhD, general manager of the Bracco Suisse research centre, to hear why SonoVue is now Europe’s most popular ultrasound contrast agent, with research…
Medical technologies have maintained a leading position in European patent registrations for 15 years.
In intensive care units (ICUs) little can be automated to relieve staff pressures – with the exception of point of care testing (POCT)
There is a global shortage of doctors that is getting worse every year. With the demographic shift in many countries from a predominantly young to an increasing aging population, a steep increase in chronic disease is occurring.
In 1839 Richard Thoma was the first to observe that arteries respond to flow: he identified a fundamental relationship between blood flow and arterial calibre.
A new procedure may help people with persistent hypertension. By burning or ablating the nerves in the renal arteries, blood pressure levels can be reduced significantly.
People who walk to work are around 40 per cent less likely to have diabetes as those who drive, according to a new study
People with cheerful temperaments are significantly less likely to suffer a coronary event such as a heart attack or sudden cardiac death, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.
In the meantime, the Compamed Spring forum has become as much a part of the furniture as the Compamed in Düsseldorf - the leading international specialist trade fair for suppliers to the medical technology industry which has been held every year in November since 1992.
This May it will be exactly 60 years since the first extracorporeal circulation device to temporarily replace heart/ lung function was successfully used in a clinical setting.
Loading high performance functions on highly portable ultrasound systems puts life-saving tools in the hands of trauma physicians, John Brosky reports.
The 2013 turnover expected by German in vitro diagnostics producers are significantly lower compared to last year, according to a survey of members carried out by the German Diagnostics Industry Association (VDGH) presented in January at the Diagnostica Forum in Berlin.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the main cause of accidental death in Europe and all highly developed countries, accounting for around 40% of all accidental mortality.
Arterial stiffness of the central human blood vessels leads to increased work for the heart and damages microstructures in the organs. However, measuring blood vessel elasticity inside the body is not that easy.
‘The disease “cancer” is increasingly classified into sub-groups. Today, we are already dealing with a number of orphan diseases,’ says Professor Richard Greil MD, head of LIMCR at University Hospital Salzburg.
Study described in The New England Journal of Medicine is the first to show cause-and-effect relationship between a gene variant and calcium deposits on the aortic valve.
As the use of Twitter and other social media by physicians and patients rises, more and more physicians seem to forget to do what many consider crucial for building doctor-patient trust: disclose potential conflicts of interest.
R&D is the core strength at Omron Healthcare, a leader in medical and home healthcare products with innovative technologies. At Medica the company is on the hunt for new partners to extend its portfolio and markets.
How healthy are Medica attendees? In Hall 9, Welch Allyn is capturing and documenting vital signs using its Connex vital signs system to find out.
Petabytes of data on each patient will become the foundation of future diagnostics and therapy. Genetics, imaging and environmental information – toxins, lifestyle – will deliver a precise picture of the individual, allowing for diagnostic precision and targeted treatments.
With growing bed shortages and increased demand on clinical services, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) says that the country’s National Health Service (NHS) is approaching the point where acute care cannot keep pace in its current form, Mark Nicholls reports
Petabytes of data on each patient will become the foundation of future diagnostics and therapy.
The recent Swiss eHealth Summit, a Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) event supported by key organisations, drew 600 leaders from hospitals, policymaking and the industry. Among the key topics: how IT enables access to information in a mobile environment, referred to by speaker Uwe Buddrus as mHealth.
If technological innovation, interoperability and quality of information is your purpose, Pisa was the place to be in August.
To treat heart problems, common sense says we should look to the heart. New European research based on an advanced ultrasound system suggests that stiffening of the arteries plays a key role
In 2011, among Germany’s 82 million people 69.5 million holiday trips were made, each lasting at least five days; 47.8 million (68.8%) of these were abroad.
Rumour had it for a while, and many found out when the bomb was finally dropped at, of all places, the Congress of the International Transplantation Society, held in Berlin this July – the waiting list for donor organs in the database of the Eurotransplant Foundation had been manipulated.
A fresh approach that opens a step-by-step path to clinical lab automation.
John Brosky reports on a ground-breaking trial and how CT-FFR may change the practice of invasive cardiology and cardiac surgery.
Cardiologists are increasingly concerned about patients with persistent hypertension demanding a new technique, in the absence of clinical proof of its long-term benefit. As more related devices are launched, John Brosky reports on the procedure, drawbacks, and a potential €2 billion market.
Radiation dose reduction in CT angiography can be achieved by reducing the kV settings, reducing the tube voltage, the tube current and by using iterative reconstruction algorithms.
If the hopes of inventors are to be believed, in around 20 years’ time there will be ‘real artificial lungs -- for now the endpoint of a history that began 84 years ago with the invention of the iron lung. Until then, non-invasive and invasive mechanical respiration will continue to dominate the hospital, complemented by extracorporeal procedures for blood oxygenation and decarbonisation,…
Controversies were certainly aired when 800 radiologists gathered in Salzburg for The Interventional Radiological Olbert Symposium - a meeting of the German, Austrian and Swiss Societies for Interventional Radiology (DEGIR ÖGIR and SGCVIR) – and certainly some striking new interventions were presented. Michael Krassnitzer reports
Every year, around 80,000 lower extremities in Europe have to be (partially) amputated as a result of peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). Half of the affected patients die within five years of the amputation.
When the ISICEM 2012 opens this March, Brussels will again experience a healthy influx of medical specialists intent on hearing the most recent, clinically relevant developments in research, therapy and management of the critically ill.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the world’s biggest public health problems. In the USA, for example, about 1.7 million people sustain TBI every year, costing healthcare $76.5 billion. Yet, the public knows little of the significance of TBI and also it once received the nickname ‘silent epidemic’ by the American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Johns Hopkins neurologists report success with a new means of getting rid of potentially lethal blood clots in the brain safely without cutting through easily damaged brain tissue or removing large pieces of skull. The minimally invasive treatment, they report, increased the number of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) who could function independently by 10 to 15 percent six months…
Tarilian Laser Technologies (TLT) have confirmed, from early studies, the ability of its Sapphire sensor technology to detect white coat hypertension (WCH) during measurement of blood pressure in a clinical setting and to create a novel platform from which WCH can be distinguished from background stress and anomalous baseline variability.
