Article • Plaques
Identifying a likely heart attack
UK researchers have identified a new approach, which could make it easier to identify fatty plaques that could cause heart attacks or a stroke.
Diagnostics
Article • Automated tasks
Fast, efficient, cheaper microbiology diagnostics
A fully automated clinical microbiology laboratory system went into service at Heidelberg University Hospital this April. Produced by medical technology firm BD Life Science, this first installation at a German university hospital will play a major role in a study exploring the potential benefits of lab automation in containing the spread of pathogens in a hospital.
Sponsored • Pediatric laboratory medicine
The Orphan
Pediatric laboratory medicine plays a minor role in the large field of laboratory medicine. This may be due to the low incidence of rare diseases, which are a major task of pediatric medicine, but also to the small number of pediatric samples in routine laboratory medicine overall. Since most diagnostic laboratories do receive pediatric samples now and then, it is essential that there are primary…
Article • Early warning
Blood test detects early Alzheimer’s
The cause of Alzheimer’s disease remains unknown. Early diagnosis is currently not possible as clinical symptoms only occur once a large number of neurones in the brain have already been destroyed. There is no treatment available either.
News • BRIM
Technology helps ID aggressive early breast cancer
When a woman is diagnosed with the earliest stage of breast cancer, how aggressive should her treatment be? Will the non-invasive cancer become invasive? Or is it a slow-growing variety that will likely never be harmful? Researchers at the University of Michigan developed a new technology that can identify aggressive forms of ductal carcinoma in situ, or stage 0 breast cancer, from non-aggressive…
News • Breast cancer
Artificial intelligence diagnoses with high accuracy
Pathologists have been largely diagnosing disease the same way for the past 100 years, by manually reviewing images under a microscope. But new work suggests that computers can help doctors improve accuracy and significantly change the way cancer and other diseases are diagnosed. A research team from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Harvard Medical School (HMS) recently developed…
Article • 4K Technology
Bringing a sharper image to surgery
Sony Medical offers an end-to-end video processing chain for medical-grade 4K surgical visualisation. The conversion will not happen overnight, but 4K is a natural next step for improving visualisation during surgery, according to John Herman, the European Marketing Manager for Surgical Solutions at Sony Medical.
Article • Disaster areas
Winners on the firing line
Jens Hahn MD is an Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Specialist who works with the international, independent, medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF in English: Doctors Without Borders). Here he describes his work in Afghanistan and South Sudan, and the use of rapid diagnostic tests in the field.
News • Dividing T cells
Target for improving cancer immunotherapy
When an immune T cell divides into two daughter cells, the activity of an enzyme called mTORC1, which controls protein production, splits unevenly between the progeny, producing two cells with different properties. Such "asymmetric division," uncovered by Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center researchers using lab-grown cells and specially bred mice, could offer new ways to enhance cancer…
News • Individual treatment
Molecular sub-groups in early stages of bladder cancer
Bladder cancer is a frequent disease affecting approximately 1,900 persons in Denmark annually. A high number of these patients only have superficial tumours in the bladder when the disease is diagnosed. For many years, this patient group will be examined frequently and during this time many get new tumours; some cases develop aggressively making it necessary to remove the bladder or receive…
News • Politics
Liquid biopsy test from Roche gets FDA approval
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the cobas EGFR Mutation Test v2, a blood-based companion diagnostic for the cancer drug Tarceva (erlotinib). This is the first FDA-approved, blood-based genetic test that can detect epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene mutations in non-small cell lung cancer patients. Such mutations are present in approximately 10-20 percent of non-small cell…
More light on cancer
The group of Russian and French researchers, with the participation of scientists from the Lomonosov Moscow State University, has succeeded to synthesize nanoparticles of ultrapure silicon, which exhibited the property of efficient photoluminescence, i.e., secondary light emission after photoexcitation. These particles were able to easily penetrate into cancer cells and it allowed to use them as…
News • Handheld
Multiphoton microscope and endoscope could speed up diagnosis
Two new optical devices could reduce the need to take tissue samples during medical examinations and operations and to then send them for testing – potentially speeding up diagnosis and treatment and cutting healthcare costs.
