News • Tissue analysis tool
'Smart scalpel' to help remove brain tumours
Researchers have developed the 'iKnife', a smart scalpel that is able to recognise healthy tissue from brain tumour in seconds as it cuts, with more than 98% accuracy.
Search for: "epilepsy" - 100 articles found
News • In between neurons and astrocytes
Neuroscientists discover new kind of brain cell
It had long been recognized that the brain was made up of two types of cells, neurons and glial cells. Now, neuroscientists discovered an additional type - with huge implications for brain disorders.
News • New printing method
Self-folding 4D electrodes enhance nerve stimulation
Using 4D printing technology, researchers have developed flexible electrodes. On contact with moisture, they automatically fold and wrap themselves around thin nerves.
News • Curative effects of Sonata KV488
Epilepsy: researchers dispel "Mozart myth"
A new study by psychologists at the University of Vienna shows that there is no scientific evidence supporting the alleged positive effect of Mozart's Sonata KV448 on epilepsy.
News • Novel therapeutic strategy
Chemogenetics for the treatment of challenging epilepsy cases
Scientists from Japan demonstrated, for the first time, a successful chemogenetic suppression of widespread epileptic seizures in macaque monkeys. Their findings represent an essential step towards clinical trials, and effective treatment for patients with severe epilepsy.
News • Deep learning, infrared and 3D videos
Using AI to classify epileptic seizures
A team of researchers from Portugal and Germany tested an innovative solution to classify seizures, the main symptom of epilepsy, using infrared radar and 3D videos.
News • From decades to days
Single test for over 50 genetic diseases cuts diagnosis
A DNA test has been shown to identify a range of hard-to-diagnose neurological and neuromuscular genetic diseases quicker and more-accurately than existing tests.
News • Ultrasound
"Sonogenetics" researchers control mammalian cells with sound
Researchers pinpoint a sound-sensitive mammalian protein that lets them activate brain, heart or other cells with ultrasound.
News • Brain study
Diagnosing neurological diseases before symptoms occur
Cleveland Clinic has launched a landmark study to better understand why millions of people around the world suffer from brain diseases, with the goal of pinpointing disease biomarkers early, well before clinical symptoms present themselves.
Article • Benefits of multimodality imaging
Stroke: The importance of workflow
When a patient suffers a stroke, speed in treatment can mean the difference between successful recovery, permanent disability, or death. For Christopher Hess, success in stroke diagnosis is a question of workflow and efficient care delivery.
Article • Subset of wearables
From the wrist into the ear – the potential of hearables
Progress in miniaturising sensor technology has opened up new possibilities for monitoring vital signs outside the hospital environment. A subset of wearables are the so-called hearables – in-ear devices that are well suited for long-term monitoring as they are non-invasive, inconspicuous and easy to fasten. Hearables offer two major benefits: their proximity to the torso and vascular system of…
Article • BCI
Quantum sensors for next-gen brain-computer interfaces
Connecting the brain with a machine has been a powerful dream of mankind. What used to be science fiction, from the Borg in Star Trek to the Matrix, has become mainstream thanks to Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg who have put their entrepreneurial commitments into the area of neurotechnology. Recently, Professor Surjo R. Soekadar outlined current and upcoming applications of brain-computer…
Article • Medical technology event
Overview: Compamed 2021
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.
News • 3D microelectrodes
Promising approach for pain relief without side effects
Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a completely new stimulation method, using ultra-thin microelectrodes, to combat severe pain. This provides effective and personalised pain relief without the common side effects from pain relief drugs. The study, which was conducted on rats, has been published in the research journal Science Advances.
Article • Women in medical R&D
Innovation depends on more than just technical skills
Cécile Geneviève is one of the few women who lead research and development (R&D) at a major company and her increasingly female team reflects women’s growing interest in the field. But while gender balance is an important criterion, it takes a broad palette of skills to innovate to alleviate pain for millions of patients, she explained in an interview with Healthcare in Europe.