The German Paediatric Heart Centre (DKHZ) is one of the largest of its kind in Europe. Over 25 years the centre has treated big and small patients with congenital heart defects, very now and then being faced with rare, individual cases that present very particular challenges. In any one year, consultant paediatric cardiologist Professor Martin Schneider MD encounters perhaps five such non-…
The next generation of integrated operating systems celebrated a world premiere in clinical use this November in Leipzig Germany. EH Correspondent Holger Zorn was there when Professor Gero Strauss entered the Surgical Deck of the International Reference and Development Centre for Surgical Technology (IRDC) as ´Commander`.
Italy is a front runner in diabetic foot revascularisation. Among the country’s pioneers is Professor Roberto Gandini, at the Diagnostic Imaging and Interventional Radiology Department, University of Tor Vergata in Rome, who has developed and improved new technical options in peripheral vascular disease intervention, a technique that now saves about 92% of patients from major amputations due…
Prof. Uwe Nixdorff from the European Prevention Centre, Düsseldorf advocates cardiologists combine IMT measurement with ALOKA’s pulse wave intensity function to check for unseen coronary heart disease: “This technique is currently seldom used, however in my experience it provides a more complete picture and enables me to treat patients earlier for life-threatening conditions that are often…
Traumatic injuries result in 800,00 deaths per year in Europe, making this one of the leading causes of mortality and the primary cause of death in patients aged 45 years old or younger. Depending on the type and severity of injury, usually trauma patients are treated by a team of experts from different disciplines.
London firm Max Medical Products Ltd is at Medica for the first time to demonstrate its quality diagnostic devices, first aid equipment and medical disposables.
We may be able to live longer due to medical advances, but what of the ability to live independently in old age? According to DeStatis, the German Federal Statistical Office, by 2050 there will be a deficit of 260,000 caregivers – and Germany is not alone in this.
Networked communication is a critical factor in healthcare modernisation worldwide. A reliable, secure infrastructure and pplications adapted to the needs of care providers are essential in the transformation towards accessible, efficient, quality-driven care. Networking technology is Cisco’s core business. Newly appointed as Director of Sales, Public Sector, Cisco Germany, Cécile Willems is…
Modern medical technology is evidently held in high esteem by the general population. In a recent survey conducted by the market research institute Emnid commissioned by the industry association SPECTARIS, about 80% of the patients surveyed said that under certain circumstances they would be willing to pay more for their health insurance in return for consistent treatment with state-of-the-art…
From 16 - 19 November 2011, the attention of health and medical care professionals from around the world will once again focus on Düsseldorf, as the world's largest medical trade fair, MEDICA 2011, World Forum for Medicine, and COMPAMED 2011, High tech solutions for medical technology, the leading international trade fair for the suppliers market in medical manufacturing, get underway.
Recognised globally for its hand-held instruments, Welch Allyn launched the Connex Electronic Vital Signs Documentation System and portable vital signs monitor at Medica last year. This year the firm is showing its Connex Integrated Wall System, an advanced vitals management and physical assessment solution combining all necessary examination tools in one neat, accessible wall unit. Using it,…
The theme of this year's World Stroke Day on 29 October is "One in Six", referring to the facts that one in six people will have a stroke at some point in their lifetime, and that a stroke will be the cause of someone's death every six seconds. These, says the World Stroke Organization (WSO), are everyday people leading everyday lives, but around 85% of them will have risk factors…
MEDICA 2011 in Düsseldorf (16 - 19 November) promises an "explosion" of novelties from the medical technology industry. The more than 10,500 new products registered by exhibitors at the MEDICA.de Internet portal are not the only indicators. The MEDICA PREVIEW press event already provided a preview of the most significant trends and product highlights.
Expert warns that breast screening across the country needs to undergo a dramatic transformation over the next 15 years, Mark Nicholls reports.
Agfa HealthCare announces today it has teamed up with Schiller America Inc., a leading international manufacturer and supplier of electrocardiographs, stress and cardiopulmonary exercise testing, long-term ambulatory Holter ECG and blood pressure recorders, spirometers, medical IT solutions, patient monitors and external defibrillators.
Point of care technologies (POCT) have an important, quality enhancing, risk-reducing and cost-impacting role within the extremely time-critical medical decision structures of a central Accident and Emergency department, says Professor Wilfried von Eiff, Centre for Hospital Management, University of Muenster, Germany.
Xenon anaesthesia not only preserves the heart and circulation but also prevents post-operative delirium. The high cost of the gas is made up for by a shorter length of sta. Report: Holger Zorn
High levels of chocolate consumption might be associated with a one third reduction in the risk of developing heart disease, finds a study published on bmj.com. The findings confirm results of existing studies that generally agree on a potential beneficial link between chocolate consumption and heart health. However, the authors stress that further studies are needed to test whether chocolate…
A drop of blood can unlock secrets of the heart. By analysing the biological elements present in a blood, a physician can better understand the extent of damage or disease for patients with heart failure and more confidently prescribe a course of treatment.
While depression and anxiety have long been recognised as risk factors for heart disease, there is less certainty over the beneficial effects of a ‘positive’ psychological state. Now, according to results from a study of almost 8,000 British civil servants, published online by the European Heart Journal, researchers report that a satisfying life is indeed good for the heart.
Studies show that when a nurse follows patients after a cardiovascular crisis those patients stay healthier, live longer and reduce the risk of returning to hospital. Now the challenge is how to convince insurers to pay for this care, reports John Brosky.
A modern-day childhood totally differs from what was common just a few decades ago. It is mostly spent sitting -- at school desks, in front of TV screens or before computer monitors – all combined with the sweet temptations of the kid’s food industry. According to a WHO worldwide estimate, an estimated 10% of school-age children between five and 17 years old are overweight or obese. The…
The Academe Hospital of Bellvitge, which is part of the Catalan Health Institute, has been designated an International Centre of Excellence for Bariatric Surgery (ICE) by the Surgical Review Corporation (SRC), a US-based non-profit-making organisation that aims to ‘advance the safety, efficacy and efficiency of bariatric and metabolic surgical care’
Morbid obesity is a chronic, lifelong, multifactorial, constitutional disease with negative medical, psychological, physical, social and economic side-effects. Obesity-related secondary diseases are Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension or sleep apnoea. Report: Holger Zorn
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) is calling for a single, co-ordinated European system to oversee the evaluation and approval of medical devices. The call is being made in a paper published online in the European Heart Journal reporting on a conference held by the ESC in January 2011 looking to increase the input of medical experts in developing medical device policy.
