Renal denervation moves beyond the HTN-3 disaster
Clinicians and companies remain committed to a procedure that failed to demonstrate efficacy against a sham-control group in pivotal clinical trial
Economy
Bringing surgical quality to TAVR valves
A cardiac surgeon, Wolfgang Goetz MD once stitched together custom aortic valves in the operating room. Today he is CEO of Transcatheter Technologies in Regensburg.
News • Study
Sepsis cases are rising
Sepsis kills around a hundred and thirty patients daily In Germany alone. This systemic disease is mostly caused by bacterial pathogens, and less frequently by fungal organisms or parasites. The delayed diagnoses result in high mortality. Professor Dr Frank M Brunkhorst of the Centre of Sepsis Control and Care (CSCC), at Jena University Hospital, Germany, is seeking strategies to combat such…
Cerner to Acquire Siemens Health Services for $1.3 Billion
Acquisition to further industry innovation with a combined $650 million annual R&D investment Complementary client bases expand global presence.
High quality care at low costs
Whilst participants at the ‘Boundary-less Hospital in Health Care Networks’ conference, organised by the Centre for Advanced Studies in Management (CASiM) at Leipzig Graduate School of Management (HHL) in mid-June agreed on the need as such, there was plenty of room to discuss exactly which changes could make the German healthcare system future-ready.
Beckman Coulter to Acquire Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics’ Clinical Microbiology Business
Beckman Coulter, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR), announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the clinical microbiology business of Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.
Laboratory automation
On the leading edge of automation for medical laboratory testing, Siemens Healthcare rolled out an impressive suite of new products at IFCC WorldLab 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey that are ‘exactly aligned, and even anticipate, customer needs in central lab operations,’ according to Franz Walt, CEO for the Chemistry, Immunoassay, Automation and Diagnostics IT business unit within Siemens’…
Streamlining testing without loss of quality
As many laboratories face demands to turn around faster, more accurate patient test results against a backdrop of increasingly stringent quality control and tighter budgets, the search is on for tools to help meet ever-stretching targets.
News • Sterilisation reversal
Stop free fertility treatment for "lifestyle" babies to curb climate change
Free fertility treatment should be banned for those making "lifestyle" reproductive choices, such as sterilisation reversal or single motherhood for fertile women. And fertility clinics should be subject to carbon capping schemes, in a bid to help curb climate change, argues a bioethicist in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Using light to control the cell
Researchers from the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have developed a new method that uses light to control processes in living cells.
Smokers with mental health issues cost UK nearly £2.5 billion a year
Smoking prevalence is 50% higher in this group; Researchers say that more effort is needed to help them quit.
Hardly unnecessary blood tests
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center used two relatively simple tactics to significantly reduce the number of unnecessary blood tests to assess symptoms of heart attack and chest pain and to achieve a large decrease in patient charges.
More visibility for pathologists
For several decades pathologists worldwide have been under increasing pressure to handle a steady increase in laboratory tests with a steady decrease in finance and staff.
Seeing sights on a stroll down StreetLab
At a glance, StreetLab looks like a city street, peppered with shops and street signs. However, this special area belongs to the Paris-based Vision Institute.
Ultrasound steps up for emergencies
You never know what you’re going to see in the Emergency Department (ED); but, more and more the first evaluation of a trauma patient’s condition will be with ultrasound.
ICU-quality respiratory technology enters home care
John Power is breathing easier after agreeing to let the Philips Home Healthcare deal with the complex and competitive consumer market for medical technology.
Pay-for-performance bites deep
Although nosocomial infections and medical accidents have declined, over 750 hospitals with the highest number of such cases now face penalties – amounting to an estimated $330 million a year – issued by Medicare.
Same-day diagnosis from hand-held device
Scientists in the UK are working to develop a hand-held testing device to provide same day diagnosis from a patient’s bedside. The device will use disposable cartridges and utilise printed circuit board technology (PCB) that will allow a fast and low-cost diagnosis.
Article • Clinical chemistry
THE AACC FORUM 2014
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.
eSMART: mobile phones help patients through chemotherapy treatment
Coping with the side effects of chemotherapy treatment is challenging for people with cancer. When fatigued or nauseous, it is not easy to assess if these conditions are acceptable treatment side effects or require medical assistance.
Radiometer acquires HemoCue
Two companies with similar core values, providing high quality products for acute care and point-of-care testing worldwide.
Imec and Samsung Join to Accelerate Innovation in Digital Health
Imec, the world-leading nano-electronics research center announced today that it is collaborating with Samsung Electronics to accelerate innovation and collaboration among technology companies and researchers working in the burgeoning mobile wearable field.
Spain’s huge public health deficit
The Spanish National Health System is organised following the principles of universal coverage and solidarity, to ensure equal access to healthcare services for all citizens.
Personalised Medicine Drives Uptake
Future of DNA sequencing will shift from a laboratory-based setup to point of care testing in the next 5 years
Agreement between Edwards Lifesciences and Medtronic
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation, the global leader in the science of heart valves and hemodynamic monitoring, announced that the company has reached an agreement with Medtronic to settle all outstanding patent litigation between the companies, including cases related to transcatheter heart valves.