News • Sonothermogenetics
Tool activates deep brain neurons by combining ultrasound, genetics
Neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy have had some treatment success with deep brain stimulation, but those require surgical device implantation. A multidisciplinary team at Washington University in St. Louis has developed a new brain stimulation technique using focused ultrasound that is able to turn specific types of neurons in the brain on and off and precisely…
News • Neuroscience
A deep dive into the brain
Researchers from ETH Zurich and University of Zurich have developed a new microscopy technique that lights up the brain with high resolution imagery. This allows neuroscientists to study brain functions and ailments more closely and non-invasively.
News • Neuroscience
Potential new approach for epilepsy control
Researchers from Case Western Reserve University have identified a potential new approach to better controlling epilepsy. Lin Mei, professor and chair of the Department of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, who led the new study in mouse models, said the team found a new chemical reaction that could help control epileptic seizures.
News • Neuro-monitoring
Thin-film electrodes reveal key insight into human brain activity
Thin-film electrodes developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have been used in human patients at the University of California, San Francisco, generating never-before-seen recordings of brain activity in the hippocampus, a region responsible for memory and other cognitive functions. In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, surgeons at UCSF placed the flexible…
News • Nano science
Conductive hydrogel could replace brain tissue
Due to their tissue-like mechanical properties, hydrogels are being increasingly used for biomedical applications; a well-known example are soft contact lenses. These gel-like polymers consist of 90 percent water, are elastic and particularly biocompatible. Hydrogels that are also electrically conductive allow additional fields of application, for example in the transmission of electrical signals…
News • Protein anchors
Key molecule in cancer spread and epilepsy discovered
Certain anchor proteins inhibit a key metabolic driver that plays an important role in cancer and developmental brain disorders. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the University of Innsbruck, together with a Europe-wide research network, discovered this molecular mechanism, which could open up new opportunities for personalized therapies for cancer and neuronal diseases.
News • Alternative to traditional surgery
Focused ultrasound shows promise for Parkinson’s treatment
A scalpel-free alternative to brain surgery has the potential to benefit people with Parkinson’s disease symptoms that are much more severe on one side of the body, new research suggests. More testing is needed, but the approach, which uses a technology called focused ultrasound, could offer a new option for patients whose symptoms are poorly controlled by medications and those who cannot or do…
News • Cloudy, with a chance of seizures
Creating a 'weather forecast' for epilepsy
Patterns of brain activity can be used to forecast seizure risk in epilepsy patients several days in advance, according to a new analysis of data obtained from clinically approved brain implants by neuroscientists at UC San Francisco, the University of Bern and the University of Geneva.
News • Neuroscience
An unexpected role for the brain's immune cells
Researchers have discovered that microglia cells constantly survey the brain to prevent spontaneous seizures.
News • Interview
Wearable EEG: A comfortable way to record brain activity
EEG is used in cognitive research or to diagnose conditions like epilepsy and sleep disorders. However, EEG electrode caps are difficult to wear. Read in the MEDICA magazine about a viable alternative: measuring devices made of printed electronics.
News • Bioengineered Neuronal Organoids
Generation of human brain organoids with the ability to learn
Scientists combined induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) and their deep knowledge in the bioengineering of human organoids to for the first time bioengineer the human brain at the macroscale level with comprehensive network function
News • high-density EEG
A deeper look inside the brain
Understanding the source and network of signals as the brain functions is a central goal of brain research. Now, Carnegie Mellon engineers have created a system for high-density EEG imaging of the origin and path of normal and abnormal brain signals.
News • First biomarker for regenerative medicine
MRI predicts efficacy of stem cell therapy for brain injury
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…
News • Stimulated Raman histology
Imaging system and AI algorithm accurately identify brain tumors
A novel method of combining advanced optical imaging with an artificial intelligence algorithm produces accurate, real-time intraoperative diagnosis of brain tumors, a new study finds. Published in Nature Medicine, the study examined the diagnostic accuracy of brain tumor image classification through machine learning, compared with the accuracy of pathologist interpretation of conventional…
News • Malignant infantile brain tumours
Epilepsy drug inhibits brain tumour development
Medication prescribed for a certain type of epilepsy may offer a new method for treating malignant infantile brain tumours. A specific mTOR inhibitor has the ability to cross the blood–brain barrier to both reach and attack the tumour at source. This has been demonstrated by researchers from Uppsala University, in collaboration with US and UK colleagues, whose research has now been published in…
News • Promising preclinical study results
Epilepsy: Gene therapy shows long-term suppression of seizures
Teams of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Medical University of Innsbruck have developed a new therapeutic concept for the treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy. It represents a gene therapy capable of suppressing seizures at their site of origin on demand. Having been shown to be effective in an animal model, the new method will now be optimized for clinical use.…
News • Dangerous fever
Febrile convulsions: an early indicator for epilepsy in children?