A little over three decades after the world's first human heart transplant (HT), Carmat’s life-size artificial heart, a mix of animal tissue, titanium and missile technology that perfectly replicate a human heart, might save the lives of thousands.
Metabolic syndrome, diabetes and vascular disease: What do we need to know? During ECR session this important question is addressed by vascular specialist Professor Erich Minar, Assistant Head of the Department of Angiology at the Vienna General Hospital (AKH), President of the Austrian Society of Angiology, and scientific researcher working closely with research centres in the USA.
Much of the newly revealed variation in amputation rates in England is due to many diabetics not receiving nine key care processes, including checks on weight, blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, urine and, in particular, consistent foot care checks.
Often a life-saving intervention, mechanical ventilation also has some serious drawbacks: the need for sedation, the risk of ventilator associated pneumonia, intubation or tracheostomy related complications. In 1972, Donald Hill from Pacific Medical Centre, Los Angeles, reported the first successful long-term mechanical lung assist device with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
For 170 years, the German firm seca has set worldwide standards for medical scales and measuring stations. Today, its products are used by medical teams in 110 countries, measuring a range of patients from tiny premature babies to adults weighing 300kg and basket ball players soaring to 7’ 4” high.
Around 18,472 angioplasty procedures and 4,752 stent procedures were completed in Germany in 2008. By comparison, only 7,710 angioplasty procedures and 438 stent procedures were completed in the same year in the UK.
While Contec’s broad range covers 13 product categories, the accent over the past year has been on enhancing patient-centred devices with fresh features developed by the firm’s research & development team. For example, while the typical screen size for patient monitors is 12-inches, Contec recently introduce models that both increase and reduce that size in response to customer demand.
Clues to the causes of serious, and often fatal, diseases and conditions, such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure, are being investigated at the Universities of Strathclyde and Glasgow, both in Scotland, with the use of a £1 million grant.
Aipermon GmbH & Co. KG reports that cooperations with medical device manufacturers Vitalograph and PARI Pharma have opened up new approaches to telemonitor lung patients.
Numerous studies have shown that cocoa has a protective effect against cardiovascular diseases. The reason for this has now been uncovered by researchers at Linköping University in Sweden. When a group of volunteers devoured a good-sized piece of dark chocolate, it inhibited an enzyme in their bodies that is known to raise blood pressure.
Diabetics can face a five times increase in the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) than non-diabetics. This leads to a seven to ten year reduction in life expectancy and a higher probability of suffering a fatal heart attack. These sad statistics have prompted the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) to mark World Diabetes Day on 14 November by emphasising the simple measures that…
7,000 people from 120 countries met in Stockholm this September to hear international experts discuss the progress, solutions and challenges of one of our greatest healthcare burdens. Prevention, self-monitoring, surgery, guidelines, economic problems, drug-safety, and co-morbidities – these are just a few of the problems associated with the care of about 55 million diabetics in Europe.
Cardiologist, nuclear medicine specialist and researcher Dr Alessia Gimelli works for the Fondazione Toscana Gabriele Monasterio, National Research Council in Pisa, Italy. For the past year she has used Discovery NM 530c, GE’s latest Nuclear Cardiology platform, featuring an innovative CZT collimation technology called Alcyone Technology.
With the “World Stroke Day” the World Stroke Organization (WSO) aims to communicate a unified message to the world: stroke is a preventable and treatable catastrophe, and together we can fight this growing epidemic. This year’s theme is “Stroke‐What can I do?” The answer is ‐ a lot. The WSO prompts individuals, groups and governments to take action against stroke either at a…
Invited by Dr Mahdi Rezai, medical director of the breast centre at Luisen Hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany, and founder of the European Academy of Senology, some 1,400 international specialists attended the 8th Düsseldorf Breast Cancer Conference this June where leading experts evaluated new imaging methods.
The aim of the predictive modelling systems being trialled in the UK are to identify which people in a given population are the most likely to be admitted to hospital in the next 12 months and then focus preventive measures on them to try to avoid hospital admission. Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), which commission hospital services in the UK, are favouring the model as they try to cut costs during a…
Recently, the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in the Czech Republic reached 7-8% (783,321 diabetics were treated last year – 419,362 females and 363,959 males) but this figure leaps to 25-30% for diabetes related hospitalisations.
Initiated in 1999, the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study involved 4,814 European participants. The results proved, for the first time, the connection between coronary calcifications and the risk of heart attack, according to scientists at the University Hospital in Essen. The finding by no means exhausted the potential inherent in the surveys. Subsidised until 2013, researchers are examining coronary…
Surgeon Alain Carpentier is ready to remove a patient’s heart and replace it with a mechanical device he spent 15 years developing. By 2013 the procedure will be performed on 50 European patients as part of a clinical trial to win CE approval for the world’s first fully implantable artificial heart.
New imaging technologies are opening a new chapter in interventional cardiology by offering something this widely practiced procedure has been missing -- vivid clinical evidence to assess effectiveness. Interventional cardiology has moved rapidly from opening blocked arteries by crushing plaque with inflatable balloons to reinforcing the walls of the re-opened arteries with flexible metal stents…
Patients with heart failure with normal ejection fraction (HFNEF) also referred to as ‘stiff heart’, show a normal ejection fraction and severe diastolic dysfunction. President of the Austrian Society of Cardiology, Professor Irene Lang warns: ‘It is particularly concerning that stiff heart is a little known and insufficiently researched cardiac condition -- a stepchild in research,…
The identification of cardiometabolic risk is one of the most frequently performed standard examinations, which many European health insurers even require for patients of a certain age. Up to now, physicians had to calculate the value manually on the basis of certain parameters – a time-consuming task. Seca, which specialises in medical scales, now offers 360° wireless, which not only measures…
In Switzerland, they say, the clocks tick a little slower than elsewhere in the world. Not at Schiller AG in Baar, however: The company remains forever ahead of the times. Since 1971, physicist Alfred E Schiller, the company’s founder and managing director, has successfully shown competitors in the tough intensive and emergency care market what innovative progress really means.
