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Search for: "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" - 104 articles found

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Article • Benefits of seated placement

Patient positioning during cancer radiotherapy: Upright is alright

The concept of delivering radiation therapy to cancer patients seated in an upright position is undergoing a major resurgence. Evidence is already highlighting that patients feel more comfortable seated upright and enjoy better communication with radiotherapists during their care. In addition, there are indications of less internal organ movement, enabling more accurate treatment delivery.…

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Article • RFA, MWA, CRYO and IRE under scrutiny

Thoracic interventions: new tools in the arsenal

Experts presented state-of-the-art and emerging techniques to treat chest tumours and discussed common issues in the management of pneumothorax at RSNA 2022. Current ablation methods in the thorax include radiofrequency ablation (RFA), microwave ablation (MWA), cryoablation (CRYO), irreversible electroporation (IRE) and pulsed electric field.

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Article • “Embracing the future: Making robots for humans” at ICRA

Conference unveils the latest developments in robotics and automation

Ever-more sophisticated robots are advancing healthcare across a wide range of areas. Latest developments and research are being showcased in London from May 29 to June 2 at the 40th International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA). The event is set to be the world’s largest gathering on robotics and automation with pioneers, inventors and innovators coming together with academics,…

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Article • Confirming initial positive findings

First-tier rapid serology testing for Lyme disease

Lyme disease, the most common tick-transmitted bacterial infection in the world, is challenging to diagnose. Initial early-stage symptoms may include skin rash, fever, headache, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and/or body and joint aches. However, these symptoms are also associated with many other diseases and medical conditions.

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News • Shepherding medical data

Machine learning platform turns healthcare data into insights

Over the past decade, hospitals and other healthcare providers have put massive amounts of time and energy into adopting electronic healthcare records, turning hastily scribbled doctors' notes into durable sources of information. But collecting these data is less than half the battle. It can take even more time and effort to turn these records into actual insights — ones that use the learnings…

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News • CRISPR-Cas9

An 'on-off switch' for gene editing

Over the past decade, the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system has revolutionized genetic engineering, allowing scientists to make targeted changes to organisms’ DNA. While the system could potentially be useful in treating a variety of diseases, CRISPR-Cas9 editing involves cutting DNA strands, leading to permanent changes to the cell’s genetic material. Now, in a paper published online in Cell,…

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News • Nanotechnology

New low-cost solution for virus-scale microscopy

Using an ordinary light microscope, engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have devised a technique for imaging biological samples with accuracy at the scale of 10 nanometers — which should enable them to image viruses and potentially even single biomolecules, the researchers say. The new technique builds on expansion microscopy, an approach that involves embedding…

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News • Self-administration of medication

Many patients use their inhalers and insulin pens wrong. An AI system could fix this

From swallowing pills to injecting insulin, patients frequently administer their own medication. But they don’t always get it right. Improper adherence to doctors’ orders is commonplace, accounting for thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in medical costs annually. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a system to reduce those numbers for some…

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Video • Evaluation of contact-free interaction model

Talking to a 'robotic doc'? Most patients wouldn't mind

In the era of social distancing, using robots for some health care interactions is a promising way to reduce in-person contact between health care workers and sick patients. However, a key question that needs to be answered is how patients will react to a robot entering the exam room. Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently set out to answer that question. In a study…

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News • Infection research

Mutations help bacteria resist antibiotic treatment

Bacteria have many ways to evade the antibiotics that we use against them. Each year, at least 2.8 million people in the United States develop an antibiotic-resistant infection, and more than 35,000 people die from such infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Most of the mutations known to confer resistance occur in the genes targeted by a particular antibiotic. Other…

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News • Restoring proprioception after amputation

New surgery improves 'phantom limb' sensation, prosthesis control

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have invented a new type of amputation surgery that can help amputees to better control their residual muscles and sense where their “phantom limb” is in space. This restored sense of proprioception should translate to better control of prosthetic limbs, as well as a reduction of limb pain, the researchers say. In most…

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News • Microbiome research

'Organs-on-a-chip' system sheds light on interactions between gut and brain

In many ways, our brain and our digestive tract are deeply connected. Feeling nervous may lead to physical pain in the stomach, while hunger signals from the gut make us feel irritable. Recent studies have even suggested that the bacteria living in our gut can influence some neurological diseases. Modeling these complex interactions in animals such as mice is difficult to do, because their…