Children who suffer repeated febrile convulsions have an increased risk of developing epilepsy and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and depression later in life. This is shown by a comprehensive register-based study from Aarhus University. The risk of febrile convulsions increases with the child’s fever, and approximately four per cent of Danish children suffer from febrile…
News • Interneurons
Epilepsy: When the function of "brake cells" is disrupted
In some forms of epilepsy, the function of certain "brake cells" in the brain is presumed to be disrupted. This may be one of the reasons why the electrical malfunction is able to spread from the point of origin across large parts of the brain. A current study by the University of Bonn, in which researchers from Lisbon were also involved, points in this direction. The results are…
News • Stopping the seizures
Epilepsy surgery: the earlier the better, study shows
A person with drug resistant epilepsy who gets an early surgical intervention has a better chance of becoming seizure free. This is shown in a systematic review and meta-analysis in which Sahlgrenska Academy researchers, in collaboration with the Swedish Council for Assessment of Health Technology and Social Services (SBU), analysed results from a range of previous studies. They concluded that…
Article • Predicting attacks with AI
Epilepsy: Seizure detection method brings hope
Epilepsy affects around 70 million people worldwide, making it the second most common neurological disorder after migraine. Epileptics bear a terrible burden because they experience recurrent seizures that strike without warning. Their symptoms range from brief suspension of awareness to violent convulsions and sometimes loss of consciousness. Epilepsy is also responsible for numerous deaths –…
News • Magnetic resonance elastography
Faster than fMRI: Seeing brain activity in ‘almost real time’
The speed of the human brain is remarkable. Almost immediately upon being exposed to stimuli, neurons are activated, prompting subconscious reactions and, a fraction of a second later, thought. But the speed at which we can noninvasively follow brain function using an MRI is not as impressive. Functional MRI (fMRI), which measures changes in blood-oxygen levels, has revolutionized neuroscience by…
News • Brain surgery
Less-invasive procedure helps surgeons pinpoint epilepsy surgical candidates
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).
Article • Maps of the brain
7-Tesla MR enters clinical routine
Ultra-high-field magnetic resonance tomography with field strength of 7 Tesla is slowly but surely entering clinical routine. ‘Thanks to very high spatial and spectral resolution, ultra-high-field MR permits detailed views of the human anatomy and can show precisely the metabolic processes such as those in the brain,’ said Professor Siegfried Trattnig, from Vienna’s Medical University.
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…
News • Cingulum stimulation
Laughter may be best medicine for brain surgery
Neuroscientists at Emory University School of Medicine have discovered a focal pathway in the brain that when electrically stimulated causes immediate laughter, followed by a sense of calm and happiness, even during awake brain surgery. The effects of stimulation were observed in an epilepsy patient undergoing diagnostic monitoring for seizure diagnosis. These effects were then harnessed to help…
Article • Neuroradiology
Dementia – MRI is the first step in diagnosis
Brain imaging in patients with cognitive complaints need to be viewed differently when using MRI to diagnose and treat patients with dementia, says Dr. Christopher Hess, who will discuss the role of MRI in the adjunctive diagnosis of dementia in his talk at the Garmisch Symposium. In addition, general radiologists need to recognize the important findings related to dementia when making a…
News • Wireless WAND
Can 'pacemaker for the brain' help to treat neurological disorders?