A team led by UK-based researchers has found that having diabetes doubles the risk of developing a wide range of blood vessel diseases, including heart attacks and different types of stroke. The consortium, headed by Dr Nadeem Sarwar and Professor John Danesh of the University of Cambridge, analysed data from the individual records on 700,000 people, each of whom was monitored for about a decade…
Despite some uncertainty about how it works, there is a growing consensus that Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) – also known as Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) – is revolutionising wound care. Speaking at the 1st International Surgical Wound Forum, held recently in Amsterdam, surgeons from Europe and the USA predicted the growing use of this innovative technology across the spectrum of…
The Health Informatics Congress held in the UK this April, revealed how IT is helping health Trusts across the UK to take innovative steps in the way they respond to patients’ needs. The Clinical Showcase session examined how Trusts are coping with new patient administration and reporting systems and, in particular, how Cerner Millennium and Lorenzo systems are being implemented.
During the Forum MedTech Pharma (30 June to 1 July, Nuremberg, Germany)Texas Instruments discusses the impact of semiconductor innovation on the development of medical equipment. ‘As an integrated circuit (IC) provider we sell both analogue and digital solutions to system houses, which then integrate the product,’ explained Dr Karthik Vasanth, Medical Business Unit Product Line Manager at…
Scientists have determined that chronic wounds might have trouble healing because of the actions of a tiny piece of a molecular structure in cells known as RNA. The Ohio State University researchers discovered in a new animal study that this RNA segment in wounds with limited blood flow lowers the production of a protein that is needed to encourage skin cells to grow and close over the sore.
In June 2009, IBM introduced the industry’s first set of commercial cloud services. Based on two years of research and hundreds of client engagements, the IBM Smart Business ‘cloud’ portfolio aims to help clients turn complex business processes into simple services. How does IBM explain what cloud services are? Cloud Computing is a form of IT use where the end user can utilise…
While lower intelligence scores have been associated with a raised risk of cardiovascular disease, no study has so far compared the relative strength of this association with other established risk factors such as obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. Now, a large study has found that lower intelligence scores were associated with higher rates of cardiovascular disease and total mortality at…
Dräger SmartPilot View is a software, which, for the first time, provides a two-dimensional representation of the current and the forecasted course of anaesthesia. Similar to a GPS device, this "map of anaesthesia" shows the anaesthetist at which stage of the anaesthesia the patient is. Like a pilot, the software supports the anaesthetist in optimally guiding the patient through the anaesthesia.
The World of Health IT Conference & Exhibition (WoHIT) 2010 will for the first time be held in conjunction with the European Union’s annual High Level eHealth Conference and is being organised by the European Commission, HIMSS Europe, the Spanish Ministry of Health and Social Policy, the Regional Government of Catalonia and Foundation TicSalut.
A child's blood pressure, body mass index, blood glucose level and other laboratory tests and simple office measures may predict the risk of developing type 2 diabetes nine and 26 years later, according to a report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Using a new noninvasive imaging technique, scientists said they have discovered important, fundamental differences in heart motion by age and gender. Their study - reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, a journal of the American Heart Association - is the first to provide gender- and age-specific data on the motions of the normal heart based on a regional analysis of myocardial…
Patients with atrial fibrillation, so at risk of stroke, are usually treated with medication to prevent coagulation. The Hanover Medical School (MHH) has devised an alternative treatment.
In the operating room, a surgeon typically is surrounded by 11 different medical devices, « and they all keep beeping at us, » complains Dr. Martin Schuster at Charité University Hospital in Berlin. «Which one of these alarms is important, » he asks, adding that blood pressure, oxygen saturation and ventillator alerts can sound between 10 and 12 times during each case.
Stroke accounts for almost 6 million deaths each year and ranks second only to heart disease as the world's leading cause of death. The theme of this year's World Stroke Day on 29th October is "What can I do?". As the World Stroke Organization says, everyone can do something: learn to recognise symptoms and take action, learn to recognise the risk factors and take action.
Measuring left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) is the gold standard for determining the risk of cardiac death or sudden cardiac death after a myocardial infarction (MI). If LVEF is below 30%, a cardioverter-defibrillator is implanted to avoid such an event.
The global prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus is rapidly accelerating towards a disastrous impact in just two decades.
The Leapfrog Group is a U.S. organisation of member companies that pay for healthcare services, e.g. corporations, health insurers and local, state and federal government agencies. Established in 2000, its philosophy is that big 'leaps' in healthcare safety, quality and value to patients will be recognised and rewarded. The organisation mobilises purchasing power of its members, representing over…
A telemedicine programme, run through Leicester University Hospitals since last November, allows parents and young patients with Type 1 diabetes to use their mobile phone to record blood sugar levels.
The UK, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden and the Netherlands already have it - an official obligation to report MRSA cases to their health authorities. Since 1 July 2009 German law has also required notification. Professor Herbert Hof, Director of the Institute for Microbiology and Hygiene at the University Hospital Mannheim, Germany, explained why such notification became essential.
Paramedics and other first-aid workers are often confronted with severe bleeding that can be arrested relatively easily. However, inappropriate approaches are frequent, and sometimes even increase bleeding, or cause other damage to the victim. Medical journalist Karl Eberius MD, asked Dr Edgar Biemer MD, of the Praxisklinik Dr Caspari hospital, in Munich, Germany, and the former head of the…
A system of national quality registers, established in recent decades in Sweden's health and medical services, now numbers 64 registers. Along with three competence centres, these cover, for example, diabetes mellitus (NRD), dementia (SeDEM), Swedish intensive care (SIR) and acute coronary care (RIKS-HIA), and the Register Ulcer Treatment (RUT), which was added at the dawn of 2007. The latter has…
The use of phone and internet between patients and healthcare providers is an effective way to reduce risk factors for coronary heart disease and the risk of further events after a heart attack, according to new research published in June issue of the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation.
