How can innovations help to master challenges and demands in healthcare? This central question will be addressed at the Medica Health IT Forum, an established part of the programme at the trade fair.
Women with type 1 or type 2 diabetes often have difficulty getting pregnant, due to complications from the disease, being obese or seriously underweight, or having conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome. Once pregnant, they face challenges of having a safe pregnancy and delivering a healthy baby. Recent advances in diabetes technology, including continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) and most…
Two international studies presented at the ESMO Congress 2024 show no increase in recurrence or new breast cancers in women who breastfeed after being treated for breast cancer.
Emergency care specialists must be aware of critically-important factors when treating pregnant women with severe hypertension. At the EUSEM conference in Barcelona, Dr Timo Suonsyrjä, Chief Physician for the Emergency Department at Helsinki University Hospital in Finland, highlighted the key approaches and warning signs.
An AI-enabled digital stethoscope could help doctors identify twice as many cases of heart failure during pregnancy compared to regular obstetric care and screening, acording to a new study.
Can a mouthwash-based test help predict head and neck cancer recurrence? A new study suggests it might.
In rhesus pregnancy, antibodies from the pregnant mother can lead to anaemia for the foetus in the uterus. A new study suggests that a drug could serve as a non-surgical alternative.
A study found immune cells in breast tissue of healthy women carrying BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations show signs of ‘exhaustion’. This opens new possibilities for cancer prevention.
Pregnancy prevention apps, fertility-tracking wearables and more: Digital tools have expanded the range of contraceptive methods – but are rarely discussed at the GP's office, a new study shows.
A team comprising obstetricians, gynecologists, pediatricians, and biomedical engineers has found the key determinants for digital health solutions that support women from pre- to post-pregnancy.
Using lab-grown ‘mini-placentas’, researchers from the UK and Switzerland hope to get new insights on dangerous pregnancy complications, such as pre-eclampsia.
Contraception, wound healing, arthritis treatment: Here are three recent papers published in ACS journals that could expand the beneficial uses for nanoparticles, based on results in rats.
A research team from Denmark has developed an innovative screening test. With a blood sample from the expectant mother, they can scrutinize all the genes in the fetus.
Reseachers from the University of Gothenburg propose a new model for adapted triage in emergency care for pregnant women, which could become clinical routine throughout Sweden.
Postpartum hemorrhage is a leading cause of maternal mortality at birth, especially after cesarean deliveries. Now, anesthesiologists propose two simple solutions to help prevent the severe bleeding.
A new study found that the antibody response of infants and young children against Sars-CoV-2 deviates from that of adults in a small, but very significant way.
When a woman becomes pregnant, sometimes her pre-existing rheumatoid arthritis will 'magically' go away. In others, the condition becomes even worse. Now, US researchers may have found an explanation.
New methods to predict outcomes for pregnancies where there are issues with poor growth of the baby inside the womb have been developed by a team of scientists.
A placenta on a chip developed at the University of Dundee has the potential to transform research into life-threatening conditions in pregnancy.
Do coronavirus vaccines skew the menstrual cycle, cause more bleeding or pain? Anecdotal reports hint at a connection. Now, a new study led by Boston University provides answers.
The old adage that expectant mums are ‘eating for two’ and don’t need to worry about weight gain can lead to health consequences for mum and baby, maternal health experts warn.
Women suffering from multiple sclerosis temporarily get much better when pregnant. Researchers have now identified the beneficial changes naturally occurring during pregnancy.
Preterm birth affects nearly 10% of pregnancies worldwide, and rates are on the rise. A new approach that analyzes electrical activity during pregnancy, could improve predictions.
About 5% of all women develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, which in severe cases can become life-threatening for mother and child. Using commercially available troponin tests, high-risk patients could be identified much earlier and more accurately than before.
Shortages of health workers such as doctors, nurses and midwifery staff are strongly associated with higher death rates, finds a new analysis published by The BMJ.
In a nationwide Swedish study of 207 births to women with an earlier diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC), researchers found an increased risk of both maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes.
A new study from Finland and Norway shows that babies born preterm are more likely to have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, in adulthood.
AI-based models for multimodality hybrid imaging have the potential to be a potent clinical tool but are currently held back by a lack of transparency and maturity, says Dr Irène Buvat, from the Laboratory of translational Imaging in Oncology, Institute Curie in Paris, France.
There is no evidence of higher risk of miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy following vaccination against Covid-19 or infection with the disease, according to a new study.
A new cloud-based ultrasound image sharing and reporting software will utilize image data to convey fetal growth projections and provide a platform for physician-to-physician and physician-to-patient communication.
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.
Clinical laboratories need to be proactive to attract transgender patients for testing and to ensure that they are comfortable with the services provided. This issue is of great importance to the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), which conducted a scientific session on transgender health at its recent annual meeting in Chicago.
The new test measures the level of neutralizing antibodies in a blood sample and could help people decide what protections they should take against infection.
Researchers have developed a novel way to fabricate diagnostic devices using paper-based microfluidics that can be rapidly prototyped and scaled for manufacturing.
Glucose is absorbed from the foods we eat and fuels every cell in our bodies. But could it also power tomorrow’s medical implants? According to a team of engineers, it might.
A new study has found that women’s health research remains disproportionately focused on the reproductive years, with few articles on the major causes of illness and death in women.
