News • Intensive care research
Safer ‘weaning’ of patients from ventilation to improve outcomes
A new global study involving ICUs across 50 countries recommends a systematic approach to reduce the duration of ventilation to improve risk of death.
Patient management
News • Workflow assessment
Speeding up surgery times with separate patient preparation
Preparing patients for surgery in a separate space from the operating theatre brings significant benefits in freeing up operating theatre schedules and staff time, according to new research.
News • Prolonging life vs. maintaining functionality
Cancer treatment goals: patients and doctors often not on the same page
Prolonging life may not be a top priority for everyone: New research finds that patients with neuroendocrine tumours and their doctors often disagree when it comes to treatment goals.
News • Patient empowerment
Shared decision making in cardiology: study shows benefits
Is joint decision making of healthcare professionals and their patients better than a doctor making the calls on his own? New research supports this notion for cardiology.
Article • Preventing clinical errors
Supporting transgender health in the clinical laboratory
Clinical laboratories need to be proactive to attract transgender patients for testing and to ensure that they are comfortable with the services provided. This issue is of great importance to the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), which conducted a scientific session on transgender health at its recent annual meeting in Chicago.
News • Call for robust standards
How will AI impact doctor-patient relationships?
Clear ethical standards and guidance are needed for AI in health settings to protect the relationship of trust between doctors and patients and to safeguard human rights, according to a new report.
News • Neurodiversity
Autism-friendly MRI, for more inclusive medical imaging
Dr Christina Malamateniou spoke to The European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology about the recent review she led to help make MRI brain scans more accessible to autistic people.
Article • Patient communication in oncology
“Be accepted”: A new tool to support radiologists and female cancer patients
Informing a patient about a cancer diagnosis is never an easy task. An Austrian patient has developed a solution that will help radiologists break the bad news as smoothly as possible and guide women through their patient journey.
Article • Patient Reported Outcomes
Going “PRO” to advance cancer treatment
Involving cancer patients more closely in the treatment pathway can modify care and deliver better outcomes. Carefully designed questionnaires and treatment response monitoring are helping clinicians take therapies to a new level.
Article • Patient-focused radiography
Dementia and autism patients in the MRI: not aggressive, just lost
Patients with neurological conditions such as dementia or autism can prove especially challenging for radiographers. A session at the ECR Overture in March gave insights to a patient-focused approach.
News • UK study reveals
Many women feel 'brushed aside' by the healthcare system
Many women feel they are not being listened to about their health needs – and experience a lack of empathy around problems relating to menstruation, fertility, childbirth and menopause.
News • Covid-19 and beyond
Safe transport system for infectious patients gets innovation award
Medical technology startup EpiGuard has received the 2021 Oslo Innovation Award. Presented during the first day of the of Oslo Innovation Week, the Scandinavian city’s annual technology festival, Ellen Cathrine Andersen, CEO of EpiGuard, collected the award from Vegar Andersen, advisor for the City of Oslo’s Vice Mayor for Business Development and Public Ownership.
Sponsored • Transcatheter aortic valve implants
TAVI: from short-term effects to lifetime management
Until recently, TAVI, the minimally invasive procedure in which a replacement valve is inserted inside a diseased valve has been mostly prescribed for patients too weak to face open heart surgery – largely involving those in the 80-plus age group. Today, due to greater longevity plus advancing skills that result in risks reduction, TAVI is increasingly prescribed for patients in their 70s and…
News • Patient empowerment
Should cancer patients participate in tumour conferences?
The goal of tumour conferences is to determine the best treatment for patients with complex cancers – however, the patient is rarely present. Now, a team of researchers has investigated whether cancer patients can benefit from participating in these meetings.
News • Poor understanding
Loss of smell after Covid-19: many patients let down by doctors
A study by Newcastle University, University of East Anglia and charity Fifth Sense, shows poor levels of understanding and care from GPs and specialists about smell and taste loss in patients. This is an issue that has particularly come to the forefront during the Covid-19 pandemic as many people who have contracted the virus report a loss of taste and smell as their main symptoms.
News • Intensive care support
AI predicts daily ICU trajectory for critical Covid-19 patients
Researchers used AI to identify which daily changing clinical parameters best predict intervention responses in critically ill Covid-19 patients. The investigators used machine learning to predict which patients might get worse and not respond positively to being turned onto their front in intensive care units (ICUs) - a technique known as proning that is commonly used in this setting to improve…
Article • Gender Medicine
“Inclusion of women in studies and guidelines must be increased”
Women and men are different – nobody would argue with this statement. However, in medicine, gender plays a subordinate role. Neither research, prevention nor therapy adequately reflect this difference. “This is no longer acceptable,” says internist and cardiologist Prof. Dr. Vera Regitz-Zagrosek.
Sponsored • Intelligent IT
Online appointment scheduling for optimum equipment utilization in real-time
Over the past few years, modern appointment management has found its way into German medical practices. Nevertheless, there is significant room for improvement as some doctors can still be contacted only by phone and only during office hours.
News • Study hints at increased risk
Many Covid-19 patients return to hospital within 140 days
People discharged from hospital after Covid-19 appear to have increased risks of diseases across multiple organs and nearly a third are readmitted to hospital in the following months, according to a new study co-led by researchers at University College London. The study, published in The BMJ, looked at nearly 50,000 people who were discharged from hospital by August last year and compared them to…
Video • Evaluation of contact-free interaction model
Talking to a 'robotic doc'? Most patients wouldn't mind
In the era of social distancing, using robots for some health care interactions is a promising way to reduce in-person contact between health care workers and sick patients. However, a key question that needs to be answered is how patients will react to a robot entering the exam room. Researchers from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently set out to answer that question. In a study…
News • AI 'Haven' in intensive care
Machine learning to identify deteriorating hospital patients
Researchers in Oxford have developed a machine learning algorithm that could significantly improve clinicians’ ability to identify hospitalised patients whose condition is deteriorating to the extent that they need intensive care. The HAVEN system (Hospital-wide Alerting Via Electronic Noticeboard) was developed as part of a collaboration between the University of Oxford’s Institute of…
Article • Robots, chatbots and more
Conversational user interfaces: a new access to healthcare?
The deployment of conversational user interfaces (CUI) or chatbots to healthcare has started gaining momentum. It is fueled by the rising power of artificial intelligence (AI), the increasing popularity of mobile health applications as well as the desire for engagement and usability. The past few years have seen a myriad of innovations in chatbots that can automate and engage in human-like…
News • Managing occupancy rates
How technology and data modelling can save hospitals from overcrowding
Overcrowding is a challenge that faces numerous hospitals across the UK. The burden of managing occupancy rates can immediately turn into a major issue that puts immense pressure on hospital staff, patients and their families alike. Studies show that when capacity rates increase above 92.5%, the death rate in hospitals can expand exponentially. It can represent one-in-seven mortalities amongst…
Article • Corona demographics
Why Covid-19 registries for cancer patients are so important
Due to compromised immune systems cancer patients are at higher risk of contracting infections. How does cancer impact on patients who also contract Covid-19? To collect this data, four cancer registries, one in the EU, one in the UK, two in the USA, have been established. The first large, multi-institution study of the impact of Covid-19 was conducted in Wuhan, China, and presented at the…
Article • Improving the role of radiology
Value-based healthcare: AI reveals the bigger picture
Value-based healthcare is gaining momentum and radiologists must increasingly show their contribution in improving patient care. Artificial intelligence (AI) can help them to do so and brings a series of new opportunities, according to Charles E Kahn, Professor and Vice Chairman of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania, speaking at a meeting in Madrid in January. AI can do a lot to improve…