Today help is often available for those suffering from high blood pressure in the pulmonary circulation (pulmonary arterial hypertension/PAH). New drugs — so-called endothelin receptor antagonists — make it possible to alleviate the symptoms, improving patients' physical strength and quality of life.
Results of five clinical studies evaluating the predictive value of VENDYS, a new FDA-approved cardiovascular test, were presented at the 2009 Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology in Florida.
Scientists have developed a new test for detecting kidney disease, according to a paper published online in April by Kidney International (www.nature.com/ki/). The technique will allow researchers and clinicians to identify kidney disease or injury within 15 minutes of testing in both rats and humans.
"Radiologists often see cancer patients over a period of years and continuously deliver important information for the treatment process," says Claus D. Claussen MD, Professor of Radiology and Director of the Clinic for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University Hospital in Tübingen and President of the 90th German Radiology Congress. For the first time in the history of this…
The Wound Care Unit at the Clinic Pasteur in Toulouse, France, was successfully set up to deliver a multidisciplinary approach to diabetic wound care.
Genetic differences can explain why some patients undergoing heart surgery later experience shock and kidney complications, according to a study by German and Australian researchers. The results indicate that performing a genetic test on patients before they have surgery can help guide treatment after they leave the operating room.
The 9th Annual Spring Meeting of the European Society of Cardiology Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions (CCNAP), organised in cooperation with the Irish Nurses Cardiovascular Association (INCA), is being held at the Royal Dublin Society, Dublin, Ireland, on 24-25 April.
Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumours in women. Treatment is only necessary if the fibroids cause pain and bleeding due to their size and position. Minimally-invasive fibroid embolisation is a gentle, efficient and long-lasting treatment for their removal, leaving the uterus intact. The first evaluations of several international long-term studies have indicated a high success rate…
Anna Köck, Dipl. Rel-Päd (FH), Catholic Hospital Pastor at Graz University Hospital, Head of the Centre for Graz Hospital Staff and Head of the Christians and Muslims in the Hospital symposium, discusses the legal position of Islam in Austria and examines the question of cooperation or conflict between Christians and Muslims in the hospital.
Philips leads the €15.9 million project to develop image-guided localized drug delivery technologies that could significantly impact the treatment of cancer and cardiovascular disease. The goal is to maximize therapeutic efficiency and minimize side effects of treatments for cancer and cardiovascular disease. The hope is that this level of control will also provide a means of tailoring the…
The colder the weather, the greater the increase in blood pressure in the elderly population - to this conclusion comes a French study from Bordeaux, Dijon and Montpellier. The authors recommend to improve the blood pressure management in the elderly when outdoor temperature is very low by close monitoring of blood pressure and antihypertensive medication.
Marcel van Kasteel MBA, is VP of Philips and CEO of Handheld Immunoassays, a Philips Incubator venture in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, which recently announced that, by the end of this year, the first device to test for drug abuse will be marketed that will make on the spot testing simple and quick for use by the police.
Dusseldorf, November — Medica's anniversary had many significant facets: in its 40th year, and for the 40th time, this spectacular international medical trade fair broke its previous year's record in visitor numbers — but, only just. The event was not only struck by the snow and ice of a sudden winter onset, but also by a storm that brought a level of chaos to Messe Dusseldorf's outdoor…
Hungary is going to start a major new collaborative research programme to transform the care of elderly citizens was announced in Hungary. A broad consortium of private and public sector organisations, led by GE Healthcare has secured HUF 895 million (US $4.2 million) from the Hungarian government to research and develop new ways of monitoring the health of elderly citizens in their own homes. …
If a patient is delivered to the clinic with pulmonary complications, the clinic has to decide which type of therapy is suitable. In addition to purely medical aspects other criteria also play an important role such as: the mental and physical stress on the patient due to the treatment, the time it takes to implement a measure and the overall economics of the procedure.
'I was very surprised!' said cardiologist Dr Maria Prokudina, of the Almazof Federal Centre of Heart, Blood and Endocrinology, when invited by Professor John Elefteriades MD, head of Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Yale-New Haven Hospital (University School of Medicine) to lecture about Stress Echocardiography in Clinical Practice.
Germans want a different healthcare system. 93% want individualised services — and they are prepared to pay for them, according to a study relating to the strategies of providers in Germany's healthcare system and their acceptance by the public.
Worldwide interest in portable systems for cardiopulmonary support has grown significantly. While some systems are at the brink of market introduction, German company Lifebridge Medizintechnik AG reports that it is 'at the top of this medical technology market', for its smallest, lightest (18kg) system, Lifebridge B2T ('Bridge to Therapy') has been in clinical use since the beginning of 2008.…
Developed in collaboration with international clinicians, Orchestra workstations feature state-of-the-art infusion systems.
Maquet has launched Cardiohelp, the world's smallest, lightest heart-lung machine, that can not only provide a total therapy solution for heart surgery, cardiology, intensive and emergency care, but also, due to its suitcase size and 10 kg weigh, the device can be carried by just one person onto a helicopter or ambulance for mobile use.
The obesity epidemic is increasingly affecting young teens worldwide. In the USA the epidemic is well-established: more than 17% of children are obese and about a third of those have high blood pressure, which places them at risk for premature heart disease.
An ultrasound imaging technique that picks up early evidence of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) currently missed in conventional tests has been developed by researchers* at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).
Most professionals will recognise issues that call for consideration in a wider context, a context that does not merely consider strictly professional issues, i.e. issues based upon facts and figures, write Johannes Gossner MD and Joerg Larsen MD FRCR, of the Institute for Roentgendiagnostics, Braunschweig Teaching Hospitals, Germany.
Maquet has launched Cardiohelp, the world's smallest, lightest heart-lung machine, that can not only provide a total therapy solution for heart surgery, cardiology, intensive and emergency care, but also, due to its suitcase size and 10 kg weigh, the device can be carried by just one person onto a helicopter or ambulance for mo-bile use.
The COMPAMED, the leading specialist international trade fair for suppliers to the medical manufacturing market, is held parallel to the MEDICA, the world's largest medical trade fair, each year and showcases the dynamism and innovative power of the medical technology sector. The COMPAMED 2008, High tech solutions for medical technology, will, with around 500 exhibitors from 30 nations, once…
It´s MEDICA time again: A top theme is the rapidly progressing networking process of the agents in the health care system thanks to new applications, in particular in the field of medical IT.
