Change of leadership at GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare today announced John Dineen as the companies new CEO and president. Therewith Dineen changes from the Transportation to the Medical Technologies and Services Segment of General Electric.
Imaging
Still a lot to learn about breast cancer
Since decades women carefully feel their breast. Hoping that they will not find any evidence for lumps or other changes, that might signal breast cancer. However, a review of recent studies conclude that self-exams do not appear to reduce deaths. Whereas radiation therapy may lower recurrence rate of rare breast cancer.
Siemens to cut 1,550 jobs in healthcare sector
Continuing its transformation program, Siemens intends to make job cuts primarily in administration-related functions. “The speed at which business is changing has increased considerably, and we're orienting Siemens accordingly. Against the backdrop of a slowing economy, we have to become more efficient”, said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher. The healthcare sector intends to cut…
First magnetic navigation catheter intervention in child
Ten-year-old Tobias smiles brightly at the photographer. And so do the two physicians next to him. They have good reason to be proud as they were the first surgeons worldwide to treat a very serious congenital heart defect in a child by guiding a catheter with the help of a magnetic navigation system into small lung vessels.
Guide to treat patients with myocardial bridging
A research team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the University of Texas Medical Branch and RWTH Aachen University in Germany has developed a new classification system devised to guide physicians treating patients with symptomatic myocardial bridging, published in the online edition of Cardiology.
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust upgrade their cardiothoracic centre
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Trust is a partnership of two specialist hospitals which are known for excellent expertise, standard of care and research success. For their new magnetic navigation catheter lab they use the very latest system standards to optimise workflow and procedures.
Trends in image-guided therapy
For the third in his series of articles for European Hospital, Professor Stefan Schönberg of the Institute of Clinical Radiology and Nuclear Medicine (IKRN), University Hospital Mannheim, Medical Faculty of Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, invited colleagues at the Faculty's Cardiology and Radiology and Nuclear Medicine departments for a round-table discussion on:
The brain in three dimensions
Stroke treatment is a question of time. The faster the cerebral infarct can be diagnosed, the less the brain will be damaged. But unfortunately it is not always easy to get the patient to a brain scanner within the required three-hour window. Real-time 3D ultrasound might bring the solution, according to researchers from the Duke University in Durham, NC.
GE Healthcare diagnostic imaging award for two German physicians
For the 15th time in a row General Electric (GE) Healthcare's Innovation Award for radiological diagnostic imaging was presented. This year's two recipients - Dr Isabelle Naßenstein of the Institute of Clinical Radiology at University Hospital Münster and PD Dr Ulrike Wedegärtner of the Diagnostics Center of University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) — share the 15,000 EUR prize money.
Private investments spurred medical imaging equipment in Eastern Europe
The public health sector in Eastern Europe is moving from a erratic and unpredictable system in a favourable environment for private investors. In particular hospitals use private financers to invest in medical imaging equipment - and therefore improve the outlook for medical imaging markets, according to a new analysis from Frost & Sullivan.
Predicting the odds of heart attacks via ultrasound?
According to Prof Clemens von Birgelen, cardiologist on staff at the Thorax Centre of the Medisch Spectrum Twente in Enschede, who quoted from recent studies in his inaugural as a professor at the University of Twente at the beginning of June, this might be the case.
MR Angiography: A future without contrast media?
Developments in MRI over the last few years have revolutionized the diagnosis and therapy of cardiovascular diseases. Contrast-enhanced MR angiography has established itself as a non-invasive, standard procedure for the diagnosis of vascular diseases in the thorax, abdomen and periphery.
High speed MRI devices gain use in foetal evaluation
Magnetic resonance imaging is gaining increasing importance as a second imaging process in prenatal diagnosis in addition to ultrasound examination, according to Dr Daniela Prayer, a paediatric radiologist at the University Clinic for Radiological Diagnostics at Vienna University Hospital.
The global Research and Development Centre for Life Science
Olympus, which recently opened the global Research and Development Centre for Life Science in Munich, will invest around euro 15m in this project.
Fully digital X-ray based 3-D imaging drives MIS
In recent years, intra-operative 3-D C-arm imaging has revolutionised orthopaedics and trauma surgery. In particular using the images created during an operation, C-arms with 3-D capability can produce 3-D views of a quality effectively on a par with those of a CT scan.
System speeds up CT reconstructions
During ECR 2008, the Canada-based Acceleware Corporation, which develops acceleration solutions for high-performance computing, demonstrated its new AxRecon image reconstruction solution for medical imaging, security, and non-destructive testing.
The contrast media controversy
Before discussing a possible connection between gadolinium and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF), Dr Herborn offered a brief background:
GE's portable ultrasound systems check USA's Olympic athletes
As the opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games nears, the US Olympic Committee (USOC) and the General Electric Company (a Worldwide Partner of the Olympic Games) are running two research programmes aimed at demonstrating that health monitoring and early intervention leads to injury prevention and enhanced health and sports performances for athletes.
The hospital protocol for dealing with terrorism
From 2000 to 2007, Israeli hospitals have treated the victims of 148 terrorist attacks.
Cardiac software launched for CS Thin Client
Visage Imaging has launched its Cardiac Analysis software for the Visage CS Thin Client, which offers 'advanced visualisation and quantitative analysis for cardiac CT studies, such as calcium scoring, coronary artery analysis and left ventricle analysis,' the firm reports.
Accessing and manipulating patient data
Combining the advantages of a traditional hospital light box with the features of computer workstations, BrainLAB has produced the Digital Lightbox - which is certainly unlike the usual light box.
From head to toe
The new Philips 256-slice Brilliance iCT came in to use recently at the University Hospital in Ulm. The system produces quick, high-res scans with 80% less radiation.
Siemens Healthcare without Erich Reinhardt
Erich Reinhardt, CEO of Siemens Healthcare, will resign effective April 30, in conjunction with compliance violations within Siemens' medical group. Reinhardt, 61, was not personally involved in the alleged corruption, according to Siemens' officials.
Finland Near Completion of National Electronic Patient Record
A national electronic patient records (EPR) archive that is estimated to manage 550 pentabytes (PB) of data by 2025 is nearing completion in Finland. Its first component, an ePrescription system, is scheduled for implementation in June 2008. The patient record archive will be activated in February 2009, and DICOM diagnostic images will be added to it in the June 2009 time frame.
Dynamic volume CT - the impact on neuro-imaging
A 320-row CT scanner (Aquilion One, Toshiba Medical Systems Co., Tokyo, Japan) was installed for the first time in Europe, at the Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany, in November 2007. Its capability to cover the whole brain in a single rotation means this new type of scanner has the potential to impact strongly on the field of neuro-imaging.