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News • Mapping the 'family tree' of cancer

Metastasis monitoring: CRISPR tool catches cancer 'in the act'

When cancer is confined to one spot in the body, doctors can often treat it with surgery or other therapies. Much of the mortality associated with cancer, however, is due to its tendency to metastasize, sending out seeds of itself that may take root throughout the body. The exact moment of metastasis is fleeting, lost in the millions of divisions that take place in a tumor. “These events are…

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Article • A technique evolves

Cardiac CT: a diagnostic jack-of-all-trades

According to Professor Fabian Bamberg, Medical Director at the Clinic for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at University Hospital Freiburg, Germany, ‘In recent years, cardiac CT has seen a mindboggling technological evolution.’ It is, he believes, a very robust procedure that allows the routine acquisition of high-resolution images with very few side effects.

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    Article • Open source framework

    Here comes the AI healthcare era

    Although the Covid-19 pandemic has put wind behind the sails of AI in healthcare, domain specific tools are needed to build and deploy AI and harness its power in data handling, training workflows and reproducibility of state-of-the-art approaches, according to Kimberly Powell, NVIDIA Vice President of Healthcare at the technology firm NVIDIA, presenter of a public address at RSNA 2020.

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    News • Research shows

    Children are silent spreaders of COVID-19 virus

    In the most comprehensive study of COVID-19 pediatric patients to date, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Mass General Hospital for Children (MGHfC) researchers provide critical data showing that children play a larger role in the community spread of COVID-19 than previously thought. In a study of 192 children ages 0-22, 49 children tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and an additional 18…

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    News • New tool discovered

    Gut microbiome: Crohn’s disease bacteria grown in the lab

    Several thousand strains of bacteria live in the human gut. Some of these are associated with disease, while others have beneficial effects on human health. Figuring out the precise role of each of these bacteria can be difficult, because many of them can’t be grown in lab studies using human tissue. This difficulty is especially pronounced for species that cannot live in oxygen-rich…

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    Article • Goodbye to grayscale

    Dual Energy CT – seeing x-rays with colors

    Computed tomography (CT) is one of the most important imaging options for the diagnostics of patients. For a long time, in clinical routine CT technology mostly showed the Hounsfield Units (HU) that are indicated in the grayscale. However, the Dual Energy CT (DECT) enables colored X-ray images, therefore significantly improving examination methods. “We can also do material separation and get a…

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    News • Infrared imaging

    New imaging method to detect and monitor liver disease

    It’s currently difficult to screen for certain liver diseases and to monitor these conditions once they’re discovered. A team led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) recently developed a non-invasive imaging method that has promising clinical potential to accomplish both goals. The technique is described in a study…

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    News • From physical to computational staining

    Deep learning accurately stains digital biopsy H&E slides

    Tissue biopsy slides stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) dyes are a cornerstone of histopathology, especially for pathologists needing to diagnose and determine the stage of cancers. A research team led by MIT scientists at the Media Lab, in collaboration with clinicians at Stanford University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School, now shows that digital scans of these biopsy…

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    News • New sensor tech

    A more reliable way to early detect lung tumours

    People who are at high risk of developing lung cancer, such as heavy smokers, are routinely screened with computed tomography (CT), which can detect tumors in the lungs. However, this test has an extremely high rate of false positives, as it also picks up benign nodules in the lungs. Researchers at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have now developed a new approach to early…

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    News • Subdermal quantum tattoo

    Nano-patch stores medical information under the skin

    Every year, a lack of vaccination leads to about 1.5 million preventable deaths, primarily in developing nations. One factor that makes vaccination campaigns in those nations more difficult is that there is little infrastructure for storing medical records, so there’s often no easy way to determine who needs a particular vaccine. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)…

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    Article • RiskCardio

    Using machine learning to estimate risk of cardiovascular death

    Humans are inherently risk-averse: We spend our days calculating routes and routines, taking precautionary measures to avoid disease, danger, and despair. Still, our measures for controlling the inner workings of our biology can be a little more unruly. With that in mind, a team from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) came up with a new system for better…