Approximately 31 million people in the European Union are suffering from diabetes, a devastating disease with severe consequences for patients and their families, but also for the society at large and the economic prosperity of Europe. This week EH Online will focus on innovative strategies in diabetes care and on new management systems to support physicians and patients alike. Moreover, we will…
Optimal treatment of diabetes is very difficult to achieve since many obstacles have to be overcome such as expensive treatments, poor patient compliance or insufficient datac. With these challenges in mind, a new research project titled "Computerassisted Diabetes Risk Management (CDRM)" was put in place to examine how eHealth solutions can improve diabetes care.
ESC speaker John Cleland from the University of Hull, UK, sumed up the latest treatment available for patients with diabetes mellitus and expressed his worries about side-effects and efficacy of available anti-diabetic drugs. If you want to read his ESC abstract, just click the “read more” button.
Last week the English government closed its consultation on the effectiveness of vascular checks for high-risk people aged 40-74. Would this help? Experts from New Zealand and the WHO say "yes". Others argue that public health approaches targeting the whole population are both: cheaper and more effective than tablets.
The inverse epidemiological association between serum levels of HDL-C and risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) is graded and has been validated in multiple studies. However, there is remaining controversy whether a low HDL-C should not predominantly be considered a marker of poor lifestyle (obesity, lack of exercise, hypertriglyceridemia, diet, etc.), rather than a primary causal agent for…
Lifestyle and risk factor results show that recommended scientific guidelines form a contrast to what is achieved in daily practice in high risk individuals in primary prevention of CVD. Together with its partners the ESC demands a comprehensive and multisdicplinary primary prevention programme involving the high-risk population, their GP's and other health professionals, a health insurance…
Intima media thickness (IMT) is a valuable research tool that can be used as surrogate end points in clinical trails, says Professor Stefan Agewall.
Almost 25 years ago Michael Harrison of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) operated on the bladder of an unborn child. Almost eight years later, surgery was carried out on the diaphragm of an unborn child. His approach was controversial: a paediatric surgeon opened the abdomen and uterus of the pregnant woman, lifted out the foetus, performed the surgery and returned the foetus to…
Countries vary widely in their capacity to manage hypertension, but globally the majority of diagnosed hypertensives is inadequately controlled. Not treated it can cause cardiovascular disease (CVD), myocardial infarction and stroke. According to the WHO, hypertension is estimated to cause 4.5% of the current global disease burden and is as prevalent in many developing countries as in the…
Children are not born overweight. Dramatic weight gain in some children and adolescents tends to start only during school, puberty and after. The reasons are known: unhealthy diet - too much, too fatty, too sweet - and lack of exercise.
Royal Philips Electronics is to lead `euHeart´, the new European Union (EU) funded research project that aims to improve CVD diagnosis, therapy planning and treatment.
The world's first installation of Cisco's telemetry system HealthPresence has been completed at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland. The system combines video, audio and call centre technology with medical information in a high-security network.
To reduce health costs as well as improve health, many large employers and insurers are introducing pay for the performance of patients (P4P4P).
The diagnostic work-up of syncope patients often raises the question of how much diagnosis is necessary and what examination methods are really needed. To save time, specialists recommend focusing on determining whether the syncope may be caused by a cardiac problem - a question answered quite easily in many cases. Karl Eberius MD, European Hospital's new correspondent, discussed advice for…
The probability of woman of suffering from cardiovascular diseases is often underestimated. A recent study evaluated the risk of nearly 9.000 women in the U.S. screened for heart-health risk: one in five women had a higher risk than measured by a frequently used predictor.
A pressure sensor that is implanted into the heart works with an electronic monitoring system that wirelessly measures patient's pulmonary artery pressure. It allows physicians to track the patient's pulmonary artery pressure while they remain at home
Hospital admission might probably determine the severity of heart failure. By analysing data from 260 hospitals across the United States researchers created a model to reduce in-hospital mortality and more quickly identify triage methods and treatment decisions.
Provision of standard infectious disease precautions and safe workplaces for nurses all around the world are the main claims of a statement shaped during the International AIDS Conference by Physicians for Human Rights and the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.
Tiny lipid-shelled microbubbles injected in vessels may serve as an new ultrasound contrast agent to evaluate microvascular blood flow. By this microbubbles US-researcher devised a ultrasound imaging technique that can spot early signs of PAD.
Reseacher from the Univerisity of Zürich discovered a new function of the “happiness hormone”, serotonin. It boosts the growing of colon cancer by enhancing the vascular development of tumors.
The ankle brachial index, a ratio of blood pressure measurements used to indicate the risk of peripheral artery disease and atherosclerosis, may be useful to improve the accuracy of cardiovascular risk prediction, according to a meta-analysis of previous studies.
Medical services About 90% of hospital income is generated in the 35 weekly working hours of regular day shifts. However, due to new work time regulations fewer and fewer physicians are available for these productive shifts and much of the work time is spent in the 133 working hours of the 'unproductive' night shifts.
Physiology is the science concerned with the processes and functions of an organism.
Possibilities to co-develop new clinical diagnostic tests for companion diagnostics, metabolic syndrome, oncology and diabetes, are being explored by Siemens Healthcare and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp).
The recently launched KFH Novo from Kingfisher Healthcare (KFH) is a non-invasive medical device that utilises Bio-Electric Stimulation Therapy (BEST) to deliver extremely low levels of current to chronic wounds. This does not interfere with standard conventional therapy; the electrodes are placed some way from the wounds, beyond the normal treatment areas.
On 1st May, Medilog became part of the SCHILLER group. Medilog will be SCHILLER's high-end Holter system. Medilog's additional products are an ideal complement to SCHILLER's present product range. The SCHILLER group very much looks forward to the coming co-operation.
Developments in MRI over the last few years have revolutionized the diagnosis and therapy of cardiovascular diseases. Contrast-enhanced MR angiography has established itself as a non-invasive, standard procedure for the diagnosis of vascular diseases in the thorax, abdomen and periphery.