News • GLINT project
Using sugar to detect cancer: a game changer for cancer screening
Cancer accounts for 13 percent of all deaths worldwide and despite recent medical improvements remains one of the most deadly diseases in the world. Early detection, usually through advanced medical imaging, is crucial as it increases the chances of survival and the potential for full recovery. The EU-funded project GlucoCEST Imaging of Neoplastic Tumours (GLINT) will develop an innovative…
News • Musculoskeletal ultrasound
POC ultrasound indispensable for elite sport in Wales
Point-of-care ultrasound is an essential tool for Dr Mark Ridgewell, an early pioneer for sports and exercise medicine (SEM) and, for the past 13 years, consultant sports physician at the Sport Wales Institute.
Article • Microscopy
Digital pathology: a new diagnostic technology
Histopathologists play key roles in diagnosing disease entities and determining biomarkers related to the prognosis and response to specific therapy of malignant tumours. Report: Bela Molnar
Article • Pros & cons
Goodbye to the microscope? Not yet!
Carol - I. Geppert MD, from the Institute for Pathology at Erlangen University Hospital, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, debates the impact of digitisation on pathology.
Article • Digitisation
Pathology departs from a dark back room
A UK-based neuropathologist has highlighted how the digitisation of pathology will play a pivotal role in taking patient care on to a new and more efficient level. Speaking in a recent Webinar under the heading The Adoption and Benefits of Digital Pathology for Primary Diagnosis, Dr Daniel du Plessis also noted how the digital era would raise the profile of pathology and ‘bring it out of the…
Article • Change Management
The digital age in diagnostics dawns
Pathologists in Utrecht step away from the microscope as the first fully digital workflow goes live for primary diagnostics. ‘The whole world wants to stop by and see the show,’ said Paul van Diest MD, who leads the Department of Pathology at the Utrecht University Medical Centre.
News • Endoscopy
Combining digital and optical imaging - the video processor from Pentax
Pentax Medical launches a world first for endoscopy, the OPTIVISTA EPK-i7010 Video Processor, featuring both digital and optical enhancements, in the European, Middle Eastern & African (EMEA) markets. This unique enhancement combination provides detailed information for more accurate endoscopic in vivo diagnosis through improved vessel and mucosal pattern characterization.
Article • Evaluation
Calculated therapy is the objective
At a recent focus meeting held in Berlin by the Association of Accredited Laboratories in Medicine, Dr Andreas Weimann, managing director at the Laboratory Berlin – Charité Vivantes Services, spoke of the challenges that laboratories working with hospitals face due to the management of pathogens and the diagnosis of infections.
News • Proteomics
The future of precision medicine
As medical professionals search for new ways to personalize diagnosis and treatment of disease, RPB-supported researchers at the University of Iowa have already put into practice what may be the next big step in precision medicine: personalized proteomics.
News • Biopsy
Tissue biomarker for dementia with lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease
Accurate diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, and the related disease "dementia with Lewy bodies," can be difficult in the early stages of both conditions. While brain biopsies can be more accurate, the risk of complications has been considered too high.
News • Inflammatory bowel disease
International consensus report highlights need for improved management of CDI
Results from an international consensus project involving a multidisciplinary group of clinicians have been presented today at 26th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) 2016. A current lack of data on outcomes in patients with IBD who have CDI means that appropriate choice of treatment strategy can be unclear. The consensus examines the issues impacting…
News • Software
Diagnosing ear infection using smartphone
Researchers at Umeå University in Sweden have developed a method that simplifies the diagnosis of ear infections (otitis media), something which annually affects half a billion children worldwide. The software-based method automatically analyses images from a digital otoscope and enables highly accurate diagnoses. The method is described in the journal EBioMedicine.
