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.
Neurology
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…
Neurorad 2011 - Europe’s largest gathering of neuroradiologists
neurorad 2011 recently drew over 1,000 German neuroradiologists to Cologne, Germany, making this annual congress the biggest of its kind in Europe, as Professor Olav Jansen, President of the German Society of Neuroradiology, pointed out in his opening speech. Report: Alex Viola
Neurosurgical guidance progresses toward navigation
Unique software embeds an extensively annotated normal template into a patient’s axial images, Vinodh A Kumar MD reports from the Division of Diagnostic Imaging and Physics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre, Houston, Texas
Mobile telephones and brain tumours
There is no link between long-term use of mobile phones and tumours of the brain or central nervous system, finds new research published on bmj.com today. In what is described as the largest study on the subject to date, Danish researchers found no evidence that the risk of brain tumours was raised among 358,403 mobile phone subscribers over an 18-year period.
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.
Ultra High Field Magnetic Resonance
2011 brought a second year for European and US scientists to meet up at the Annual Scientific Symposium on Ultra High Field Magnetic Resonance, held at the Max Delbrück Centre for Molecular Medicine Berlin-Buch (MDC), Germany, to present and discuss their recent findings. Along with technical improvements, the main issues of the one-day gathering were cardiac, cerebral and molecular MR imaging.…
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.
The Gamma Knife goes to work in Paris
A major public hospital has become the first in Paris to be equipped with a Gamma Knife, the device that enables the surgeon to operate on the brain with no blade or blood involved.
Early warning system for Alzheimer's disease
Scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow are developing a technique based on a new discovery which could pave the way towards detecting Alzheimer’s disease in its earliest stages - and could help to develop urgently-needed treatments.
Treatment options for atrial fibrillation to prevent a stroke
Neurocardiology – especially atrial fibrillation (AF) – was the key topic during a press conference held during the 55th Annual Congress of the Germany Society for Clinical Neurophysiology and Functional Imaging (DGKN) this March. For good reason: Worldwide, there are around six million AF sufferers -- and it is one of the most common causes of stroke because this cardiac irregularity can…
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…
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.
New EU project CORONET
Interfaces between the brain and electrical circuits in technical devices or computers open new perspectives for basic research and medical application, e.g., for therapeutic brain stimulation and neuroprosthetics. The new EU project CORONET will develop the technological and theoretical foundations for such future “bio-hybrid” interfaces between biological and artificial nervous tissues.
An improved view with 64 slices
Late in 2009, GE Healthcare’s 64 slice PET/CT Discovery 690 began its use in the University Clinic for Nuclear Medicine in Innsbruck, Austria. Apart from routine clinical examinations for treatment control via FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose), the scanner is also employed in clinical research - particularly for Gallium 68DOTA PET/CT examination.
When is our hand not our hand?
When we look at our hands, how do we know they are part of our body? This seems like a strange question because it is something most of us take for granted. Exciting new data from a research group at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show that the brain uses a combination of sensory signals from our eyes and limbs to achieve a sense of ‘body ownership’.
The ultra-high-field MRI symposium
Early problems of ultra-high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been overcome by successful development of adequate hardware. In consequence big efforts have been achieved in structural imaging, as well in functional imaging. Basic scientists and physicians who work in ultra-high-field MRI in Europe and the USA, met at the Berlin Ultra-high-field Facility (BUFF), in the Max Dehlbrück…
SECARS microscopy – a window to the world of molecules
SECARS microscopy, a procedure which is based on quantum effects, with which certain molecules can be monitored virtually in real time, turns out to be a highly sensitive tool for the non-invasive research of the most varied diseases and may supplement the medical diagnosis tools of CT and MRI in the future.
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.“
Peripheral nerve surgery
Neurosurgery has seen enormous progress, which should benefit as many patients as possible. However, according to Prof. Hanno Millesi MD, director of the Millesi Centre for Surgery of Peripheral Nerves, Wiener PrivatKlinik (WPK), a private hospital in Vienna, Austria, ‘methods are perceived incorrectly, because they are often confused with problematic predecessors, and sensible methods are…
The MR-guided intra-operative surgical suite
Intra-operative MR imaging is still uncommon in Europe – particularly in neurosurgery. One of the first neurosurgery departments to work with a 3-T MR is in the Central Military Hospital in Prague. The experience and initial clinical findings from treating more than 300 patients, over a two-year period, was reported at this year’s ECR.
