Hologic announced the extension of the CE Mark for its LOCalizer radiofrequency identification (RFID) tag for long-term placement. The tag can now be implanted more than 30 days prior to a breast-conserving surgery, providing even greater flexibility and convenience to patients and providers. The LOCalizer wire-free guidance system is a non-radioactive, radiofrequency localization system designed…
A study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet shows that a treatment adjustment algorithm based on lung function and symptoms in a mobile phone can be an efficient tool in managing uncontrolled asthma. For fuss-free measuring of lung function, the phone connects to a wireless spirometer and the app can register respiratory symptoms and provide visual feedback on treatment. The study is…
It started as a fairly typical case: The 79-year-old patient had suffered unexplained dizziness for years. To diagnose why, the cardiology team at Sweden’s Kalmar Hospital performed echocardiograms, Holter ECGs and other tests. However, these tests showed normal sinus rhythm and thus were inconclusive. Dr Hendrik Schreyer, Dr David Olsson and Professor Jörg Carlsson decided to use…
For patients with kidney failure who need dialysis, removing fluid at the correct rate and stopping at the right time is critical. This typically requires guessing how much water to remove and carefully monitoring the patient for sudden drops in blood pressure. Currently there is no reliable, easy way to measure hydration levels in these patients, who number around half a million in the United…
In the wake of an already devastating cancer diagnosis, European cancer patients often grapple with debilitating symptoms and side effects. For these patients, the eSMART (Electronic Symptom Management System Remote Technology) trial provides new hope for improved management of the side effects and symptoms of cancer, and with it, improved quality of life. Now, the eSMART Consortium presented its…
Biotronik announces the market release of its new injectable cardiac monitor (ICM), Biomonitor III, following approval in the CE region. The novel device is designed to help patients with irregular heart rhythms by documenting suspected arrhythmia or unexplained syncope with increased clarity. As the most common type of arrhythmia, 33.5 million patients worldwide suffer from atrial fibrillation…
People with untreated White Coat Hypertension are twice as likely to die from heart disease. Researchers at Penn Medicine say findings underscore the need for increased out-of-office blood pressure monitoring
Artificial intelligence clinics and rehab bikes, exoskeletons and stylish protections masks – healthcare in Taiwan has many faces and facets as the international medical & healthcare exhibition Medical Taiwan in Taipei will show from 27 to 30 June 2019. We visited participating companies and hospitals to give you a sneak preview of some of the highlights that might well create a buzz in…
People with both diabetes and uncontrolled high blood pressure who used a smartphone app to monitor their blood pressure remotely, get tips on healthful living and connect with a health coach saw significant declines in their blood pressure within six weeks.
A new Cedars-Sinai study shows that using Fitbit activity monitors to measure steps taken in the days after surgery can predict which patients leave the hospital sooner. The study of 100 patients, led by Timothy Daskivich, MD, director of Health Services Research for the Cedars-Sinai Department of Surgery, showed that each step taken towards 1,000 steps the day after surgery resulted in…
A new neurostimulator developed by engineers at the University of California, Berkeley, can listen to and stimulate electric current in the brain at the same time, potentially delivering fine-tuned treatments to patients with diseases like epilepsy and Parkinson's. The device, named the WAND, works like a "pacemaker for the brain," monitoring the brain's electrical activity and…
Flow cytometry has proved an invaluable diagnostic tool for leukaemia and lymphoma for almost three decades. Now, however, this is evolving in applications to seek out residual disease in cases and in fusion with molecular testing to advance its diagnostic potential. However, although recognised as fast, flexible and accurate, flow cytometry suffers from a lack of standardisation, according to…
The IN-TIME study remains the only major trial to show a clear mortality benefit for remote monitoring in heart failure (HF) patients. A recent analysis by Hussar et al. suggests workflow processes such as daily, multiparametric data transmitted using Biotronik Home Monitoring, may be key to this benefit. Dr Wilfried Mullens, Head of the Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation Section at…
IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.), the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions and radiation therapy integrated quality assurance (QA) for the treatment of cancer, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Varian with the goal of validating the Dolphin transmission detector for online monitoring of patient treatment. With the health, security and safety of patients in…
As the world’s largest cardiology congress gets underway in Munich, it’s worth looking back to previous ESC sessions to see how scientific debates have evolved. At ESC 2016, held in Rome, REM-HF investigators presented data suggesting remote monitoring in implantable cardiac devices offered no added clinical benefit. Two years on, there are new reasons to re-examine that conclusion, with a…
Rutgers University–New Brunswick engineers have created a smart wristband with a wireless connection to smartphones that will enable a new wave of personal health and environmental monitoring devices. Their technology could be added to watches and other wearable devices that monitor heart rates and physical activity.
The development of new procedures to monitor cancer treatments is gathering momentum. One such innovation is liquid biopsy. This new lab technique allows non-invasive identification, characterisation and monitoring of circulating tumour DNA. Thus, liquid biopsy can potentially revolutionise oncological diagnostics – and put a spoke in the wheel of radiology. High time to act, says Professor Dr…
One of the biggest challenges in treating prostate cancer is distinguishing men who have aggressive and potentially lethal disease from men whose cancer is slow-growing and unlikely to metastasize. For years, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, cancer grade and tumor stage have been used to sort prostate cancer patients into risk groups established by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.…
The Olympic Games are starting to prove themselves not just as a showcase for the world's elite athletes, but for leading-edge health IT initiatives. The International Olympic Committee and GE Healthcare announced the launch of a new analytics tool meant to enable personalized care at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in South Korea, as well as at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo. GE Healthcare…
Engineers at the University of Connecticut (UConn) have created a biodegradable pressure sensor that could help doctors monitor chronic lung disease, swelling of the brain, and other medical conditions before dissolving harmlessly in a patient’s body. The UConn research is featured in the current online issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The small, flexible sensor is…
No visit to the doctor’s office is complete without a blood-pressure cuff squeezing your arm and a cold stethoscope placed on your chest. But what if your vital signs could be gathered, without contact, as you sit in the waiting room or the comfort of your own home? Cornell University engineers have demonstrated a method for gathering blood pressure, heart rate and breath rate using a cheap and…
Bio-Rad Laboratories announces the launch of the "QXDx BCR-ABL %IS" Kit, the first CE-IVD digital PCR test that can monitor the molecular response of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) to therapy.
30 years ago, monitoring in most intensive care environments was via an ECG display with a numeric value for heart rate combined with intermittent manual measurements of blood pressure. Advances in technology have greatly increased monitoring parameters. Eight, for example, are included in the current minimum standards for monitoring under anaesthesia but more than ten further sensors are…
A preliminary human study was conducted to validate an advanced wearable sensor which has been developed by the start-up company BioBeat Technologies Ltd, comparing it to the common manometry method. The 2015 guidelines of the European Society of Hypertension on The requirements of the International Protocol (revision 2010) were used to define the difference between the commonly used device and…
Just two decades ago, even though promising, point-of-care testing (POCT) was only used in hospitals and surgeries by a small number of specialists. Today POCT is in use throughout healthcare.