A new neurostimulator developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, can listen to and stimulate electric current in the brain at the same time, potentially delivering fine-tuned treatments to patients with diseases like epilepsy and Parkinson's. The device, named the WAND, works like a "pacemaker for the brain," monitoring the brain's electrical activity and…
Article • Neuro-research
Brain-computer interfaces: Getting a Grasp on how we think
A world where machines can be controlled by thought alone – such is the promise of so-called brain-computer interfaces (BCI). BCIs are both hardware and software communication systems that read brain and nerve signals, convert those into electrical signals and translate human thoughts into machine commands. Developers of BCIs rely on artificial intelligence, neural network models and big data…
News • Solving a medical mystery
Cause of rare type of dwarfism discovered
Scientists have uncovered the cause of Saul-Wilson syndrome: A single, spontaneous gene change alters protein packaging in the cell’s Golgi complex, causing the disease.
News • Debilitating disease
Discovery of a new anti-epileptic drug target
An international collaboration between Imperial College London, Singapore's Duke-NUS Medical School and Belgium-based pharmaceutical company UCB led to the discovery of a new anti-epileptic drug target and a whole new approach that promises to speed up the discovery of future drugs to treat debilitating diseases, such as epilepsy.
News • Insight without Incision
Epilepsy surgery improves thanks to advances in noninvasive brain imaging
About a third of epilepsy sufferers require treatment through surgery. To check for severe epilepsy, clinicians use a surgical procedure called electrocorticography (ECoG). An ECoG maps a section of brain tissue to help clinicians identify areas damaged by seizures.
News • Neurology
Next-gen EEG could help bring back lost brain function
SLAC and Stanford researchers are developing a device that combines electrical brain stimulation with EEG recording, opening potential new paths for treating neurological disorders. It could help bring back lost brain function by measuring how the brain responds to therapies that stimulate it with electric current.
News • Epilepsy
FDA approves first drug derived from marijuana
FDA approves first drug comprised of an active ingredient derived from marijuana to treat rare, severe forms of epilepsy.
News • Neurology
Waves move across the human brain to support memory
Biomedical engineers at Columbia Engineering have discovered a new fundamental feature of brain oscillations: they actually move rhythmically across the brain, reflecting patterns of neuronal activity that propagate across the cortex. The coordination of neural activity across widespread brain networks is essential for human cognition. Researchers have long assumed that oscillations in the brain,…
News • Bone health
Osteoporosis defined: causes, symptoms and treatments
Weak, easily broken bones are an epidemic in the United States. They’re often tied to osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to degenerate over time. This makes them less flexible, more brittle, and easier to break. According to the International Osteoporosis Foundation, more than 44 million Americans aged 50 and older either have or face the threat of developing osteoporosis due to low bone…
Sponsored • Exhibition
Progress in medicine presented at Bulmedica/Buldental 2018
New products and technologies in medical practice expect the specialists of the leading international exhibition Bulmedica/Buldental from 16 to 18 May at Inter Expo Center. This year, the medical profile of the exhibition will focus on the progress in imaging, physiotherapy, aesthetic medicine. Once again Bulmedica/Buldental will be a platform to keep an eye on the tendencies, a meeting point of…
Article • MRI vs. Alzheimer's
Seeking leaks in the blood-brain barrier
‘With our new MRI method, we can finally visualise tiny leaks in the blood-brain barrier. They shed light on the vascular contribution to dementia and may indicate Alzheimer’s disease. However, the MRI scan is only a tool to diagnose cerebrovascular damage. We have not yet found a cure for Alzheimer’s,’ confirms Walter H Backes, medical physicist and professor at Maastricht University…
News • Simulated CNS
This ‘brain-on-a-chip” could be a new medical testing ground
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists and engineers have developed a “brain-on-a-chip” device aimed at testing and predicting the effects of biological and chemical agents, disease, or pharmaceutical drugs on the brain over time without the need for human or animal subjects. The device, part of the Lab’s iCHIP (in-vitro Chip-Based Human Investigational Platform) project,…
Article • In technology's firm embrace
AI could enhance or disrupt healthcare
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has enormous potential to revolutionise the delivery of healthcare, being able to remove the drudgery’ of routine tasks, join up fragmented care records, trigger alerts when abnormal results occur, speed-up the process of identifying clusters of patients by digging deep into electronic health records, and increase efficiency of healthcare staff resources.
News • European congress
Rett syndrome: connect people, share knowledge
Genetics and research, transition and aging, activities and participation, pain orthopedics and physiotherapy as well as new treatment options...
