US oncology expertise to spread globally
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and GE Healthcare plan to establish over 25 local cancer centres in various countries within the coming decade.
Prevention
Identifying Smokers via text messaging proves effective for CVD battle
An innovative scheme using mobile technology to identify patients 'at risk# of developing CVD by effectively establishing smoking status has recently proved a great success for NHS Hammersmith and Fulham.
Innovative technology for automated lymph node analysis
Lymph nodes play a critical role in the assessment of the spread of cancer, but identifying lymph nodes in surrounding tissue is a difficult task for most image analysis technology. German medical imaging company Definiens now introduced at RSNA 2008 its first computer-aided detection (CAD) application, Lymph Expert, that allows radiologists to identify and analyse lymph nodes volumetrically and…
'Individualised' healthcare services
Germans want a different healthcare system. 93% want individualised services — and they are prepared to pay for them, according to a study relating to the strategies of providers in Germany's healthcare system and their acceptance by the public.
The US diabetes epidemic
There's little evidence that newer, more expensive drugs work any better than older, cheaper medications. Diabetes, which came 7th in the list of the USA's top mortality causes in 2006, has hit a new high.
Beds with micro-stimulation
Patented Völker Micro-stimulation Systems (MiS) present a complex suspension and are the technical implementation of basal stimulation; they support prophylactic measures, particularly pressure sore prophylaxis, and they are now the standard pressure reduction system used in all Völker beds, the maker reports (Full details: www.voelker.de)
World First Early Stage Diagnostic Test for Ovarian Cancer
There is now new hope for women around the world, with the launch of an early detection test for ovarian cancer, according to HealthLinx Limited. The test, developed in Melbourne by HealthLinx scientists in collaboration with ARL Pathology, is called the OvPlex™ Panel and works by identifying whether five biomarkers (proteins) are present in a blood sample.
Breast cancer
Olwen Glynn Owen reports on MammaPrint, a test that pinpoints the risk of breast cancer recurrence from the primary tumour's genetic make-up. Women with breast cancer tumours under
Carotid artery stenosis
Patients who have suffered strokes due to stenosis of the carotid artery are at a high risk of suffering further strokes. Many of these second strokes could be avoided if the stenosis was treated in time. This can be done in two ways: Surgical removal of plaque during the endarterectomy, or catheter treatment with a stent being inserted under local anaesthetic, to prevent another stenosis…
Minimising the risk of falling
By Hans Peter Hartl, member of the Nursing Directorate at the Department of Gerontopsychiatry, Mainkofen District Hospital, Germany.
Expansion for range of cardiovascular genetic tests
Lab21 is to expand its portfolio of genetic tests for inherited cardiac syndromes.
CT: Optimising dosage
AquilionONE is the first CT scanner capable of imaging whole organ regions up to a width of 16 cm in one rotation and within a split second. Based on the raw volume data, rapid dynamic processes within an entire organ (e. g. heart, pancreas, kidney or brain) may be diagnosed with a time interval of 50 ms, i.e. with a rate of 20 volumes per second.
Innovative technology for automated lymph node analysis
At this year's RSNA meeting, Definiens, the number one Enterprise Image Intelligence company, will introduce a new image analysis application that will allow radiologists to analyse lymph nodes volumetrically and compare them over time.
3-D textiles reduce pressure ulcer risk in the OR
Pressure ulcers are a risk for patients undergoing long surgical procedures. Gel pads, widely used to reduce this risk, are considered to have two major disadvantages: they compromise the patient's thermo regulation by "sucking" warmth from the body and they do not provide sufficient pressure reduction for prominent body parts.
Umbilical cord blood bank opens
The Anthony Nolan Trust Cord Blood Bank and combined research institute, opened in September at Nottingham Trent University, will store stem cells from the blood of newborn babies' umbilical cords as part of a multi-million pound project that aims to bank 50,000 cord bloods.
Product effectively relieves pressure
During five years of practical experience, Johanna Meyer, Assistant Director of the Nursing Directorate at Gütersloh Municipal Hospital, Germany, has found that a pressure-relieving system made by MTS proved convenient for patients and nurses.
Equipment safety and nursing care
The safety of medical products, which includes bedding, depends on three pillars: identification of mistakes, updating standards and training.
Radiation dose and digital mammography
The use of mammography to maintain breast health comes with a caveat: exposure of the breast to radiation, which can increase the susceptibility risk of breast cancer. Thus, using the lowest possible radiation dose for mammograms is of utmost importance.
In vivo biopsy for histological analysis
Early suspicions of cancer, either from clinical evidence or medical imaging, are often followed up on biopsy. However, the removal of tissue for histological analysis can be uncomfortable for patients.
Prostate cancer: Urine test instead of biopsy?
Currently, early detection of Prostate Cancer depends on an abnormal digital rectal examination and an elevated prostate-specific-antigen (PSA) level requiring a prostate biopsy, often associated with anxiety, discomfort, complications, and heavy expenses. The prostate-cancer-gene-3 (PCA3) test is a new PCa gene-based marker carried out with a urine sample.
European researchers awarded for viral discoveries
German scientist Harald zur Hausen showed that oncogenic human papilloma virus (HPV) cause cervical cancer, the second most common cancer among women. Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier from France discovered HIV.
NICE renewed flu guidance
The next flu season will come. To prevent high-risk people from infections, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently published a final guidance on the use of the drugs oseltamivir, amantadine and zanamivir for the prophylaxis of influenza. "But vaccination is the main way to prevent flu", says Gillian Leng, NICE Deputy Chief Executive.
Hospital staff don't care for influenza vaccination — for themselves
Injections, that's everyday business for the men and women working in healthcare. As long as it is the patients who have to face the needle, it seems. Like in the years before Dr Heinzpeter Moecke, medical director of Asklepios Klinik Nord-Heidberg in Hamburg, Germany, set an example for his staff and had a vaccination.
Mystery of complicated plaques
Until recently, physicians believed that stenosis was responsible for strokes. But new investigations show that the composition of complicated plaques are the major cause. Canadian researchers now used 3-D MRI to accuratly detect bleeding by those plaques within the vessel walls.
Hearing tests for newborns
A hearing test screening, designed to detect hearing impairments in newborns, shell help prevent irreversible and permanent hearing problems in about 2000 babies in Germany per year. From 1 January 2009, this test might be covered by the statutory health insurances