More than 15 billion batteries are sent to landfill sites every year – technology that converts glucose and oxygen into electricity has the potential to reduce this waste and serve as a sustainable alternative power source for medical devices.
Nowhere does the birthplace of a preterm baby determine life or death more than in Africa. A concerted effort is made to reduce the continent’s dramatically high neonatal mortality rates.
A biocompatible ultrasound transducer chip could be a more effective way to harness the technology for biomedical applications.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to deficiencies and large inequalities in the care of mothers and newborns in Europe.
Gender-specific benefits of women should have a greater impact in interventional radiology (IR). But also, the field should see more women practicing the craft, two experts stressed at the most recent annual JFR meeting.
This year as every year, the very best in global HealthTech will be converging on Dusseldorf for the Medica trade fair. With more than 127 companies attending the event from November 15-18, France will have one of the largest contingents there. Grouped together under the brand umbrella of “French Healthcare”, the French MedTech companies will be presenting their many innovations to industry…
Considerable advances in point-of-care testing (POCT) devices are emerging from lab-on-a-chip platforms, innovations in smartphone-based technology and wearable technology. Cloud-based deep learning systems herald a future revolution.
Machine learning methods are being used to predict the health of the placenta from a 30-second MRI scan. Researchers hope the approach will offer an insight into the health of expectant mothers and unborn babies by detecting the early signs of dangerous conditions such as pre-eclampsia. Researchers from the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London (KCL)…
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.
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…
A national network of mentors and female role models, created by the British Cardiovascular Society (BCS), aims to encourage women to become cardiologists and end male dominance and negative and sexist comments.
Currently, 25% of the junior physicians in Germany are female – which in international comparison puts the country in one of the top spots. However, only 5% of head of department positions in German university hospitals are held by women and not even 10% of orthopaedics professors are women.
Women are missing out on appropriate cardiac care because guidelines and medications often fail to take into account gender and conditions that specifically affect the female population. Women are also underrepresented in clinical trials for new cardiac therapies.
Beckman Coulter announced the launch of an AMH test that uses a validated cut-off to aid in the assessment of poor ovarian response. This new assay helps clinicians predict poor ovarian response in those who plan to undergo controlled ovarian stimulation as part of an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) protocol.
The majority of top-rated fertility apps collect and even share intimate information without the users’ knowledge or permission, a collaborative study by Newcastle and Umea Universities has found. Researchers are now calling for a tightening of the categorisation of these apps by platforms to protect women from intimate and deeply personal information being exploited and sold.
In the largest study of its kind to date, researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard have found the new mRNA Covid-19 vaccines to be highly effective in producing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus in pregnant and lactating women. They also demonstrated the vaccines confer protective immunity to newborns…
Researchers at University of Toronto have developed a new test to accurately detect coronavirus antibodies in a drop of blood in less than an hour.
More human twins are being born than ever before, according to the first comprehensive, global overview published in Human Reproduction, one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals. Since the 1980s the twinning rate has increased by a third from 9 to 12 per 1000 deliveries, meaning that about 1.6 million twins are born each year worldwide and one in every 42 children born is a…
A potential new treatment to protect immunosuppressed patients from human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) has been discovered by scientists at the University of Cambridge. Their study shows that certain epigenetic inhibitors expose and help to destroy dormant HCMV infections, which often reactivate to cause serious illness and death in these vulnerable groups. Subject to clinical trials, their proposed…
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.
The Covid-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University/AstraZeneca has been given regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after meeting required safety, quality and effectiveness standards. Following a rigorous, detailed scientific review by the MHRA’s expert scientists and clinicians and on the basis of the advice of its scientific, independent…
Recent research in Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has identified two enzymes that can detect Covid-19 RNA as simply as a pregnancy test Jesús Pla, an eminent microbiologist at the Complutense University in Madrid, explained in our exclusive interview. CRISPR technology could help alleviate workloads in packed hospitals and expand testing to primary care and…
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…
Scientists have generated accurate replications of human retinas in culture that can be used to pinpoint the specific types of cells affected by genetic eye diseases. The culmination of a six-year effort, this achievement will accelerate progress in developing new therapies and was reported in Cell by a team led by Botond Roska at the Institute for Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel (IOB)…
Michigan State University researchers have created for the first time a miniature human heart model in the laboratory, complete with all primary heart cell types and a functioning structure of chambers and vascular tissue.
Genes that are thought to play a role in how the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects our cells have been found to be active in embryos as early as during the second week of pregnancy, say scientists at the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The researchers say this could mean embryos are susceptible to COVID-19 if the mother gets sick, potentially affecting the…
The human species maintains symbiotic relationships with a multitude of microbial organisms that colonise the inside as well as the surface of the body. Scientists, for a long time, underestimated the significance of these organisms for humans.
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.
Scientists have found that organoids (tiny tissue cultures made from human cells that simulate whole organs) known as “mini-brains” can be infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
Cardiologist Professor Martin Cowie raised an important issue on the challenges of the digitisation of cardiovascular healthcare at the ESC Congress 2019 in Paris. In his presentation, he confirmed that, within digital health transformation, the role of physician and the patient-doctor relationship will continue. However, much of the preparation may be conducted remotely.