News • Auditory Attention Decoding
Hearing aid uses deep neural network to filter out the noise
Columbia Engineers make major advance in helping the hearing impaired follow a conversation in a noisy environment - and bring cognitive hearing aids a step closer to reality.
News • Royal visit
Queen Máxima visits Congress of the European Academy of Neurology
The Congress of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) in Amsterdam received a royal visit: H.M. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands attended the major scientific event at RAI Amsterdam, in which over 6,000 people are participating.
News • Research
Deep sleep maintains the learning efficiency of the brain
For the first time, researchers of the University of Zurich and Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich have demonstrated the causal context of why deep sleep is important to the learning efficiency of the human brain. They have developed a new, non-invasive method for modulating deep sleep in humans in a targeted region of the brain.
Article • Virtual Brain
Computer model simulates epileptic events
Approximately one percent of the world population are epileptic; in France alone, an estimated 600,000 people regularly experience seizures.
Article • Imaging Infections
Zika birth defects decrease, but…
ECR 2017 Guest Lecturer Maria de Fatima Vasco Aragao, a radiologist from Pernambuco state, Brazil, has been tracking the Zika virus ever since it broke out in her country in 2015. She will highlight how CT and MRI can help reach diagnosis, especially in the absence of microcephaly. In an exclusive interview with European Hospital correspondent Mélisande Rouger, the radiologist warned there might…
News • Neurology
Neural stem cells found in brain of epilepsy patients
Neural stem cells have been found in epileptic brain tissue - outside the regions of the brain where they normally reside. In a group of patients who underwent surgery for epilepsy, over half had stem cells where healthy individuals do not have them, according to a study from Sahlgrenska Academy.
Article • Brain functions transfer
Pioneering cancer surgery
Brain cancer treatment is taking a major step ahead as Spanish surgeons pioneer a new technique that spares language and motion functions. This splendid development might even one day result in epilepsy surgery.
News • Stroke
Biomarkers May Help Better Predict Who Will Have a Stroke
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.
Article • Neurosurgery
Their parts are simply too big
‘An autonomously working robot in the operating theatre will continue to be a vision of the future for a long time to come,’ according to Professor Uwe Spetzger, Clinical Director and Neurosurgery Specialist at Karlsruhe City Hospital. At the same time, he is calling for political support for the development and promotion of these innovative technologies and asking funding bodies to rethink…
News • Map
How the brain is organized
The age of exploration has long passed, but there is at least one area still largely uncharted: the human brain. Now, a detailed new map by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis lays out the landscape of the cerebral cortex – the outermost layer of the brain and the dominant structure involved in sensory perception and attention, as well as distinctly human…
News • Epilepsy
Minisensor is designed to warn of epileptic seizures
For epilepsy patients and attending physicians, it has been a challenge to correctly assess the frequency and severity of epileptic seizures without inpatient recording equipment. A consortium coordinated by the epileptologists of the University Hospital Bonn is now developing a mobile sensor that can detect seizures. A warning signal is designed to summon relatives or attending physicians to…
News • Antitumor
Antibody slows tumor growth and metastasis
Johns Hopkins scientists report they have developed an antibody against a specific cellular gateway that suppresses lung tumor cell growth and breast cancer metastasis in transplanted tumor experiments in mice, according to a new study published in the February issue of Nature Communications.
News • Artificial arm
Mind-controlled prosthetic arm moves individual ‘fingers’
Physicians and biomedical engineers from Johns Hopkins report what they believe is the first successful effort to wiggle fingers individually and independently of each other using a mind-controlled artificial “arm” to control the movement.
News • Silicon
Research center combine electronics and photonics in neural probes
At the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 2015, world-leading nanoelectronics research center imec, KU Leuven, and Neuro-Electronics Research Flanders (NERF, set up by VIB/KU Leuven and imec) presented a set of silicon neural probes that combine 12 monolithically integrated optrodes using a CMOS compatible process.
New mechanism discovered behind infant epilepsy
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital in Sweden have discovered a new explanation for severe early infant epilepsy. Mutations in the gene encoding the protein KCC2 can cause the disease, hereby confirming an earlier theory. The findings are being published in the journal Nature Communications.