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    Article • 100th birthday of Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield

    The legacy of the man who pioneered computed tomography

    On the centenary of his birth, Mark Nicholls reflects on the life and legacy of Nobel laureate Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield, the man who pioneered computed tomography. It was a discovery that came from a moment of inspiration during a country walking holiday; the idea that one could determine what was inside a box by taking X-ray readings at all angles around the object. From that, Sir Godfrey…

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    Video • Nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry

    Hydration sensor could improve dialysis

    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…

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    Article • Man and machine

    The radiologist as today’s centaur

    Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to drive radiologists’ discussions. Among them, Associate Professor Georg Langs, head of the Computational Imaging Research Lab (CIR) at the University Clinic for Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at the Medical University of Vienna, believes: ‘The evaluation of patterns in data from imaging examinations and clinical information about patients using machine…

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    Article • PET/MRI, PET/RF & more

    Disruptive innovations in molecular imaging

    Molecular imaging is an exciting field for scientists who are willing to explore and innovate, prominent Spanish physicist José María Benlloch pointed out when he reviewed some of the most impacting and recent innovations in his portfolio during a meeting in Valencia. ‘Our mission is to develop innovative sensitive and harmless medical imaging instruments for early detection of diseases and…

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    News • Oncology

    Discovering cancer cell mutations with optimized technologies

    Cancer cells often have mutations in their DNA that can give scientists clues about how the cancer started or which treatment may be most effective. Finding these mutations can be difficult, but a new method may offer more complete, comprehensive results. A team of researchers has developed a new framework that can combine three existing methods of finding these large mutations - or structural…

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    News • Reinforced learning

    AI masters tightrope walk of cancer treatment dosage

    Using a new approach called 'reinforced learning', researchers have taught an artificial intelligence (AI) to responsibly choose the right amount of chemo- and radiotherapy for glioblastoma patients. The technique, which is insprired by behavioural psychology, has given the AI the ability to master the tightrope walk between effective tumor shrinkage and the medications' severe side effects.

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    News • Antibiotic overuse

    Could a paper device diagnose infectious disease?

    Imagine a small paper device that can rapidly reveal from a drop of blood whether an infection is bacterial or viral. The device could help reduce the overuse of antibiotics – which kill bacteria, not viruses. Misuse of antibiotics has led to antimicrobial resistance, a growing global public health issue. Senior biomedical engineering students at Rutgers University–New Brunswick came up with…

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    Article • Healthcare artificial intelligence

    AI – Radiology’s next frontier

    Artificial intelligence (AI) technology and its role and future impact on the radiology profession was the dominant theme at RSNA 2017, whether in scientific presentations or in the technical exhibitions. Keith J Dreyer DO PhD addressed this subject head-on in his presentation ‘Healthcare AI – Radiology’s Next Frontier.’ Dr Keith Dreyer, vice chairman of radiology informatics and chief…

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    Article • Compelling cohorts

    Population imaging: Big Data will boost disease prediction

    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…

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    Article • Old technique & new technology

    Optoacoustics: the sound of cells

    For centuries, hands, eyes and ears were the physicians’ most important instruments when it came to detecting and diagnosing disease. Today, one of the traditional techniques, percussion, is being revived, supported by state-of-the-art technology and dressed in a new name: optoacoustics. In one of the most exciting visionary ideas in modern healthcare short laser pulses (optics) are transmitted…

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    News • Discovery

    ‘Hijacker’ drives cancer in some patients with high-risk neuroblastoma

    Researchers have identified mechanisms that drive about 10 percent of high-risk neuroblastoma cases and have used a new approach to show how the cancer genome “hijacks” DNA that regulates other genes. The resulting insights may help scientists develop more effective therapies, including precision medicines. The research involved investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital;…

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    Video • "Stormram 4"

    This 3D-printed robot could be the future of cancer treatment

    Cancer surgeons perform an estimated 1.7 breast biopsies each year, according to the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations. This makes the procedure a significant proportion of cases referred to anatomic pathologists. This surgery, however, is time-consuming and not always accurate due to shortcomings in existing surgical technology and to human error. Now, a 3D-printed…

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    Article • Smarter predictions