Niels-Bjarne Woods, a researcher at Lund University in Sweden, has developed lung-specific mesenchymal stem cells to treat inflammation of the lungs and fibrosis. This research now may be the needed breakthrough for treatment of the severe respiratory issues related to COVID-19. A clinical study may soon be underway contingent on a successful application to the Swedish Medical Products Agency.…
The world’s first licensed, downloadable artificial pancreas app for people with type 1 diabetes now launched, based on over a decade of research by Professor Roman Hovorka at the University of Cambridge and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The CamAPS FX app works with an insulin pump and a glucose monitor to automatically deliver insulin to people living with the condition…
Scientists from the project SOLUS (Smart optical and ultrasound diagnostics of breast cancer) under the EU funding framework programme Horizon2020 have developed a non-invasive, multi-modal, imaging system that uses ultrasound and light technologies to easily differentiate between benign or malignant lesions – without having to perform a biopsy. Similar to a pregnancy ultrasound appointment, a…
Women who have C-sections are no more likely to have children who develop obesity than women who give birth naturally, according to a large study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal PLOS Medicine. The findings contradict several smaller studies that did find an association between C-section deliveries and offspring obesity but did not consider the numerous…
Breast cancer is rare for women under 40. So, a breast cancer diagnosis can be shocking news for a young woman to hear. “Breast cancer in young women can have its own risk factors and traits, and young women have their own considerations when deciding on a treatment,” says Nadine Tung, MD, head of breast medical oncology and cancer genetics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).…
During its latest keynote presentation, tech giant Apple announced cooperations for health studies. The latest model of their smartwatches are to be key in their execution. Apple announced the three medical studies in partnership with leading US academic and research institutions.
A study led by the University of Birmingham provides strong support for current recommendations on treating patients with an underactive thyroid and validates latest UK and US guidelines, say researchers. The retrospective cohort study, published in The BMJ, analysed anonymous GP records of over 162,000 patients who have been diagnosed with hypothyroidism – a highly prevalent condition more…
Women with pre-eclampsia during pregnancy have a five-fold increased risk of end stage kidney disease (ESKD) later in life compared to women who don’t develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, according to a new study. Professor Louise Kenny from the University of Liverpool is one of the co-authors of the study, which is published in PLOS Medicine and also involved researchers at University…
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…
Having a child with a developmental disorder can cause parents to worry about the outcome of further pregnancies. In cases where the genetic mutation causing the disorder is not present in either parent it is assumed to be a one-off event with a very small chance of recurrence. But in some families, the risk of having another affected child is as high as 50%. Identifying such high-risk families…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Vyndaqel (tafamidis meglumine) and Vyndamax (tafamidis) capsules for the treatment of the heart disease (cardiomyopathy) caused by transthyretin mediated amyloidosis (ATTR-CM) in adults. These are the first FDA-approved treatments for ATTR-CM. Vyndaqel and Vyndamax have the same active moiety, tafamidis, but they are not substitutable on a…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval to Balversa (erdafitinib), a treatment for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer that has a type of susceptible genetic alteration known as FGFR3 or FGFR2, and that has progressed during or following prior platinum-containing chemotherapy. Patients should be selected for therapy with Balversa…
Family planning for women might one day be as simple as putting on an earring. A report published recently in the Journal of Controlled Release describes a technique for administering contraceptive hormones through special backings on jewelry such as earrings, wristwatches, rings or necklaces. The contraceptive hormones are contained in patches applied to portions of the jewelry in contact with…
The concept of artificial intelligence (AI) has been touted as an important aid for healthcare for at least adecade. However, despite years of research and major technical and scientific advances we are only at the beginning of its use in a medical environment. For AI to function correctly huge amounts of relevant data need to be accessible to its algorithms. France is conscious of being behind…
In general, women who have had children have a lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who have never given birth. However, new research has found that moms don’t experience this breast cancer protection until many years later and may face elevated risk for more than 20 years after their last pregnancy. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health, along with members of the…
Younger women who have recently had a child may have a higher risk of breast cancer than their peers of the same age who do not have children, according to a large-scale analysis co-led by a University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center researcher. The findings, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, may seem contrary to conventional wisdom that childbirth is…
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 Danes have shown for some time how e-health can work successfully on a national level. The health portal sundhed.dk (= health), initiated in 2001 and launched in 2003, is part of the public healthcare system. As of January 2018, the Danish national strategy describes sundhed.dk as a national access point for personal health-related data for hospitals, general practitioners and communities,…
It has been known for some time that it is better to transfer a single embryo to a woman’s womb during assisted reproduction treatment (ART) to avoid a multiple pregnancy. However, even when single embryo transfer (SET) is performed, some women still become pregnant with twins or even triplets. Researchers have investigated one of the reasons why this happens.
Evidence of tiny particles of carbon, typically created by burning fossil fuels, has been found in placentas for the first time, in new research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress. Previous research has indicated links between pregnant mothers’ exposure to air pollution and premature birth, low birth weight, infant mortality and childhood respiratory problems.
In healthy individuals, the Zika virus causes flu-like symptoms. If a pregnant woman becomes infected, the unborn child can suffer from severe brain abnormalities as a result of mechanisms that have not yet been explained. A study by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry (MPI-B) shows that Zika virus proteins bind to cellular proteins that are…
A major study has been launched to investigate the interaction between genes and lifestyle factors and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). Led by Professor Stuart Cook, at the National Heart and Lung Institute, this, the largest ever DCM study, will investigate why people develop DCM, with a focus on who is most at risk of sudden death or heart failure (HF). Six hospital trusts across England –…
A recent study, performed in Chicago and Rabat, Morocco, found that a novel finger-prick test for infection with the parasite Toxoplasma gondii during pregnancy — and many other potential applications — is 100 percent sensitive and 100 percent specific for detecting the presence of this life-damaging microorganism.