Common diabetes drug could prevent hemorrhage and fatal blood loss
A new study, published today in the British Journal of Pharmacology, by scientists from Royal Holloway, University of London, St George's, University of London and University of Surrey have identified that a drug related to commonly used diabetes treatments provides protection against terminal blood loss.
News • Genetic Disorder
How to predict development of autism or psychosis
Doctors and researchers have long known that children who are missing about 60 genes on a certain chromosome are at a significantly elevated risk for developing either a disorder on the autism spectrum or psychosis — that is, any mental disorder characterized by delusions and hallucinations, including schizophrenia. But there has been no way to predict which child with the abnormality might be…
Article • Management II
Coming of age with a chronic disease
During the transition from child to adult many teens with chronic diseases somehow slip through the healthcare cracks between paediatric and adult medicine. Compliance deteriorates, regular check-ups are missed – an international problem, as many studies indicate. A promising programme, launched in Berlin, helps teens to manage this difficult change. Report: Bettina Döbereiner
Pain is the point of departure for medical interaction
Pain is the point of departure of any medical interaction. When a body sends out pain signals to say that something is wrong, the person in pain will react – either by selfmedication or by consulting a physician.
Smart med-tech radiates from the New North
Although traditionally exporting timber and machinery, today Finland has established itself as a producer of high-tech products. This includes innovative medical technology.
Continued access to MRI for patients in Europe
The Alliance for MRI welcomes the European Parliament's approval of a derogation for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in its draft report on the revised Directive on Protecting Workers from Exposure to Electromagnetic Fields.
Exploding data gives new views of disease
It is said a picture is worth 1,000 words. Advanced medical imaging, such as 3D views of the heart or brain have certainly proven the value of this statement by advancing our understanding of the complex biological structures and processes of disease.
‘Epilepsy In Our Time’
‘Epilepsy In Our Time’, a video diary, explores life with epilepsy from the perspective of those living with the condition on European Epilepsy Day 2012. The disease is the most common serious brain disorder worldwide, affecting 6 million people in Europe.
The flying magnet
When Professor PD Dr Dr Marcos Tatagiba operates the recently installed five ton, ceiling mounted MRI scanner in the operating theatre at the Neurosurgery Clinic in University Hospital Tubingen, he will be using systems technology currently unique in Europe.
Determining the site of deep brain implants
Uncontrollable convulsions, tremor or spasms can considerably impair the lives of neurodegenerative disease patients. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) – for which tiny electrodes are implanted in the brain to stimulate the target areas continuously with electrical impulses – can significantly reduce the movement disorder.
MRI - Aiming to crack the human brain code
The Netherlands - In a very crowded train station, why can you immediately recognise the face of a friend? Professor Rainer Goebel wants to find out. Thanks to €10 million in funding from the country’s Limburg Province, the Brains Unlimited project at Maastricht University will install three high-field magnetic resonance imaging scanners that will allow Prof. Goebel to search for an…
MRI: Still the best tool for seizures
Anti-seizure medication is not successful in all patients, while in others such medication can have side effects. In recent years significant technical advances have delivered better imaging results, which, combined with growing demand for a surgical solution from patients whose medications do not control seizures, or those not wanting to take medication constantly, has led to an increase in…
Epilepsy In Our Time
Today’s first European Epilepsy Day sees the launch of Epilepsy In Our Time, an exploration of the lives of five people living with epilepsy across Europe today, through their own video diaries. Lloyd, Marion, Monica, David and Julie invite you to take a look at their personal experiences of living with epilepsy and their hopes for the future.
Synapses recycle proteins for the release of neurotransmitters
Neurons communicate via chemical transmitters which they store in the bubble-like synaptic vesicles and release as required. To be able to react reliably to stimulation, neurons must have a certain number of "acutely releasable" vesicles. With the help of a new method, German neuroscientists have now discovered that neurons systematically recycle the protein components necessary for transmitter…
Neurological diseases on the rise
„Diseases of the nervous system and the brain occur more frequently than cancer. According to recent calculations of health care costs, they represent a burden of 386 billion euros a year on European economies,“ says Prof. Gérard Said, newly elected president of the European Neurological Society (ENS) at the annual meeting in Berlin, Germany. „This is often greatly underestimated.“
NHS needs to invest in increasing specialists´nurses
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has joined forces with almost 40 of the UK's leading health organisations to warn that cutting specialist nurse services for people with long term conditions would be a "false economy", as they began a campaign for guaranteed access to specialist nursing care for all patients with long term conditions.