    Artificial Intelligence helping to detect breast cancer

    Scientists are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support more effective breast cancer detection. The researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Harvard Medical School, are using the machine learning system to predict whether breast lesions identified from a biopsy will…

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    Article • Patient care

    Advancing AF and renal dysfunction care

    An innovative cardiac monitoring system that delivers continuous resynchronisation to patients, has shown a 35% risk reduction of hospitalisation for heart failure (HF) patients. The finding comes from the RESPOND-CRT (cardiac resynchronisation therapy) clinical trial, which was designed to investigate the clinical efficacy and safety of device-based optimisation using the SonR cardiac…

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    News • Watson

    Predicting flu epidemics with Twitter data

    Osnabrueck cognitive scientists and their students are developing new and intelligent expert systems, which help to effectively utilize the flood of daily information in everyday life. To enable working with large amounts of data, the Institute of Cognitive Science at Osnabrück University has engaged in a cooperation with the global corporation IBM, and will be able to access the IBM computer…

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    Microfluidic device tests effects of electric fields on cancer cells

    Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology research center in Singapore have developed a new microfluidic device that tests the effects of electric fields on cancer cells. They observed that a range of low-intensity, middle-frequency electric fields effectively stopped breast and lung cancer cells from growing and spreading, while having no adverse effect on neighboring healthy cells.

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    News • Iso-acoustic focusing

    Ultrasound method increases awareness about cancer cells

    In brief, the new method involves exposing cells to ultrasound when they flow through a so-called micro-channel inside a chip. The individual cells are separated in the acoustic field and by studying the cells’ lateral movement at the end of the channel it is possible to identify the acoustic properties of the cells. Conversely, if you know the cells’ acoustic characteristics, you can detect…

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    News • Diabetes

    No more Insulin injections?

    In patients suffering from Type 1 diabetes, the immune system attacks the pancreas, eventually leaving patients without the ability to naturally control blood sugar. These patients must carefully monitor the amount of sugar in their blood, measuring it several times a day and then injecting themselves with insulin to keep their blood sugar levels within a healthy range. However, precise control…

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    News • Fluorescent agent

    Injectable agent illuminates cancer during surgery

    Doctors at the Duke University School of Medicine have tested a new injectable agent that causes cancer cells in a tumor to fluoresce, potentially increasing a surgeon’s ability to locate and remove all of a cancerous tumor on the first attempt. The imaging technology was developed through collaboration with scientists at Duke, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Lumicell Inc.

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    Real-time data for cancer therapy

    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.

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    IT helps ensure patient safety in the ICU – and beyond

    Integrated information management reduces risks and cuts cost, Finn Snyder reports. Intensive care units (ICUs) are vital in healthcare. ICUs in US hospitals, for example, treat six million of the sickest and oldest patients annually, according to a document recently published for the Massachusetts Technology Park Corporation, which states that choices about how to manage them carry high stakes:

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    The 10th United Kingdom Radiology Congress

    Delegates at the UKRC 2011 will examine who should deliver 21st century imaging services in the UK, when the relationship between radiologists and radiographers will be the focus of a keynote debate. The session ‘This house believes that radiologists have given up enough of their professional role to radiographers’ will also see delegates vote on this issue.

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    The ultra-high-field MRI symposium

    Early problems of ultra-high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been overcome by successful development of adequate hardware. In consequence big efforts have been achieved in structural imaging, as well in functional imaging. Basic scientists and physicians who work in ultra-high-field MRI in Europe and the USA, met at the Berlin Ultra-high-field Facility (BUFF), in the Max Dehlbrück…

    Impact of Recession on US Hospitals

    The American Hospital Association (AHA) issued a report in January 2009 advising of the impact that the steady economic downturn in the US economy will have on hospitals.

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    Pioneering software to protect patients' privacy

    Information in patients' records could benefit biomedical research in terms of understanding diseases and their treatments. The drawback is that those records contain confidential information that could identify patients. If that data has to be removed manually, the task is not only painstaking and therefore expensive, but also not foolproof.

    A software for patients privacy

    Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a software application to automatically "de-identify" medical records. The software might help to allay patients' fears about who has access to their confidential data. It is capable of deleting details which may identify patients while leaving important medical information intact.

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