Hitachi’s Fusion imaging combining MRI and Real-time Virtual Sonography (RVS) showing a cervix lesion with color Doppler Fusion imaging techniques are being trialled to help advance the diagnosis of cervical cancer and endometrial cancer.
Measuring RNA fragments in a pregnant woman’s blood gives a reliable estimate of the baby’s due date and can predict if the baby will arrive prematurely, a Stanford-led team has shown.
Dining out more at restaurants, cafeterias and fast-food outlets may boost total levels of potentially health-harming chemicals called phthalates in the body, according to a new study. Phthalates, a group of chemicals used in food packaging and processing materials, are known to disrupt hormones in humans and are linked to a long list of health problems. The study is the first to compare…
The recently opened Uterine Repair Center (URC) in VUmc (Amsterdam) serves women suffering non-cancerous gynaecological disorders, such as myomas, adenomyosis (endometriosis of the uterus), niches (caesarean scar defects) or congenital uterine abnormalities. Gynaecologist Professor Judith Huirne leads the clinic – but has greater aspirations.
Two new systems developed by Hologic Inc. recently received the European CE Mark: The MyoSure Manual and the Brevera Breast Biopsy System with CorLumina Imaging Technology.
Drugs, alcohol and suicides are contributing to an alarming drop in US life expectancy, particularly among middle-aged white Americans and those living in rural communities, warn experts in The BMJ. They argue that the ideal of the “American Dream” is increasingly out of reach as social mobility declines, and fewer children face a better future than their parents.
The International Forum Bulmedica /Buldental will be held from 16 to 18 May at Inter Expo Center - Sofia, Bulgaria
Researchers in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have identified a new therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma. For decades, research has associated female sex and a history of previous pregnancy with better outcomes after a melanoma diagnosis. Now, a research team from Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania says it may have…
A powerful antiviral protein may act as a checkpoint for keeping or ending a pregnancy. When exposed to Zika virus before birth, mouse fetuses with the protein commit cell suicide, while fetuses without it continued to develop. The result, published in Science Immunology, suggests that the protein, a receptor involved in immune cell signaling, plays a role in spontaneous abortions and other human…
Children at one year old who have eczema or atopic dermatitis (AD) and are sensitized to an allergen are seven times more likely than other infants to develop asthma, and significantly more likely to have a food allergy by age three. This new finding from the Canadian CHILD Study will help doctors better predict which children will develop asthma and allergies, according to a paper published by…
‘In prenatal diagnostics, particularly in the first trimester, ultrasound continues to be the modality of choice when looking for malformations,’ says Professor Markus Hoopmann, deputy director of prenatal medicine and gynaecological ultrasound at the Women’s Health Clinic in Tübingen University Hospital. This case for ultrasound is significant because today fetal DNA that circulates in…
Duke researchers now have evidence to suggest the fever itself, not its root source, could interfere with the development of the heart and jaw during the first three to eight weeks of pregnancy. Researchers have known for decades that fevers in the first trimester of pregnancy increase risk for some heart defects and facial deformities such as cleft lip or palate. Exactly how this happens is…
The first comprehensive European advice on deep vein thrombosis is published in the current issue of European Heart Journal. The recommendations were produced by the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Working Group on Aorta and Peripheral Vascular Diseases and Working Group on Pulmonary Circulation and Right Ventricular Function.
Philips TrueVue, GlassVue, aReveal A.I. and TouchVue improve workflow and diagnostic confidence, enhancing the connection between clinicians and their patients.
Acknowledging the need for faster ultrasound automation, Dr Alexander Weichert explained how automated procedures can assist in the early detection of cardiovascular disease and prenatal diagnostic testing, and why a detailed prenatal diagnosis can reduce mortality and morbidity.
Today, many congenital heart defects can be diagnosed in the unborn child – and even treated in utero. Monique Haak (46), gynaecologist-perinatologist and fetal surgeon at Leids University Medical Center (LUMC) in Leiden, The Netherlands, is an expert in the diagnosis and surgery of fetal heart defects.
Study shows a simplified examination can be performed routinely on low-risk populations during the first trimester of pregnancy.
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.
Whilst Spain has announced a new record for organ donations the number in Germany is stabilising at a ‘low level’. The good news? The number did not fall any further following scandals surrounding the manipulation in the allocation of donor organs.
A new technique – single cell RNA-sequencing – may offer answers and hope to the 200,000 mothers and partners affected by pregnancy loss in the UK every year.
Many women are turning to egg freezing to promote fertility, but what happens when it isn't an option because of special medical or other conditions? And, what option is there for women who want to preserve hormonal function, not just fertility?
Infertile couples have a major opportunity to achieve a successful pregnancy without the need for IVF, thanks to new research into a 100-year-old medical technique.
FUJIFILM SonoSite has given two M-Turbo point-of-care ultrasound systems to the non-governmental sea rescue organisation Proactiva Open Arms, based in Badalona, near Barcelona, to support its efforts in rescuing refugees.
