Therapy

Healing with software

Barmer GEK, Germany’s second largest statutory health insurer, is covering the expense of a web-based stimulation therapy developed by Caterna Vision GmbH, a spin-off from the University of Dresden. Report: Cornelia Wels-Maug

Shearwave elastography

Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad, Governor of Pakistan, has provided 12 Shearwave Elastography machines from ‘special funds’ to various Sindh province hospitals, including in Karachi, Hyderabad, Benazirabad, Sukkur, Larkana, Khairpur Mirs and Shahdadpur.

Breakthrough in hepatitis C research

Earlier this year a drug was launched that can cure hepatitis C without severe side effects in most patients. Whilst the treatment is fast, it is very expensive but does avoid liver cancer and thus makes liver transplants superfluous. This is only one of the many promising developments in hepatitis research that Dr Markus Cornberg of the Medical University Hanover will address at the Medica…

Peering into the abyss

In May, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned that bacterial infections might lead to an increasing number of deaths because new resistance mechanisms threaten our ability to treat common infectious diseases.

News • Research

Seeking radiological routes to cure cardiac diseases

Radiotherapy is being proposed to treat heart diseases, specifically for hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF).

Is the Ebola virus a real threat for Europe and the US?

Frost & Sullivan Life Sciences Senior Research Analyst Sriram Radhakrishnan discusses the available screening options to enable early detection of the virus.

New trial to combat gonorrhoea

A Birmingham hospital trust is to lead a major research study over concerns that one of the commonest sexually transmitted infections is becoming resistant to current treatment.

News • Study

Mortality risks rise 11% on Saturdays - 16% Sundays

England’s National Health Service (NHS) is taking steps to ensure that, for the first time, a consistent level of care is provided at weekends by focusing on healthcare seven days a week.

Laughter is the best remedy

It has long been suggested that laughter could be the best medicine – and now a group of researchers in the United Kingdom is applying that theory to help patients cope with long-term conditions.

News • Cardiology

Transcatheter aortic valve implantations (TAVI)

A hybrid operating theatre is considered ideal for TAVI because cardiologists and cardiac surgeons can work hand in hand. Here, in the hybrid theatre at Kerckhoff Heart Centre, Bad Nauheim, a transcatheter aortic valve implant with transfemoral access is being performed. The clean air room features cardiac cath lab equipment and an X-ray system.

First pacemaker with event-triggered IEGM transmissions

Biotronik, a leading manufacturer of cardiovascular medical technology, announced CE approval for its new Eluna pacemaker series. The new generation of pacemakers includes single and dual-chamber as well as cardiac resynchronization (CRT-P) devices.

Final handover for the world’s most advanced proton therapy center

IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A., EURONEXT), the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions for the treatment of cancer, today announces that it has signed final contracts concluding the Essen project negotiation with the University Hospital of Essen (UK Essen).

News • Diabetes

The value of fermentation

Raise your intake of low-fat fermented dairy products, including all yoghurt varieties and some low-fat cheeses, and you could lower your risk of new-onset type 2 diabetes by 28%, according to new research published in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes).

Curse or blessing?

A small prick to sample blood instead of complex pathological or other diagnostic procedures – this is how early cancer diagnosis will be in the near future. Blood tests to diagnose tumorous diseases early are already being researched for clinical use.

Renal denervation on razor's edge ahead of trial results

It is the quiet before the storm. At the end of March, the future of renal denevation will be decided with the presentation of the Simplicity HTN-3 clinical trial at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Washington.

COCIR Raises Awareness of Industry Achievements On World Cancer Day 2014

Today is World Cancer Day 2014 and COCIR wants to take this opportunity to raise awareness of what our sector (medical imaging and health ICT) is contributing to the fight against cancer, by providing solutions for the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of this devastating, ever-rising chronic disease.

European nanomedicine research

Cancer diagnostics - Nanotechnology is currently being used in oncology to improve early tumour detection, imaging procedures and targeting of cancer therapies. Cancer biomarkers, indicators that are being produced by the body in spreading tumour cells, play an important role in cancer detection, Dr. Jörg Raach reports

Endovascular thrombolysis

Neurologists keenly debate the value of mechanical reopening of blocked blood vessels in the brain, as demonstrated during the 21st World Congress for Neurology (WCN) in Vienna this September. Theoretically, endovascular thrombolysis can only be considered for 20-30% of all incidents of stroke.

UK’s hospitals find ways to boost income

This year a further one in six of England’s hospitals started to offer patients the choice of ‘self-funding’ for treatments and services that are subject to restrictions or long NHS waiting times. These include IVF treatment, cataract surgery, varicose veins, carpal tunnel syndrome therapy and hernia repair.

Article • Healing hearts 2

Stem cell cocktails

Nothing new has been invented in heart failure in the last 15 years, according to Christian Homsy, CEO of Belgian-based Cardio3 Biosciences. This explains the excitement surrounding an emerging treatment among cardiologists, patients and investors.