Self-service can cut patient services costs, says Anne Warner, who reports for the trade publication Kiosk Europe.
Germany - Managing a lab for out- and in-patient care involves not only mastering increasing pressures in terms of efficiency and cost-optimisation, but also being au courant with ever evolving clinical issues and state-of-the-art lab technology and procedures.
Cardiovascular diseases kill more than 12 million people worldwide every year and are the cause of death for more than 50% of all Europeans over the age of 65.
Ian Mason reports from Chicago
Over the past few years, hospitals in Germany have been faced with ever new challenges. However, the solutions offered so far are not sufficient. On the contrary - rather than solving problems, they tend to create new ones. A change of paradigm in the organisation of hospitals is imminent and hospitals have to change radically, argues Holger Richter
By Professor Anis Baraka MD FRCA (Hon), Chairman of the Anaesthesiology Department at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon
The Virtual Physiological Human By Hans-Ulrich Kauczor MD PhD, Director and Chairman of Radiology at Heidleburg University Clinic, and radiologists Frederik Giesel MD MBA and Hendrik von Tengg-Kobligk MD of the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidleburg, Germany.
Analytica, to be held in Munich for the 21st time, has become a leading international trade fair for instrumental analysis, laboratory technology and biotechnology, showcasing the entire range of equipment, solutions and services for laboratories in industry and research. About 400 exhibitors will fill five halls in the New Munich Trade Fair Centre.
Czech Republic - The second successful hemicorporectomy (translumbar amputation) was carried out several months ago by surgeon Frantisek Antos and team at the Bulovka Faculty Hospital, Prague.
As announced today, MEDRAD, an affiliate of Bayer HealthCare and a leading provider of contrast injection systems used to diagnose cardiovascular disease, has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Possis Medical, leading provider of mechanical thrombectomy devices used to treat narrowed or blocked blood vessels. MEDRAD will acquire Possis Medical in a cash tender offer for US-Dollar…
Germany - Once again MEDICA 2007 drew healthcare professionals- this year around 137,000 — to attend the congress and view the enormous number of medical products demonstrated by over 4,300 exhibitors.
According to a recently published study in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, a vertebral fracture assessment (VFA) examination can be used to measure abdominal aortic calcification (AAC). The level of AAC can predict the likelihood of myocardial infarction as well as stroke among elderly women, independent of other clinical risk factors.
The St. Lucas Andreas Hospital in Amsterdam-West, the first in the Netherlands to begin the daily remote monitoring of cardiac patients at home, is using the Philips Motiva system. About 100 patients will be involved.
Where are the most high-tech start-ups? That`s an easy one: Silicon Valley. But who comes in a close second? Surprisingly: Israel. Further: Israel ranks Number 1 in terms of availability of scientists and engineers and Number 2 in quality of higher education. The result of this impressive track record is a wide range of successful enterprises and products, particularly related to the life…
New to the Siemens Medical Solutions portfolio of ultrasound applications is the syngo Arterial Health Package (AHP), which calculates cardiovascular risks by measuring carotid intima media thickness and determining the relative `vascular age´ of the vessel. Using this, along with, for example, cholesterol values and blood pressure, a physician can better assess a patient's myocardial or…
After a successful market penetration, TMA Medical (founded 1993) is currently expanding its Mobile Care Unit (MCU) introduction worldwide.
Ten years ago, Tim Smokoff began his career with Microsoft. Since then, the healthcare arena has become a long term investment for the company and today he is Managing Director of the Microsoft Healthcare Group.
IVAM is an international association of companies and institutes that specialise in microtechnology, nanotechnology and advanced materials.
Every fourth patient suffering from an irreversible heart defect and due for a heart transplant dies while waiting for a donor organ despite the use of extracorporeal blood pumps. A new ventricular assist device (VAD), currently under development at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), promises a new approach to help these patients. The fully implantable heart support device might be an effective…
For 2 1/2 years we have had the opportunity to use a 64-MSCT in our emergency department at the Brüder-Krankenhaus Trier, the biggest institution of the Brothers of Charity and academic teaching hospital at the University of the State Capital of Mainz.
The results of the blood pressure lowering arm of the ADVANCE (Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease) study, the largest ever trial conducted in people with type 2 diabetes, were recently reported in the Lancet.
Born in 1891, Canadian Sir Frederick Banting was destined to become a medical scientist and Nobel Prize winner for work that led to the discovery of insulin. World Diabetes Day, held on his birthday, aims to sensitise the public - including potential patients - to this condition. Worldwide, around 245 million people suffer Diabetes mellitus. With 5.3 million of them in Germany, the country's…
The healing environment approach is a comprehensive concept targeting the elimination of stress factors for patients as well as their visitors that would otherwise minimise patient's wellbeing, impair the healing process, or even violate their dignity/privacy.
EH: Isn't the merger of Australia's international Sonic Healthcare and Bioscientia, a global player, deeply rooted in the Boehringer Ingelheim group, something of a "clash of civilisations"?
Cardiac infarction is characterised by tissue ischaemia with loss of contractile heart muscle.
A new blood pressure (BP) measuring device that provides, along with all the conventional cardiovascular parameters, the cardiac stroke volume, peripheral resistance and arterial augmentation, has been developed at the Austrian Research Centre (ARC), Vienna-Seibersdorf. The result of seven years' work by researchers, the device, named CardioMon, is now ready for sale.
Research Project in Telemedicine
Diabetic foot syndrome (DFS) is one of the most serious sequela of diabetes mellitus - Disease management programmes (DMP) yield first results
UK & France - The Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET), the biggest global clinical trial to assess the benefits of lowering blood pressure in patients aged 80+, was halted in July, two years before its scheduled completion in 2009.
The interest in using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) alongside conventional Western medical care has steadily increased among European physicians; it is no longer unusual, for example, for acupuncture to be suggested by a doctor to help fight tobacco addiction, or to ease a persistent musculoskeletal problem.
Researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles found out that the blood level of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP), a neurohormone released by the heart when it is stressed or damaged, provided a direct relationship with in-hospital mortality. So a simple blood test can predict in-hospital mortality risk for heart failure patients.