Since 2006 around 100 centres that offer fertility preservation for cancer and non-cancer patients in Austria, Germany and Switzerland have joined forces to form the FertiPROTEKT network.
Globalisation has been a defining term in this 21st century: with almost anybody able to visit any place at any time, diseases, viruses and bacteria can be travel companions. Thus virology is gaining increased attention. Professor Barbara Gärtner, President of the German Association of Virology, talks about the issues and challenges arising from this development.
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.
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…
Lifestyle tests that pretend to be medical procedures are inherently problematic in terms of clinical, medical and privacy issues.
In Western society, access to high quality medical treatment is frequently taken for granted. Elsewhere, the reality is that many less developed countries struggle to provide healthcare services. Zanzibar has taken a unique approach to resolving this issue, working closely with the charity Health Improvement Project Zanzibar (HIPZ) to improve its hospital services. Dr Ru MacDonagh, founder of…
In Europe, the first baby with Zika-related microcephaly was born in July. The mother had contracted the Zika virus while travelling in America. How dangerous is the virus for Europeans, particularly since many visited Brazil for the Olympic Games in Rio?
Virology is fast emerging as a key discipline within modern healthcare against a backdrop of a shifting global demographic and the impact of climate change.
European regulators have turned the world of in vitro diagnostics (IVDs) upside down with new legislation that will come into effect at the end of this year. The new EU legislation gives manufacturers five years to meet strict standards. That may not be enough time.
NIBIB-funded researchers at the University of Washington have pioneered an approach to image functional activity in the brains of individual fetuses, allowing a better look at how functional networks within the brain develop. The work addresses a common problem of functional MRI; if the subject moves during the scanning, the images get distorted.
EKF Diagnostics announces that its newly introduced Glycated Serum Protein (GSP) LiquiColor® diabetic biomarker test has been verified for use on the Siemens Vista chemistry analyzer. In a scientific poster published by scientists at the Memorial Healthcare System, Hollywood, USA [1], it was demonstrated that EKF’s GSP assay enhances the versatility of the Vista system for the specialized…
The first known household survey examining the collateral harm to pregnancy services in areas affected by the West African Ebola epidemic suggests a significant slide backwards in child and maternal health. The study, conducted in Liberia, points to the deep disruptions caused by the Ebola epidemic — even in parts of the country with relatively limited transmission.
A study published by The BMJ provides more details of an association between Zika virus infection in the womb and a condition known as arthrogryposis, which causes joint deformities at birth, particularly in the arms and legs.
Research by scientists in the US and UK has estimated that up to 1.65 million childbearing women in Central and South America could become infected by the Zika virus by the end of the first wave of the epidemic. Researchers from the WorldPop Project and Flowminder Foundation at the University of Southampton and colleagues from the University of Notre Dame and University of Oxford have also found…
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified antibodies capable of protecting against Zika virus infection, a significant step toward developing a vaccine, better diagnostic tests and possibly new antibody-based therapies. The work, in mice, helps clarify recent research that also identified protective Zika antibodies but lacked important details on how the…
Jens Hahn MD is an Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Specialist who works with the international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF in English: Doctors Without Borders). Here he describes his work in Afghanistan and South Sudan, and the use of rapid diagnostic tests in the field.
An international team led by researchers at the Austrian Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) in Vienna and the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore discovered that genetically determined breast cancer can be largely prevented by blocking a bone gene. An already approved drug could be quickly available and would then be the first breast cancer prevention drug.
The Zika epidemic has long assumed global proportions, experts told the Congress of the European Academy of Neurology in Copenhagen. Europe needs to get prepared to deal with the relentless spread of the health threat, in particular with a view to “imported” infection. Awareness for prevention and personal protection is important, in particular with thousands of athletes and fans soon…
The President of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN) Prof Raad Shakir (London), said today that following the first confirmed Zika-related case of microcephaly on US territory, in Puerto Rico, and the ever-growing number of sexually-transmitted Zika infections in Europe, “it is increasingly obvious that the Zika epidemic has long assumed global proportions.” As the opening of the Olympics…
Studying a new type of pinhead-size, lab-grown brain made with technology first suggested by three high school students, Johns Hopkins researchers have confirmed a key way in which Zika virus causes microcephaly and other damage in fetal brains: by infecting specialized stem cells that build its outer layer, the cortex.
Since the recent link to severe neurological defects in infants born to mothers infected during pregnancy, Zika virus (ZIKV) has become a public health and research priority. A study reports details from the 2015 Zika outbreak in Rio de Janeiro - the first with a high proportion of cases confirmed by molecular diagnosis - and proposes changes to the current diagnostic criteria for ZIKV disease.
From the beginning the accusation somehow beggared belief. A ‘mild’ virus was blamed for causing hideous malformations in babies’ heads. Brazil, a country suffering its worst recession since the 1930s, as well as political upheaval, became the focus of a worldwide healthcare scare.
Identifying a blood disorder may be as easy as running a blood sample from a finger prick under a smartphone. That is the concept behind a new biomedical device being developed by Kansas State University researchers.
The Zika virus, unlike other mosquito-borne viruses such as dengue, is relatively unknown and unstudied. That is set to change since Zika, now spreading through Latin America and the Caribbean, has been associated with an alarming rise in babies born in Brazil with abnormally small heads and brain defects – a condition called microcephaly.
