While Swatch and Rolex count the hours until their smart watches overwhelm the time market, medical informatics researchers have already been working on solutions to improve healthcare. Some demonstrated their work on a medication reminder application during the Medical Informatics Europe conference in Madrid. Report: Mélisande Rouger
The conventional 12-lead ECG has certainly proved its worth in displaying rhythm disorders or ischemia. Nevertheless, as the display possibilities of a 12-lead ECG are limited to only about 110 degrees of the heart, an exact location of a cardiac event often cannot be determined.
The question as to whether or not there is a point in using medical apps on private smartphones is being asked more frequently. Issues around medical diagnostics are among the key points here. We asked Prof. Dr. Dr. Norbert Gässler, Head of the Centre for Laboratory Diagnostics at the St. Bernward Hospital, Hildesheim, for competent advice. Interview: Walter Depner
Healthcare professionals looking at leveraging data to improve patient outcomes, as well as navigating tricky issues such as cybersecurity and patient engagement, will have plenty of information at their fingertips at HIMSS 2015, which takes place from April 12 to 16 in Chicago. Report: Lisa Chamoff
Unpowered exoskeleton developed by Carnegie Mellon and North Carolina State researchers helps individuals walk using less energy.
Dr Ahmed Abd El Wahed, research associate in the Department of Infection Models at the German Primate Centre (DPZ) in Göttingen, has developed a portable laboratory for fast diagnosis of Ebola. The new procedure is six to ten times faster than the one currently used, and equally sensitive. Report: Anja Behringer
The appetite for mobile information technology (IT) seems insatiable. Boosted by the sales of the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple generated a record $18 billion profit in 2015’s first quarter alone. Social media use is exploding, and dedicated professional platforms, such as Figure 1, a sort of Instagram for doctors, increasingly emerge. These changes are affecting our daily lives, and this is also true…
For medical ultrasound it’s quick, easy and portable – and so popular with Professor Christoph Dietrich, chief of Medical Department 2 at Caritas Hospital, Bad Mergentheim, one of the first physicians worldwide to test the M9 in clinical routine. ‘The compact Mindray colour Doppler system is about the same size as a notebook computer. The imaging suite comes to the patient,’ the…
Radiologists are for ever looking for ways to optimize their processes. Now that applications for mobile devices provide location-independent access to images they seek to integrate other medical data which might be diagnostically relevant.
The O-arm has successfully established as a gold standard imaging device for high contrast items in the market. Surgeons, all over the world consider the O-arm their system of choice, convinced by image quality, ease of handling, and reliability.
A new system aims to speed up the triage of victims during mass casualty incidents: Instead of colored paper tags, first responders use colored electronic wristbands. These serve to locate victims and transmit vital data to emergency response control centers. FIT also demonstrates an app for Android smartphones that lets victims buried alive under a collapsed building contact rescue teams even…
SonoSite’s NanoMaxx® ultrasound system is proving a key asset for ambulance and helicopter paediatric retrievals across Scotland, helping to ensure the safe transfer of patients from remote, rural sites.
Although telemedicine could improve the quality of life of patients with chronic liver diseases, viable home care systems are still lacking. However, within the EU-project ‘d-LIVER’ (www.d-liver.eu) scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT, in St. Ingbert, Germany, are working with European partners to develop an IT- and cell-based system that will help chronic…
Albit was designed as an easy-to-use and practical ultrasound device both for general diagnostic applications such as obs/gyn, paediatric, small subsurface organ examinations and specific diagnostic applications such as proctology, TRUS, anaesthesia, vascular surgery or orthopaedics.
We live in a connected world, a very different world than it was a decade ago, said Eric Topol MD. Mobile devices, wearable devices are driving a creative revolution, reducing costs of healthcare, increasing patient access to health information.
CardioSecur, a personalised mobile 12-lead ECG system with four electrodes for iPhone and iPad, enables patients to monitor their symptoms and transmit the data to their physicians in less than a minute.
The numbers of ‘suicide tourists’ going to Switzerland to take their own lives has doubled within the space of four years, reports a study published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Some time this year, exact date unknown, Google Glass – a miniature computer attached to a pair of glasses – is expected to make its consumer debut.
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.
Amongst the historic churches and palazzos of the Northern Italian city of Parma lies the University of Parma, which, founded in the 12th Century is one of the oldest academic establishments in the world. The city is served by Parma University Hospital (Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Di Parma) a large and renowned hospital offering 1,218 public beds.
‘Physicians and clinicians treating patients at the point of care (POC) can benefit greatly from easy access to materials and resources via their handheld devices,’ comments Jamie Gramz, Director of Global Marketing at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.
Workstations and desktops may still be around in future hospitals – will be of clear benefit to medics in a large variety of medical applications.
Johns Hopkins scientists have developed three new Web-based software tools designed to help hospital emergency departments, first responder organizations and others model and prepare for major disasters, including flu outbreaks.
For the first time, the right of patients in Europe to seek healthcare in another Member State, and be reimbursed for it, is clearly established thanks to the EU Directive on Patients’ Rights in Cross-Border Healthcare. EPF organised a three-day regional conference to enable Patient leaders to understand the details of this legislation and its transposition at national level.
The new President and COO of Konica Minolta Medical Imaging, David Widmann, stepped forward boldly at RSNA announcing major deals with strategic partners and expanding the product portfolio into new markets.