The ability to accurately check the position of the endotracheal tube for patients in intensive care units is crucial to their wellbeing and safe treatment. A pivotal element of this lies in identifying the position of the carina, a ridge of cartilage in the trachea that occurs between the division of the two main bronchi. Yet highlighting its location often proves problematic on portable chest…
Using technology similar to the type that powers facial and speech recognition on a smartphone, researchers at the University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center have trained a computer to analyze breast cancer images and then classify the tumors with high accuracy. In a study published in the journal NPJ Breast Cancer, researchers reported they used a form of artificial…
A world where machines can be controlled by thought alone – such is the promise of so-called brain-computer interfaces (BCI). BCIs are both hardware and software communication systems that read brain and nerve signals, convert those into electrical signals and translate human thoughts into machine commands. Developers of BCIs rely on artificial intelligence, neural network models and big data…
A 4G symbol next to the signal strength bar on a smartphone assures fast data transmission. 5G, the next generation of technology, is already waiting in the wings and could herald a new era for tele-surgery, PD Dr. Michael Kranzfelder is convinced. However, there are a few obstacles to overcome first.
Growth! New hardware, new software, richer imaging, enhanced communication and image transfer plus artificial intelligence (AI) are all pushing the pace that medical organisations, radiologists and device manufacturers must run to keep up. We spoke with Dr Erik Ranschaert, President of EuSOMII, about today’s changing face of radiology.
Spain has powerful regional e-health projects, but implementing a national strategy remains a complicated task. Lack of interoperability and low resources slow down data sharing across 17 autonomous communities, and sometimes even within the same region, key experts in the field explain. Although Spain transfers skills to its communities, everyone can benefit from emergency and primary care…
Successful pilot scheme means TERR-eSanté will be rolled out for the whole of the Ile-de-France. The French have a reputation as early adopters of telemedicine driven by the desire to modernise healthcare by the judicious use of the latest technology. The first ‘carte vitale’ (national health card) with a microchip was introduced in 1998. Since 2011, the information stored on the cards has…
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,…
In future, healthcare intelligent IoT solutions for real-time and location-based management of assets, employees and patients will be integral. ‘Medicosolution is working on holistic digital concepts for the healthcare sector and offers a platform for integration for existing solutions,’ the IT firm reports. ‘All processes can be tracked in real time,’ Max Schröfelbauer, its CEO,…
Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) created a veritable hype. However, that initial awe was increasingly mixed with apprehension about the potential effects of AI on healthcare. In radiology, bleak dystopias are conjured up with AI replacing the human radiologist. A scenario that Dr Felix Nensa considers premature, to say the least.
Following a report from software firm Nuance Communications that suggests technology firms should consider shadowing nurses to fully understand their workflows and inform the creation of solutions that work for them, nurses’ views on technology and data are to be consulted in a new Royal College of Nursing initiative alongside NHS Digital’s chief nurse Anne Cooper.
A new dimension in data handling is not only emerging, but is already a reality in our lives. However, political discourse about this often lags behind real events. We spoke with two experts who have an overview of clouds, decentralised data flows and the evaluation of personal data with IT help in various areas. Engineer Professor Alexandra Dmitrienko is a Secure Software Systems expert at the…
Often referred to as the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of histopathology, the sample entry has posed considerable challenges in pre-analytics for several decades. We visited the Munich-based lab automation start-up Inveox GmbH. Time-intense, highly manual processes in labs are expensive, error-prone and the most common reason for irregularities in cancer diagnoses. In Germany alone, every year hundreds…
As in many other countries, Belgium faces a significant shortage of health professionals – particularly pathologists to guarantee the diagnostic quality necessary for adequate therapeutic choice. A digital pathology platform can be a true ally; the Brussels Erasmus Hospital opted for that solution. Project manager Dr Ali Ramadhan shared his experience – the good, the bad and the ugly – at…
IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.), the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions and radiation therapy integrated quality assurance (QA) for the treatment of cancer, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Varian with the goal of validating the Dolphin transmission detector for online monitoring of patient treatment. With the health, security and safety of patients in…
Text messages aren't just a way to chat with family and friends—they are a viable method for rapidly gathering information during a public health crisis.
Enthusiasm for an emerging digital health tool, the smart pill, is on the rise but researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have published a paper in the American Journal of Bioethics that cautions health care providers and policymakers to slow down when it comes to allowing this technology in patient care settings.
1,240 exhibitors & 30,000 visitors gather from February 20th-22nd, 2019 at the Intex exhibition space in Osaka, Japan for Medical Japan 2019, the 5th international medical and elderly care expo and conference. Medical Japan 2019 delivers the best platform covering the entire healthcare industry. This show has been chosen by many exhibitors and visitors as the best platform. The show's…
The benefits of digital pathology have been well-documented along with the need for significant capital investment. Yet, as some pathology networks are discovering, there can be ongoing challenges to bringing an integrated system into play. Path Links – a single managed clinical pathology network operating across Lincolnshire in the east of England – and Nottingham University Hospitals in the…
Buying a laboratory information system (LIS) means entering a long-term relationship with a software vendor. The selection criteria are many, but which, ask Markus Neumann, Harald Maier and Gabriele Egert, are just fashionable and which might be underestimated? The decision to buy a LIS – i.e. to form a relationship with one or more software vendors – is based on a slew of criteria, and…
While the question is still debated as to whether MRI is the better CT, along comes a potential game changer – a new data based 3-D reconstruction method of heart anatomy and function that aims to replace diagnostic coronary angiography. In the near future not only adult patients with coronary heart disease could benefit from this new technique but also children with complex congenital heart…
A new augmented reality system to guide procedures in interventional oncology is currently taking its first steps. A three-step experiment proves this system to be precise and reliable enough to facilitate image guidance critical to the success of interventional oncology procedures. Using a back-face camera and a tablet PC to visualise the patient, the system projects 3D images of body structures…
The need to ensure that laboratory medicine can meet the future challenges of a rapidly changing healthcare environment sits at the core of an innovative strategic conference for this sector. The agenda of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) Strategic Conference in Mannheim (18-19 June) highlighted the challenges, and also outlined areas of discussion to…
Confirming or infirming hypotheses has long driven scientific research; however, this traditional and costly approach is giving way to data-driven initiatives, according to Prof. Laure Fournier, a leading radiologist at Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris. “Usually we formulate the hypothesis first, then take an image and analyze it. We like that in France, it comes from Descartes. The…
The digital revolution in healthcare in the United States is marching steadily forward, spurred by federal government regulations and financial incentives, by technological innovations, and by the necessities of increasing healthcare treatment efficiency, of lowering its cost and economic impact, and of elevating communications among providers, patients and payers to the norms of the 21st…