Telemedicine allows acute stroke trial
Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) were able to enroll patients at other hospitals into an acute stroke clinical trial.
Neurology
Article • Neuro Imaging
Molecular imaging brings seismic change
Molecular profiling is transforming brain cancer management and radiologists must get to grips with the upcoming paradigm that will affect the way they report findings. Renowned neuroradiologist Professor Anne G. Osborn from the University of Utah, School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, unveiled the latest advances in brain pathology during the Nikola Tesla Honorary Lecture last week at ECR…
Article • Technology
Virtual assistance during procedures
The adage ‘practice makes perfect’ is applicable to every profession – but even more so for pilots and surgeons. Flight simulation technology has been used for decades to hone aviators’ skills, and this technology is now being used by neurosurgeons to plan as well as practise surgical procedures and for real-time virtual assistance in operating theatre. Report: Cynthia E Keen
Article • Research
3D printers help neuroradiologists
The treatment of cerebral aneurysms is often very complex and initially it is not always obvious which type of treatment is best suited for an individual case. In October, during the Annual Congress of the German Society for Neuroradiology e.V., a working group from Hamburg introduced a procedure that enables the production of exact copies of individual aneurysms with a 3D printer.
Nobel Prize in Medicine awarded for locating brain’s inner GPS
The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet has today decided to award The 2014 Nobel Prize in in Physiology or Medicine to John O´Keefe and the other half jointly to May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.
Europe’s neurologists join forces in the European Academy of Neurology
Europe will now have just one international neurological association. The two European societies – the EFNS and the ENS – have merged during the Joint Congress of European Neurology in Istanbul to create the new European Academy of Neurology (EAN). Prof Günther Deuschl from Kiel, Germany, was elected the first President of the new organisation.
Using brain waves to steer a wheelchair
At the Joint Congress of European Neurology in Istanbul, researchers from Austria and Belgium have presented a study exploring innovative methods for communicating with coma patients. Their aim is to be able to communicate with patients by detecting brain activity even in people with inhibited consciousness.
The hubs and spokes of brain traffic
New insights into the ways the human brain functions – that is the promise of mapping the entire web of connections in the brain, the so-called connectome. New developments in connectome imaging are one of the major topics at this year’s European Congress of Radiology (ECR).
Brain has switch board to guide behavior in response to external stimuli
How do our brains combine information from the external world (sensory stimulation) with information on our internal state such as hunger, fear or stress?
Endovascular thrombolysis
Neurologists keenly debate the value of mechanical reopening of blocked blood vessels in the brain, as demonstrated during the 21st World Congress for Neurology (WCN) in Vienna this September. Theoretically, endovascular thrombolysis can only be considered for 20-30% of all incidents of stroke.
Searching Brain Pathways for Clues on Autism
Timothy Roberts, PhD, works in the middle of an epidemic. In the 20 years the researcher has studied autism, the diagnosis rate among children in the United States has risen from one in 1,000 to one in 88. No one is sure of the cause, how to prevent it, or how to treat it.
Schizophrenia gene discovered
Working independently from different perspectives, geneticists from Finland and biochemists from Würzburg have researched the molecular mechanisms of schizophrenia and cognitive impairment.
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis (MS) – the inflammatory condition in the central nervous system (CNS) – leads to scarring, with several scars forming lesions, also called plaques. Although long assumed that only white matter is involved, this is increasingly questioned.
rfMRI reveals mind moving matter
‘We finally have tools to non-invasively study the human brain in normal subjects and diseased patients,’ says Professor Stefan Sunaert, Head of Translational MRI at the Department of Imaging & Pathology, Leuven University Hospital (Belgium)
More sophisticated insights into the human mind
“We finally have tools to non-invasively study the human brain in normal subjects and diseased patients,” says Professor Stefan Sunaert, Head of Translational MRI at the Department of Imaging & Pathology at Leuven University Hospital (Belgium).
Traumatic brain injury
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the main cause of accidental death in Europe and all highly developed countries, accounting for around 40% of all accidental mortality.
A link between adult neurogenesis and memory recovery
The brain of mammals produces new neurons for the whole of their lives. This process, called neurogenesis, enables cognitive functions such as memory or learning, and its decrease is linked to some neuro-psychiatric pathologies and intellectual disabilities.
CIED patients can have MRI examinations
A new generation of cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) includes the Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD), Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Defibrillator (CRT-Ds) and Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy Pacemakers (CRT-Ps). Professor W R Bauer at University Hospital Würzburg has been significantly involved in their development, EH Editor Ralf Mateblowski to ask him about…
Predicting the future of neuroradiological imaging
As this decade ends we’ll be watching the brain think. Although anticipating very important technical developments, Professor Olav Jansen MD (right), President of the German Society for Neuroradiology (DGNR) and Director of the Institute for Neuroradiology at Schlewwig-Hostein University Hospital in Kiel, Germany, foresees even more important crucial advances in stroke therapy
Music for the eyes
EyeMusic, developed by a team of researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, employs pleasant musical tones and scales to help the visually impaired "see" using music.
MRI will improve the treatment of wake-up strokes
Neurointensivists need to act quickly and carefully – as well as consider later complications or the psychological impact on stroke victims. This potentially debilitating disease was a central discussion among 1,400 participants from 10 countries during the three-day 29th Annual Conference of Neurointensive Medicine (ANIM), an event hosted in January by The German Society for Neuro-Intensive…
Traumatic brain injury: The silent epidemic
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the world’s biggest public health problems. In the USA, for example, about 1.7 million people sustain TBI every year, costing healthcare $76.5 billion. Yet, the public knows little of the significance of TBI and also it once received the nickname ‘silent epidemic’ by the American Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
What´s new in neuroradiology and interventional radiology?
When scanning seizures, Dr Walter Kucharczyk, director of MRI at Toronto General Hospital, believes that MRI still remains the best imaging test to discover if there is an anatomic or structural abnormality that might account for a seizure.
Seeking the best pluripotent stem cell
Susanne Werner reports on the views and revelations of international researchers gathered to deliberate the future potential of reprogrammed human adult stem cells and personalised medical treatments
Diagnosing brain tumours - stick to the standards!
As a referral neuroradiologist for paediatric tumour studies, Professor Monika Warmuth-Metz, Consultant at the Neuroradiology Department at University Hospital Würzburg, daily evaluates MRI images of different origin and colour. Her resume states: ‘All too often the standard protocols set out in the guidelines are not adhered to, which makes evaluation and follow-up significantly more…