Experts at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) – an organization promoting research, risk assessment, knowledge sharing and best practices in the fight against infectious diseases – are developing tools to monitor the spread of the Zika virus and are conducting research to gather more solid data to better assess the risks associated with the…
The refugee wave rolls on with no ebb in sight. For many, Germany remains their travel destination. In August and September alone, tens of thousands refugees arrived in Munich, presenting the Bavarian capital with a major challenge: How could the city provide initial medical care for everyone? While the German Asylum Procedure Act governs the appropriate procedures, in this unprecedented…
It’s the dream of many infertile couples: to have a baby. Tens of thousands of children are born by in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a technique commonly used when nature doesn’t take its course. However, embryos obtained when a sperm fertilizes an egg in a test tube often have defects. In a study, researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) discovered an…
EKF Diagnostics, the global in vitro diagnostics company, announces the publication of its new guide, "Anemia and hemoglobin testing". Available to download for free, the in-depth hematology guide provides a review of the symptoms and causes of anemia, through to methods for testing hemoglobin and hematocrit, as well as factors that may influence these measurements.
Using the Arietta V70 from Hitachi, a French diagnostic imaging team is rewriting the book on obstetrics and gynaecology. Entitled the ‘Atlas d’échographie de fusion en gynécologie obstétrique’, the new edition by Jean-Marc Levaillant MD, and colleagues from the diagnostic imaging centres at the Bicêtre and Créteil hospitals in Paris, will be published before the end of 2015.
The newly founded Tübingen company CENATA GmbH has been offering the Harmony non-invasive pre-natal test since May 2015. CENATA has obtained a licence from the U.S. company Ariosa Diagnostics, and is now the only company in the world outside the United States that is permitted to conduct the analysis and evaluation. This examination enables pregnant mothers to test their unborn children for…
Women who undergo implant based female sterilization have a significantly heightened risk of reoperation following complications, suggests a large study published in The BMJ.
The survival rate of premature babies born between 26 to 31 weeks of gestation is improved by blocking light from reaching the intravenously-fed infused nutritious mixture they depend on for survival, researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine and the University of Montreal have revealed in a new study.
Twin girls born joined at the pelvic and hip region are recovering after separation surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The girls are named Acen and Apio, but on Thursday they were carefully labeled “blue” and “red” to help surgeons know which monitoring equipment belonged to each sister as they carefully separated their spines, muscle and tissue.
Fetuses with enlarged ventricles--the fluid-filled cavities inside the brain--may be less likely than their counterparts to benefit from surgery in the womb to treat spina bifida, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Looking at measurements of the vertebrae – the series of small bones that make up the spinal column – in newborn children, investigators at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles found that differences between the sexes are present at birth. Results of the study in the August issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, suggest that this difference is evolutionary, allowing the female spine to adapt to the…
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.
Research presented at the 2015 AACC Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo will expand on the studies that led to a fingerprick Ebola test becoming the first and only rapid diagnostic for this disease to receive approval from the World Health Organization (WHO). This test could prove vital to breaking Ebola’s grip on West Africa by identifying suspected Ebola cases within minutes, and enabling…
National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers and their colleagues have developed a "placenta-on-a-chip" to study the inner workings of the human placenta and its role in pregnancy.
Australian researchers have found that so-called 'triple-negative breast cancers' are two distinct diseases that likely originate from different cell types. This helps explain why survival prospects for women with the diagnosis tend to be either very good or very bad.
The very first successful organ donation from a newborn to be carried out in the UK is reported in the Fetal & Neonatal Edition of Archives of Disease in Childhood. The donor was a girl born at term after an emergency caesarean section in the neonatal unit of Hammersmith Hospital, London. The donation involved the kidneys, which were transplanted into a patient with renal failure, and liver…
Iron deficiency and resulting anaemia cause fatal comorbidities worldwide. Despite this, they are generally underestimated. Professor Lothar Thomas, specialist in laboratory medicine at Central Laboratory of the University Hospital of Frankfurt/Main, is calling for more information about the new laboratory parameters for diagnosis and monitoring of iron deficiency and iron substitution therapy.
Congenital heart defects are the most common congenital disorders found in newborns – around one in a hundred babies are affected. This type of heart defect can be reliably diagnosed with ultrasound, usually during the detailed foetal scan carried out halfway through the pregnancy. Report: Brigitte Dinkloh
‘Never-before-seen breakthroughs in diagnostic research and technology’ were revealed during July’s American Association for Clinical Chemistry meeting in Chicago, where up to 20,000 people packed in for research updates.
The survival of premature newborns in England is 30% higher in specialist units treating large numbers of neonates, reveals an analysis of national data published in the online journal BMJ Open.
This April, in San Jose, California, the portable lab took central stage at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry’s (AACC) annual forum for emerging clinical diagnostic technologies – a most appropriate topic for the Silicon Valley venue where so many world-changing computer and communications innovations have been born.
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.
New Assay Is First to Standardize to World Health Organization’s 5th International Standard for Chorionic Gonadotropin
Down’s syndrome (also referred to as trisomy 21) is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra copy of chromosome 21 in a person’s DNA. Current screening for Down’s syndrome and other trisomy conditions includes a combined test done between the 11th and 13th weeks of pregnancy.
