Experts at the 70th Annual Meeting of the German Society for Hygiene and Microbiology, held in Bochum, exchanged information on newly discovered resistances. ‘Specifically, resistance against a class of antibiotics that has, so far, always been viewed as a reserve appears to be developing more intensively than previously assumed,’ explained Professor Sören Gatermann, congress president and…
While specific data remains limited on a possible connection between online forums and sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), this has become an area of increased focus. The subject was, for example, aired in April by one of the UK’s leading experts in the field, during the 28th European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID), in Madrid. At the four-day event, Dr…
Loreen Herwaldt doesn’t believe there is a ‘gold standard’ for infection prevention, but she knows there are common sense steps that hospitals can take to prevent disease outbreaks. ‘I don’t think there’s a gold standard, or a silver bullet, but more like standard operating procedures,’ says Herwaldt, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Iowa, USA. ‘These are…
China International Medicinal Equipment Fair (CMEF), launched in 1979, is held twice annually – spring and autumn. After over 39 years of continuous innovation and self-improvement, CMEF has become the largest fair of medical devices, related products and services in the Asia-Pacific region. The fair widely covers 15,000 products such as medical imaging, IVD equipment and reagent, medical…
Extensive surgery involving mastectomy and removal of several lymph nodes can be safely avoided for more women with some types of breast cancer, if they receive targeted drugs before surgery, according to research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference. The study focused on women with HER2 positive breast cancer, an aggressive form of the disease, who were given a targeted drug…
As early detection and treatment of breast cancer improves, more and more women are surviving the disease. However, they still face challenges, which include determining the moment when it might be reasonable to state they are “cured” of the disease, and obtaining life insurance. “In the Netherlands, most applications for life insurance are accepted, but not for cancer survivors. A lot of…
Healthy women who carry a breast cancer-causing mutation in the BRCA1 gene, not only reduce their risk of developing the disease but also their chances of dying from it if they have both breasts removed, according to new research presented at the 11th European Breast Cancer Conference. However, the study also found that for women with a mutation in the BRCA2 gene, there was no difference in their…
A compound in beets that gives the vegetable its distinctive red color could eventually help slow the accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain, a process that is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists say this discovery could lead to the development of drugs that could alleviate some of the long-term effects of the disease, the world’s leading cause of dementia. The…
This year’s unexpectedly aggressive flu season reminds everyone that although the flu vaccine can reduce the number of people who contract the virus, it is still not 100 percent effective. Researchers report that a tweak to a small-molecule drug shows promise for future production of new antiviral therapies that could help patients, regardless of the strain with which they are infected. The…
For the quality of medical care, Europe is increasingly relying on digitization and telemedicine. The Nordic countries are considered pioneers in the digitization of the health care system. European Hospital spoke with Professor Arild Faxvaag, Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Trondheim, Norway, about his presentation “Nordic…
At the 2018 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, Siemens Healthineers showcases the Proactive Follow-up solution as part of its Siemens Healthineers Digital Ecosystem. The application prompts the appropriate physician to initiate a medically necessary response based on care gaps identified. For example, an incidental finding, an abnormality that appears in a radiology report intended for a…
The international MedTech Summit and MT-CONNECT, an international medical technology exhibition (Nuremberg, 11-12 April 2018) is a key event in Europe. For many years, developments in digitisation and personalised health have been among core elements of the congress, the organiser points out. Around 1,900 visitors travelled to Nuremberg for the previous MedTech Summit Congress and MT-CONNECT,…
In the German healthcare system, innovations are difficult – Xpomet boss Ulrich Pieper is certain of this. Not because the system is different, but because the point of view is wrong. ‘The system assesses innovations according to how much money they save, and not according to whether they achieve healing,’ the industrial engineer explains. Precisely for this reason, he adds, the three-day…
Immunotherapy is taking center stage in imaging, but patient follow-up with CT is no cookie and may fall short in the peripheral limbs, brain and bone marrow. MRI offers specific benefits in these situations, and, combined with PET, it may bring even more results. Research must be carried out on quantitative techniques and tracers developed to fully exploit that potential, Prof. Dow-Mu Koh…
With immunotherapy, bigger lesions may be spotted on CT, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the disease is progressing. As treatment works, it can cause what has become known as pseudo disease progression; and this is just one of the many revolutions immunotherapy is triggering in oncology imaging, Professor Clarisse Dromain (Lausanne/CH) explained as she opened the session dedicated to this…
Standard medical tests miss nearly two-thirds of heart attack diagnoses, reveals research presented at CMR 2018. “Unrecognised MI has a poor short-term prognosis but until now the long-term outlook was unknown,” said lead author Dr Tushar Acharya, a cardiologist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, US. “This study investigated long-term…
According to a survey carried out by the WHO in 2016, 70% of EU Member States have a national eHealth policy or strategy and 84% of Member States have a national universal health coverage policy or strategy. The research identified funding as the most important barrier to fully implementing eHealth programmes. In the recent years, it has become a key asset for improving how health information is…
Danish, Finnish and Swedish organisations join forces to facilitate business partnering and networking at Arab Health 2018. At the event, 75 Nordic companies bring innovative life science solutions aiming to add sustainable value to the Middle East healthcare sectors and to build lasting relations between the Nordic participants and local stakeholders. Business Finland, Business Sweden, Danish…
Parasitic worm infections – or helminthiases – affect more than one billion people and have a considerable public health impact in many parts of the world. In December 2017, international experts gather in Basel, Switzerland, to discuss new strategies to control and eliminate parasitic worms. The scientific symposium is hosted by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. Approximately…
While there has been a lot of hype — and even fear — about the role deep learning (DL) and artificial intelligence (AI) play in radiology, the reality is that they are both potentially useful technologies that will add value to the specialty in a number of ways. "Deep Learning is not going to replace us," said Paul Chang, MD, of the University of the Chicago School of Medicine,…
During the Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), held in Chicago, USA, Siemens Healthineers presents an innovative MRI application that helps to shorten the time it takes to perform comprehensive diagnostic exams of the knee. At the moment, a standard knee examination could take around 20 minutes. With GOKnee3D, a high-resolution diagnostic 3D knee exam can be…
Samsung Electronics, a leader in medical imaging technology, will debut its OmniTom mobile 16-slice computed tomography (CT) scanner at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) 2017 Annual Meeting at McCormick Place in Chicago. OmniTom received 510(k) FDA clearance for the U.S. market on August 18 of this year, and attendees will get to see it for the first time at RSNA booth #2543 (South…
Carestream shows imaging analytics software that can improve early detection rates for many conditions as part of its Clinical Collaboration Platform (CCP). This software can calculate liver density from a CT chest or abdomen study to detect a fatty liver; identify emphysema by detecting levels of trapped air in the lungs from a non-contrast CT chest study; and determine levels of coronary…
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.
After this year's successful 1st congress about Emerging Technologies in Medicine (ETIM) in Essen, the organizing committee sets the stage for the second edition in February 16/17, 2018. This year, the event is dedicated to the role of artificial intelligence and robotics in medicine.