The directive 2004/40/EC of the European Parliament sets minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (electromagnetic fields). Too strict requirements, as the use of MRI in medical research and clinical practice throughout Europe is threatened. Now, it is expected that the directive is going to be modified and delayed for four…
Researchers from the School of Dentistry at the University of Manchester developed a technique to identify osteoporosis from ordinary dental x-rays. The software-based method has the potential to improve the early diagnoses of osteoporosis on a wide-scale screening level.
The Acuson P10 is a new portable ultrasound device, developed and manufactured by Siemens Medical Solutions. The new system in the size of a Blackberry embodies Point of Care Testing (POCT) abilities: It weighs a little more than 700 grams and could be used for earliest possible diagnostics in an intensive care unit, ambulance or medical helicopter, providing physicians with valuable information…
The Virtual Institute for Seven Tesla Applications (VISTA) is a partnership of several Dutch universities. To evaluate the benefit of ultrahigh-field MRI the first human 7.0T whole-body research scanner, supplied by Philips Medical Systems, was installed at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). Roland Plasterk, the Durch minister of education, culture and science, attended at the opening…
Some of the medical procedures and equipment showcased and discussed at the MEDICA 2007 are sure to provide medical experts with plenty of discussion material. In cardiac diagnostic imaging a minor revolution is taking place, with ultrasound procedures increasing in significance. But innovation in x-ray methods is also continuing.
Coronary stents provide wall wrapping of dissection, prevent elastic recoil, and reduce restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. In addition, drug eluting stents loaded with antiproliferative agents inhibit intimal hyperplasia and offer a further reduction of restenosis.
The spatial-anatomic visualisation offered by MRI already provides immense diagnostic possibilities for cardiology. However, as yet, the potential of this imaging modality is far from exploited, according to Professor Bernd Hamm (right), of the Radiology Department at the Charité Hospital, Berlin. Daniela Zimmermann of European Hospital, asked him why.
Several acrylamide scandals, especially in germany, lead to an increased awareness of the customers and to economical problems of manufacturers of e.g. potatoe crisps in the past. Now, the company DSM Food Specialties, active worldwide in nutritional and pharma ingredients, performance materials and industrial chemicals, might have found a solution.
The Sensei Robotic Catheter System, a first generation robotic platform launched by Hansen Medical at the USA's Heart Rhythm Society Scientific Sessions in May this year, is in use in Europe.
During a meeting of cardiologists in Prague earlier this year to exchange experiences with new methods and treatments to control atrial fibrillation, Dr Josef Kautzner, Head of Cardiology Department at IKEM (Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine) pointed out that numbers of patients with AF will more than double during the next 20 years.
It has only recently been discovered that very often it is not the size of the plaque in the coronary vessels but its inflammation status that determines the occurrence of a cardiac infarction.
By Thaddeus Chodakauskas BS RDMS and Steve Feinstein MD FACC
Boston Scientific Corporation has commenced enrolment of a targeted 1,500 patients for the Taxus Perseus clinical trials, planned to take place in 100 international centres.
The Lifebridge B2T (bridge-to-transport) is the first, fully portable emergency life support system for patients suffering cardiogenic shock, or those showing signs of imminent cardiogenic shock.
A next-generation diagnostic tool for cardiovascular disease, using a nanoscale iron particle, is now under development at a unique industry-government-university named Nano AG. A report from Siemens describes the research and progress at the centre
By Paolo Montuschi MD, of the Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy.
The European Respiratory Society (ERS) Congress is the world's biggest annual scientific gathering in respiratory medicine.
Turkey - The recently opened 74-bed Florence Nightingale Kiziltoprak Hospital, which has three operating rooms and 10 ICU beds, is one of four hospitals in a Turkish healthcare network.
Trends 2007 - ever smaller and smaller
The Forum Medizintechnik-Pharma - an association that provides a recognised contribution to the development of the co-operative environment in medicine, technology and pharmaceuticals, met for a symposium in Germany this July.
"Come and experience the great Canadian Prairie Hospitality!" say the organisers of the 5th World Conference on Breast Cancer (WCBC), to be held in June next year in Winnipeg, Manitoba - the "cultural cradle of the nation, gateway to the Canadian west, and a meeting place for over 6,000 years," the WCBC Foundation points out.
A decision by Ab Klink, Minister of Public Health, Wellbeing and Sports, to increase the number of balloon angioplasty facilities in hospitals to 30, has prompted the NVVC - the Dutch cardiologists association - to express concern that there will be too many centres and too few patients, and specialists will not be able to maintain the level of skills for this procedure.
Cardiac CT angiography (CTA) performed after coronary artery bypass grafting surgery can reveal a high prevalence of unsuspected cardiac and significant non-cardiac findings that might otherwise be overlooked, according to a study by researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Centre, Baltimore ('Cardiac CT Angiography after Coronary Bypass Surgery: Prevalence of Incidental Findings', Pub:…
Hitachi Medical Systems has opened its European Technology Academy in Dusseldorf
Ultrasound scanning with CCDS is an established technique in shunt diagnostics and allows non-invasive assessment of vascular flow. Stenosing changes to walls of vessels used as a dialysis shunt should be detected as early as possible to avoid occlusion by a thrombus. High occlusion rates with volume flow reduced by up to 45% in one year demand ultrasound screening. The risk of haemodynamically…