The insight that psychological, social and environmental conditions affect a person’s health is insufficiently considered in medical training and in the every-day diagnosis and treatment of patients.
Down’s syndrome (also referred to as trisomy 21) is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra copy of chromosome 21 in a person’s DNA.
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.
Frost & Sullivan is carefully tracking the transforming global point-of-care testing (POCT) market, offering latest information on key opportunities and critical unmet needs by region
Modern imaging techniques greatly enhance the treatment selection
The number of premature births increases continuously in all European countries – with the exception of Sweden. Every year around 500,000 children – every 10th baby – in Europe are premature, i.e. born before the end of the 37th week of pregnancy and with a birth weight below 2,500g.
‘The egg timer test’ is widely used to help determine how long a woman can expect to remain fertile. Lately it has shown even greater potential for clinical use as a biomarker for ovarian viability.
Suspicion of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in a pregnant patient will quickly bring a radiologist to a choice, where the next step holds potentially significant consequences for both the mother and unborn child.
Imaging of the chest is the most common radiological examination worldwide. With the incidence of respiratory problems and lung cancer growing, all radiologists should be familiar with the appropriate imaging protocols. In a field dominated by chest x-ray (CXR) and CT, controlling radiation dose is mandatory.
Figures suggest that imaging of pregnant women increased by 121% between 1997 and 2008, even though radiologists face several critical challenges when imaging these patients.
For reasons important to both EU citizens and migrants, greater efforts needed to be made to address the gap in quality health care that exists between the two groups, experts told the European Health Forum Gastein. Improvements would not only benefit Europe's newer arrivals but the well-being of Europeans in general.
World of Ultrasound met Prof. Ioan Sporea, Prof. Gebhard Mathis and Prof. Byung Ihn Choi to ask them three questions.
A hefty debate on controversial issues in cardiology is the definite intent of Congress President Professor Michel Komajda and the ESC 2011 congress organisers. To that end, he plans to open the event with a focus on disagreements among cardiologists over treatment methods. This is not the only promise of a lively meeting for congress participants, as Prof Komajda explained in conversation with…
Prenatal ultrasound images are the first images we see of new humans. But the prenatal ultrasound first carried out by Professor Ian Donald in the late 50s has little to do with today’s potential with 3-D and 4-D imaging with Doppler and colour Doppler. The three tightly linked disciplines gynaecology, prenatal medicine and obstetrics would now be inconceivable without ultrasound
Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics announced today that its ADVIA Centaur® Syphilis Assay1 for the detection of antibodies against Treponema pallidum, a bacterium known to cause the sexually-transmitted disease, syphilis, has been CE-marked. Now, laboratories outside the United States can equip themselves with a new testing tool for this serious condition and drive additional workflow and efficiency…
Poor gut flora is believed to trigger obesity. In the same way, healthy gut flora could reduce the risk. This has shown to be the case in tests on rats. Daily intake of a lactic acid bacteria, which has been given the name Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL19, appears to be able to prevent obesity and reduce the body’s low-level inflammation.
It was difficult to sing along in Farsi with the Iranian musical group at the Austria Centre Vienna, a first-ever event for the European Congress of Radiology. European radiologists were far more familiar with the work of their colleagues from Teheran, who have increased their participation in the ECR yearly and who have published their works in English for seven years in the Iranian Journal of…
The birth, in France, of its first baby to be conceived by artificial insemination on top of the selection of an embryo based on its blood, has sent new flames into the hot parliamentary debate over the reform of bioethics law.
Pin-sharp outlines instead of a flurry of speckles, three-dimensional bodies instead of two-dimensional cross sections: Modern ultrasound scanners now deliver images of a quality that would have been inconceivable just a few years ago. This new generation scanners have made ultrasound diagnostics more reliable, reproducible and much easier to use for doctors
Launching its new ProSound F75 at the 20th ISUOG World Congress in Prague this October, Aloka Holding AG explained that it was designed to meet the firm’s new ‘FIT’ ethos (Facilitated workflow; Investment return; True diagnostics). Each machine can be tailored to any physician’s needs (over 45 user presets), simplifying the process, vastly reducing patient dependency and time to conduct…
Ultrasound is the undisputed choice for foetal imaging. However, the lack of amniotic fluid, an unfavourable foetal position or maternal obesity could daunt even the best radiographer. In such circumstances prenatal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) – a non-invasive and non-irradiating procedure – is a helpful diagnostic tool.
Prior to October’s 3rd Annual Congress of the Austrian Society for Laboratory Medicine and Clinical Chemistry in Salzburg, Austria, laboratory experts conveyed their opinions in an interview with Michael Krassnitzer from European Hospital.
European patients are in many countries, in fact, limited in their individual choice of medically assisted reproduction (MAR) treatment, experts from the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) stressed today at the European Health Forum Gastein (EHFG). The EHFG is the most important conference on health care policy in the EU. This year it has attracted about 600…
The UK’s Babraham Institute, which conducts biomedical research, has established a ‘high throughput’ epigenomics sequencing facility to improve understanding of healthier ageing.
A study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) revealed that MRI is a highly accurate means of identifying placenta accreta, a potentially life-threatening and increasingly common condition that is the leading cause of death for women just before and after giving birth.
