The 27th World Congress of Endourology
Munich, Germany 6 - 10 October
Munich, Germany 6 - 10 October

Dr. Lena Maier-Hein aus dem Deutschen Krebsforschungszentrum erhält den Waltraud-Lewenz-Preis 2008 für die Entwicklung eines computergesteuerten Zielsystems, das die Behandlung von Krebsmetastasen in der Leber entscheidend verbessert.

One of the key topics at the EFORT Congress, held recently in Vienna, was on opportunities offered by computer-aided surgery (CAS) to achieve better results for many orthopaedic interventions. Within the next decade CAS will lead to the routine use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for knee prosthetics, hip replacement and osteotomy.
Robot-assisted surgery can be used to successfully repair abnormal openings between the uterus and the bladder, according to a report by Ashok K. Hemal, M.D., a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center urologist who is the world's most experienced surgeon in the procedure.
According to the WHO, some 3 million people across the world require artificial hips as primary joint replacement surgery. Increasingly, surgeons are using minimally-invasive procedures to implant artificial hips, with direct anterior access. It is an ideal extension to the conventional method as the deployment of these procedures for suitable patients, usually results in a significant shortening…

By putting the obeliscPRO on the market, ulrich medical is launching the next generation of its proven obelisc vertebral body replacement system. With an expanded range of implants and more customized anatomical adjustment options, this new product from ulrich is a worthy successor to the previous version

"Radiologists often see cancer patients over a period of years and continuously deliver important information for the treatment process," says Claus D. Claussen MD, Professor of Radiology and Director of the Clinic for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University Hospital in Tübingen and President of the 90th German Radiology Congress. For the first time in the history of this…

Training is critical to the further development of urology across Europe, yet urologists recognise there are gaps in this; so much so that the European Society of Urological Technology (ESUT) has restructured with an emphasis on training to meet the demands and challenges ahead. Mark Nicholls reports.

Uterine fibroids are the most common benign tumours in women. Treatment is only necessary if the fibroids cause pain and bleeding due to their size and position. Minimally-invasive fibroid embolisation is a gentle, efficient and long-lasting treatment for their removal, leaving the uterus intact. The first evaluations of several international long-term studies have indicated a high success rate…

For the last nine months, Jens Timmermann MD PhD, Head of the Interventional Radiology Department, has been using micro-invasive technology to treat these patients.

Electroporation is going to widen the spectrum of cancer treatment in the future. While other tumour ablation techniques like cyroablation, radiofrequency ablation and microwave ablation work with intense heat or cold to kill cancer cells, irreversible electroporation (IRE) uses electric pulses allowing minimal collatoral damage to surrounding tissue. First clinical applications have already…

The popularity of LED lighting units is inevitably increasing because LED light is infrared-free and cool, creating good work conditions for surgeons, and minimising the danger of tissue dehydration. In addition, the nearly limitless service life of LEDs lowers maintenance costs and ensures safe, reliable work, the operating theatre equipment and surgical lighting specialist Berchtold explains.
Surgical interventions are not radically altered by computer assistance but the quality and quantity of diagnostic information is continuously increasing leading to more transparency for patients. Therefore there is an increased demand on surgeons to improve the quality of therapeutic methods, operate with high precision and excellent reproducibility and document their work.

ulrich medical has announced the extension of its product portfolio by a CO2 Insufflator for virtual coloscopy by the end of this year.

'An effective, safe treatment for prophylaxis of restenosis in periphery and cardiology' — new generation of Endovascular Brachytherapy gains full CE-certification. Constricted blood vessels (stenosis and restenosis) can now sustainably be treated and kept open through the local treatment with beta radiation.

It is safe to take anticoagulants before core needle breast biopsies, according to a study performed at the Elizabeth Wende Breast Clinic in Rochester, NY.

Philips and Steris join forces to provide hybrid surgical rooms: a flexible environment for optimal imaging during open and minimally invasive cardiovasculare procedures that will optimise workflow and streamline room planning.
Tumour ablation - and Radiofrequency (RF) ablation in particular - is getting more and more important in oncology. The therapy option offers benefits in terms of costs, ease of set-up and flexibility so that experts see the need to expand the applications of it.

Bis zu 92 Prozent der so Behandelten erleben eine deutliche Beschwerden-Linderung durch die rückenmarksnahe Applizierung von Baclofen mittels einer implantierten Pumpe von Medtronic.

London, UK - A Hansen Sensei* robot has been used to perform vascular surgery on a 78-year-old patient for an aneurysm that would have been thought too high-risk for conventional surgery.

Laparoscopy is playing an increasingly important role in urology and centres of excellence have been established to provide training in urological laparoscopic surgery.

Varicose veins in testicles are common and harmless in most of the cases. But they can be the reason for unwanted childlessness. Venous embolization, a minimally invasive treatment, offers the opportunity to improve male fertility, as a study from the University of Bonn, Germany, shows.

This was it, 15th May, the big day: Johnson & Johnson's Worldwide Mesh Technology Centre was officially opening in Norderstedt near Hamburg, Germany.

Scientific studies confirm that after 20 years of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) most of these operations have advantages over the equivalent, conventional surgical procedures.

The 125th Congress of the German Society of Surgery and the annual Congress of the German Society of Visceral Surgery (DVGC) in late April, examined the facts behind evidence-based medicine (EbM) under the banner Surgical Medicine - from Empiricism to Evidence, and also evaluated current opportunities in hospitals, science and research.