Osmolality is a simple, rapid and relatively inexpensive procedure that is important in the diagnosis of many physiological conditions, because the measurement of osmolality often provides information that cannot be obtained by any other method.
The beautiful weather not only causes high spirit but also seasonal allergies. And as every year, over-the-counter allergy medications are booming, whereas most of the patients are extremely thoughtless concerning the use of antihistamines, not being aware of the side effects.
Currently, to expand and centralise the MRI Department at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Luebeck, Germany, a new building is being planned.
Preliminary findings from the largest-ever study of treatments for diabetes provide no evidence that intensive treatment to lower blood glucose (sugar) increases risk of death.
At second instance a Libyan court sentenced five Bulgarian nurses to death. The healthcare workers are accused of allegedly infecting more than 400 children in Libya with HIV through contaminated blood products. Now Bulgaria will bring charges against 11 Libyan police officers for torturing the nurses into confessing that crime, that they allegedly did not commit.
If something doesn't fit we make it fit, and if it doesn't exist we invent it: Pragmatism combined with imagination and idealism are the foundation stones of groundbreaking inventions that improve daily life in medicine.
Health Manager, a new diagnostic system for personal health monitoring, will be launched by Biocomfort at Medica in November.
New pulsatile heart pumps (ventricular assist devices - VAD) can remain in the body as a permanent heart support.
Better measurement standards for high-intensity focused-ultrasound (HIFU) are necessary.
Spacelabs Healthcare is a growing group of companies now operating under one new name. Earlier companies incorporated under this name include Spacelabs Medical, Del Mar Reynolds, Blease, Hertford Cardiology and Spacelabs Medical Data.
„Through its engagement in various initiatives and publications ZVEI (the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association) consistently underlines the great potential of IT in the healthcare system — in Germany and Europe. “It's a milestone in German healthcare modernisation within a European context”, says ZVEI
Earlier disease detection will save healthcare services
Like obesity it is harder to treat than high BP or cholesterol. Now Spanish cardiologists are urging a new approach to patients who smoke.
Stroke risk should determine anti-clotting treatment for people with irregular heartbeat.
Wilhelm Niedergoeker, Managing Director of the Messe Dusseldorf GmbH, previews this year's events.
In the line of the symposium `Preventive Medicine - Costs, Uses, Technology´ in Nuremberg, healthcare experts dicussed how to cut costs.
EU multidisciplinary lung research project aims to cure pulmonary hypertension.
Understanding the way people breathe might explain how the body regulates blood pressure and much else.
The UK spends more of its healthcare budget on cardiovascular disease than any other country in the EU.
It sticks to the skin like a plaster, but this credit-card sized innovation contains an entire patient-controlled drug-delivery system.
Five years ago, surgeons at the Lukas Hospital in Neuss, Germany, used water jet dissection for visceral surgery for the first time. Dr Bernhard Lammers, head of the hospital's General and Visceral Surgery Department, describes subsequent experiences with this procedure and possible future developments
A medical failure or biological necessity?
Professor Paul Pepe and Dr Jane Wigginton discuss current research and concepts that will affect the future of basic CPR.
General information concerning the country's healthcare is held at the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE).
Interview with Prof. Klaus Vetter MD, director of the Obestetrics Clinic at the Perinatal Centre, Vivantes Hospital Neukölln, Berlin, Germany.
Rationale and effectiveness in the non-healing diabetic foot ulcer patient. By Peter HJ Mueller and Robert A Warriner III
The latest textile technologies go along with fabric integrated sensors, or computers, to measure e.g. the functioning of a patient's cardiovascular system.
During an EH interview, Professor Stefan Osswald MD described this complex system and its future potential
A connection has been discovered between raised levels of the liver enzyme Gamma-Glutamyl-Transferase (GGT) and the probability of death from diseases of the cardiovascular system or strokes.
Alfred E Schiller, founder and managing director of Schiller AG, based in Baar, Switzerland, describes the rise of his company and its place in today’s highly competitive intensive care market. Alfred Schiller founded Schiller AG in 1971 and three years later introduced his first product – a pocket-sized electrocardioscope, which has been built on successively over the years. The…
Countries in the European Union spent €169 billion in 2003 on cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to research from a team at the Health Economics Research Centre, Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, England, just published on-line by the European Heart Journal.
Germany - The Ultrasonic Cardiac Output Monitor (USCOM), a portable system that enables beat-to-beat cardiac output assessment at medical emergency locations, has been tested for use during helicopter patient transportations, and worked effectively, without suffering from or causing interference to helicopter electronics.
In the first six months of 2004, over 17,000 people sought help and advice from the German Pain Union (Deutsche Schmerzliga), which demonstrates the high number of people, in Germany alone, who have failed to find a therapy that can alleviate recurrent or chronic pains
Melatonin hormone controls the circadian rhythm. In periods of darkness, melatonin reduces cardiovascular activity and induces fatigue. Morning light inhibits melatonin secretion in the pineal gland, which increases cardiovascular activity.
Sildenafil, an active agent used in the impotence drug Viagra, has been administered to seven young mountaineers on an Everest expedition, to test its effect on the lungs. Seven other men on the expedition are receiving a placebo.
Europe - Every year, 4 million people die from cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Europe as a whole (as many as 800,000 of them under 65 years old) and, in the EU Member States, over 1.5 million people die annually from CVD.
Blood pressure (BP) screening, either alone or in combination with other cardiovascular risk factors such as cholesterol levels, does not determine a person's chance of having a heart attack or stroke, reports Professor Malcolm Law and colleagues at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in the Journal of Medical Screening.
Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major healthcare problem with 1-2% of the population affected in Western countries. Because it increases with age, the prevalence of CHF is escalating with our aged populations.
Fifty years ago Henry Gibbon introduced a vital tool for cardiac surgery - the heart-lung machine. While pioneering efforts were made in the first half of the 20th century, this equipment enabled reproducible operations for either congenital or acquired heart disease in many patients.
A newly invented 'Polypill', composed of currently available drugs, may act as a 'vaccine' against heart disease, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal (28 June. BMJ 2003;326:1419).
UK - A hand-sized, electronic peak flow meter, which measures lung capacity and can be connected to a PDA mobile handset is being tested for use by asthma sufferers.