Today testing of patients at the point of care (POC) accounts for 25% of all testing, and these portable assays are increasing their penetration into medical practice at rapid rate of 12% each year. Yet along with the growth comes an increasing risk of errors that adversely affect quality of clinical decision-making and patient safety.
Specially designed for mobile general practitioners and urologists, the Draminski Ultrasound Scanner is fully portable and comes in a solid and secure case that also includes all necessary accessories for diagnoses.
The fact that child diabetics (type I) in Russia do not receive necessary and qualitative therapy was again highlighted during the 7th Russian conference 'The priority national project - Health - and the tasks of children's endocrinologists' held in Saint-Petersburg this June.
Robot-assisted surgery can be used to successfully repair abnormal openings between the uterus and the bladder, according to a report by Ashok K. Hemal, M.D., a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center urologist who is the world's most experienced surgeon in the procedure.
Working in partnership to integrate diagnostic imaging, laboratory diagnostics and IT, the Hospital Clinic Barcelona and Siemens Healthcare aim to develop innovative systems to prevent, treat and follow-up for various pathologies.
This was not a quick birth. The concept began back in 1963. After finishing each day's work at the Women's Hospital, Dusseldorf, obstetrician Konrad Hammacher spent his nights at the Medical Academy, toiling over an idea.
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…
An international panel of physicians has updated the guidelines and recommendations for antiretroviral treatment of adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection after evaluating recent data, according to an article in JAMA, a theme issue on HIV/AIDS.
Varicose veins in testicles are common and harmless in most of the cases. But they can be the reason for unwanted childlessness. Venous embolization, a minimally invasive treatment, offers the opportunity to improve male fertility, as a study from the University of Bonn, Germany, shows.
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.
Wales - Jessica Tate is pregnant. Hers is a normal pregnancy. There is, however, some concern because she wants her baby to be born at home, but is often alone there because her partner must travel for his work. Mid-term, she is tired and has mild anaemia. At one stage in her pregnancy she also falsely believes labour has started and is worried. However, all should go well. She benefits from…
Uterine fibroids are the most common form of benign pelvic tumor, with about 30-50% of women between the ages of 35-45 years reporting them. Although many women are asymptomatic, those who experience the symptoms of bladder pressure, frequent and very heavy menstrual periods, and uterine pain, have a reduced quality of life.
By Tamar Jehuda-Cohen PhD, Biomedical Engineering Department, Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
The first Czech test-tube baby was born, woman in childbed delivered smoothly on 4th November 1982, and healthy baby-boy was 51 cm tall, and weighed 3.65 kg. A medical team from Moravian town of Brno led by embryologist Milan Dvorak and gynecologist Ladislav Pilka was behind all this happy-ended artificial fertilization quarter a century ago.
SonoSite Inc., the world leader in hand-carried ultrasound is presenting its new innovations at this year's MEDICA in Düsseldorf from 14th to 17th November.
Omega-3 may protect children at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
San Diego, California - 20,000 international physicians, scientists and other visitors travelled to the Annual Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) in July, and 750 exhibitors emphasised the increasing importance of this gathering
Most babies are born healthy, but there is still a small risk for all women to give birth to a baby with some type of anomaly. Ultrasound has proven to be one of the most reliable procedures to prenatally diagnose some of these conditions. Ultrasound can be used during the entire pregnancy, but in the first trimester ultrasound examinations are, as a rule, used to exactly calculate the pregnancy,…
Chromosomal abnormalities are major causes of perinatal death and childhood handicap. Consequently, the detection of chromosomal disorders constitutes the most frequent indication for invasive prenatal diagnosis. However, invasive testing, by amniocentesis, chorionicvillus sampling (CVS) or cordocentesis, is associated with a risk of miscarriage of about 1% and therefore these tests are carried…
During the last ten years or so, there has been a convergence of modern international science with traditional Chinese medicine, with research carried out in physiology, biochemistry and pharmacology.
The Netherlands — In-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is an overly aggressive treatment and needlessly exposes childless women to substantial risks of complications and serious discomfort, according to researchers at the University Medical Centre, in Utrecht.
The first, pan-European guidelines to be published on the treatment of valvular heart disease (VHD), diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have made a series of new recommendations that experts hope will contribute to improving the outcome for patients.
Each year about 46 million women in the world decide to have an abortion because of unwanted pregnancy. Half of them have no other choice but to access unsafe abortions, leading to the death of worldwide 70,000 women every year - including Europe. At least in areas where abortion is not illegal, this disgrace can be abolished by the access to safe abortions.
New ultrasound technologies detect foetal heart defects earlier.
Inverness Medical Innovations develops and manufactures rapid diagnostic products for use in preventive as well as interventional therapies.
Inhalation of anaesthetic laughing gas was blamed for the deformation of six babies born in the Leyenburg Hospital, The Hague. Report: Michiel Bloemendaal
Experts call for screening of surgical and medical patients, and thromboprophylaxis for those at risk.
Interview with Prof. Klaus Vetter MD, director of the Obestetrics Clinic at the Perinatal Centre, Vivantes Hospital Neukölln, Berlin, Germany.
Wound Infection Institute is dedicated to improving infection control.
His professional experience and research cover clinical performance measurement, disease-specific and patient-level clinical performance indicators, performance improvement, statistical process control, international health systems.
Poland - Many medical workers may soon be ethically challenged by a decision made in Europe's Court of Human Rights regarding a woman who had been refused an abortion there.