Vexing questions for anaesthetists
How can postoperative delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction be avoided? How is it best to address the problem of epilepsy? How can anaesthetists cope better with a patient death under anaesthesia? These difficult questions were among many addressed by specialists at HAI 2009, the annual conference of the German Society for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (DGAI). Report:…
The first whole-body MRI-PET system
The technological integration of positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been the dream of molecular imaging experts and engineers for some time. Now, the German Science Council has agreed to provide 6.56 million funding to install a whole-body MRI-PET prototype in the centre of excellence for imaging procedures at the radiology clinic in Eberhard-Karls…
Neurologists — an endangered species?
Irish and German neurology associations warn of an imminent shortage of neurologists. In Ireland, according to experts the situation is “lacking at best” and “catastrophic at worst”. German physicians as well detect increasing deficiencies in neurological care coverage primarily due to an aging population and concomitant morbidity.
Recall, replay, recollect
A unique experiment that compares single neuron firing during an activity and again as the activity is freely recalled as a memory shows what the brain looks like during spontaneous recollection.
Arrays to detect genomic disorder
Roche reports that, using its NimbleGen CGH arrays, researchers* have identified a recurrent reciprocal genomic rearrangement of chromosomal region 17q12 in foetal samples with congenital anomalies that is also associated with paediatric renal disease and epilepsy.
Article • MRgFUS
Successful therapy for uterine fibroids using MRgFUS
Magnetic Resonance Guided Focused Ultrasound (MRgFUS) therapy was introduced in June at the Amperklinikum in Dachau, near Munich, the third German site, after Berlin and Bochum for this new technology.
Mental health and radiology
The Uliazpi Foundation in Spain, which studies and cares for severely mentally retarded patients, carried out an interesting study to identify bone mineral density values in a group of its patients, compare these with the general population and investigate the possible influence on these values on certain clinical variables and therapeutic regimens.
Stereotactic radiosurgery
Italy - The latest advance in stereotactic radiosurgery - the Leksell Gamma Knife Perfexion made by Elekta, is due for inauguration this month at the Neurosurgery Department in Niguarda Hospital, located in the northern area of Milan. This prestigious hospital employs over 700 physicians and 1,500 nurses, and over 50,000 patients are admitted annually, and over 20,000 surgical procedures are…
No predicted boom in medical tourism
'The world at home in German hospitals' — thousands of wealthy foreign patients coming to boost budgets, this was the hope of many hospitals. Then along came a sobering study from Sozial und Seniorenwirtschaftszentrums GmbH (SWZ), conducted within the framework of Healthcare Export Projects, which are funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research to design, establish and market…
Guest patient boom is a fizzle
"The world at home in German hospitals" - that was the hope of many German hospitals which wanted to attract well-heeled foreign patients to bolster their budgets. The high expectations of the business model "guest patient", however, were disappointed as a sobering study of the Sozial- und Seniorenwirtschaftszentrums GmbH (swz/IHT) conducted in the framework Health Care Export Projects shows.
The role of anaesthesia in MRI procedures
Currently, to expand and centralise the MRI Department at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein in Luebeck, Germany, a new building is being planned.
40th anniversary
As the German Society of Neuroradiology 40th annual meeting approached (Venue: Dresden. 31 August - 3 September), Professors Martin Schumacher (Freiburg), President of the German Society of Neuroradiology (GSN) and Rüdiger von Kummer (Dresden), the meeting's President, examine the history and potential in this medical field
EU regulation aims to improve research on medicines for children
The use of unlicensed and off-label medicines for children is widespread, yet over 50% of all pharmaceutical products have no scientific data for young people. With its Regulation on Medicinal Products for Paediatric Use the EU aims to promote the development of more medicines specifically for children.
Your invitation to Neuro-week
The Working Party for Clinical Neuroscience, set up two years ago, ...