News • There's an app for that
An easy, fast and reliable way to record causes of death
Researchers from the University of Melbourne have developed a revolutionary new app to capture accurate global cause of death data on tablets and mobile phones.
Data management
News • VenomKB
World's first therapeutic venom database
What doesn't kill you could cure you. A growing interest in the therapeutic value of animal venom has led a pair of Columbia University data scientists to create the first catalog of known animal toxins and their physiological effects on humans.
News • RSNA 2015
Breast MRI after mammography may identify additional aggressive cancers
Additional breast cancers found with MRI are sometimes larger and potentially more aggressive than those found on mammography, according to a study published online in the journal Radiology.
News • Genetics
Big Data tool to reveal immune system role in diseases
Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Princeton University have designed a new online tool that predicts the role of key proteins and genes in diseases of the human immune system. Called “ImmuNet,” details of the publically available resource were published online in the journal Immunity.
Interview • Systems medicine
IT is a resource just like water or energy
Systems medicine – the interdisciplinary field incorporating biochemical, physiological and environmental interactions in the study of human body systems as part of an integrated whole – draws heavily on the technological advances in information technology (IT). New ways to use data impact on healthcare and society, says Professor Dr Heyo Kroemer, Dean of the Medical School, Georg August…
Interview • Research
The future for big data in medicine
‘In IT we often casually say that Big Data is exactly what we can’t do yet,’ said Professor Christoph Meinel, President of Germany’s Hasso-Plattner-Institute, ruefully. We asked the computer science expert about the potential of big data in medicine and medical research.
Article • Network science
Discovering what causes diseases
Systems biology allows the mathematical visualisation through graphs and networks of complex body processes such as disease development. The aim is to improve understanding processes and triggers of diseases, so as to access and repair a damaged network. ‘We are still approaching this issue with a lot of naivety and underestimate the complexity of biological systems, and therefore of…
Article • Danish experience
A national digital pathology system
A national digital pathology system across Denmark has helped to significantly improve efficiency and raise levels of patient safety. It has used advanced computer software systems and created a countrywide database to optimise the assessment of patients’ specimens. Report: Mark Nicholls
Article • Data sharing
The LAW of the Lab
First they fixed the cables to hard-wire a faster data transfer from laboratory instruments. Now a coalition of the largest manufacturers of lab equipment for patient diagnostic tests have agreed on shared protocols for how software should report results. This is the first update to international standards in 20 years.
News • Apple
New app to recruit and track patients in clinical study
By providing tools to allow users to be more productive in working with healthcare big data, several Silicon Valley giants hope to increase their presence in medical services. The latest company to enter the field is Apple Computers. In March it announced the availability of ResearchKit, an open-source software framework that turns the iPhone into a research tool.
Article • Prostate radiological
‘We need more feedback’
What you see is what you get - unfortunately, this doesn’t always apply in cancer imaging. Why is it that something which looks conspicuous on an image later turns out not to be a tumour? Why, on the other hand, are things overlooked that later turn out to be cancer? Pathological findings are extremely important to help improve diagnostic precision in radiology. Both disciplines therefore…
Article • Drawing radiology and nuclear medicine together
‘Let’s work as a team!’
Dr Gerald Antoch, professor of radiology and chairman of the department of diagnostic and interventional radiology at Düsseldorf University Hospital and active member of several scientific societies, delivered the prestigious Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Honorary Lecture at ECR 2015 on ‘Hybrid imaging: Let the two worlds of radiology and nuclear medicine come together’. Report: Marcel Rasch
Article • Infectious diseases
Carrying home a nosocomial infection
About 6-8% of Spanish patients will develop an infection during or after a hospital stay. Can these infections be avoided? How is Spain facing up to the challenge? Dr Juan Pablo Horcajada, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, and spokesperson of the Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), assessed the situation and…
News • Transformation
Interoperability among Connected Medical Devices Can Transform Healthcare
Connected health infrastructure is emerging as a binding agent for diverse devices and workflows, aiding diagnosis, monitoring and prevention in the healthcare industry. For such an infrastructure to be efficient, stakeholders must first ensure that interoperability and connectivity standards are in place.
News • Cancer research
New data analysis techniques
Patience and persistence are beginning to pay off for University of Montana Professor Mark Grimes, whose research about the behavior of cell proteins in childhood cancer recently was published by the Public Library of Science Computational Biology.
Sponsored • Automation
Scottish NHS group endorses automation
It’s thumbs up for Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics’ Aptio Automation, following a two-year deployment by Dundee-based National Health Service (NHS) Dundee, the first north European healthcare organisation to use the system to consolidate formerly siloed biochemistry, immunology, haematology and haemostasis testing onto a single automation track.
Article • HIMSS 2015
Education and Networking
Healthcare professionals looking at leveraging data to improve patient outcomes, as well as navigating tricky issues such as cybersecurity and patient engagement, will have plenty of information at their fingertips at HIMSS 2015, which takes place from April 12 to 16 in Chicago. Report: Lisa Chamoff
Researchers create 'Wikipedia' for neurons
The decades worth of data that has been collected about the billions of neurons in the brain is astounding. To help scientists make sense of this "brain big data," researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have used data mining to create a publicly available website that acts like Wikipedia, indexing physiological information about neurons.
News • Test automation
Fluke updates its software platform
Fluke Biomedical released Ansur 3.0, the largest update to its test automation software platform to date. Ansur 3.0 provides new login features, customization options and reporting choices to customers than ever before.
Article • Breast Cancer
Decision-making based on personalized data
No alcohol, but exercise and a healthy diet – that’s what women can do to help prevent breast cancer recommends Prof. Thomas Helbich (Director of Molecular and Gender Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna) who hosted the European Institute for Biomedical Imaging Research (EIBIR) session ‘The complexity of personalized breast care’ at ECR 2015. Report: Chrissanthi Nikolakudi
Sponsored • Platform
Data management
The Infinitt Eco system brings together manufacturers, partners and customers via a single platform. The portal to the system is the Infinitt Store, which provides users with a comprehensive insight into the product range on offer, and enables quick inquiries to be made.
Article • Mobile IT
How secure are your data?
The appetite for mobile information technology (IT) seems insatiable. Boosted by the sales of the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple generated a record $18 billion profit in 2015’s first quarter alone. Social media use is exploding, and dedicated professional platforms, such as Figure 1, a sort of Instagram for doctors, increasingly emerge. These changes are affecting our daily lives, and this is also true…
Sponsored • SINGLE PLANE
Medtronic - O-arm – Mobile Surgical Imaging System
The O-arm has successfully established as a gold standard imaging device for high contrast items in the market. Surgeons, all over the world consider the O-arm their system of choice, convinced by image quality, ease of handling, and reliability.
News • Surgical program
Hospitals participating in ACS NSQIP significantly improve
The majority of hospitals participating in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP®) improve surgical outcomes over time, and improvement continues with each year that hospitals participate in the program.
Article • Study
Hospital design has little effect on patient satisfaction
Contrary to previous reports, a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers found that patients’ satisfaction scores only modestly improved based on the newly remodeled design of a hospital.