California, USA: 20,000 visitors and 700 manufacturers showing products in almost 2000 booths at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) annual meeting (July 5-29, 2010) underlined the importance of this, the world’s largest gathering of clinical laboratory professionals.
Radiologist Dr Karl-Friedrich Schünemann works in a group* practice in the small German city of Paderborn. Focusing on sports injuries and using MRI, CT and X-ray, the specialist medical team provides services such as neuroradiology, orthopaedics and CT-guided pain therapy. ‘The fact that we count a number of professional athletes among our clients also attracts many amateur athletes who…
Surgeon Alain Carpentier is ready to remove a patient’s heart and replace it with a mechanical device he spent 15 years developing. By 2013 the procedure will be performed on 50 European patients as part of a clinical trial to win CE approval for the world’s first fully implantable artificial heart.
Eucomed, the European Medical Technology Industry association, welcomes the European Commission's (EC) report on the reprocessing of medical devices. While remaining typically neutral in terms of action at this stage of the debate, the EC report confirmed that even with all the evidence and scientific opinion available "...it is not possible to quantify the risk associated with the use of…
After years of go-slow adoption and cautious optimism, European cardiologists are now embracing remote monitoring of cardiac electrophysiology devices. ‘We are at the dawn of a new era,’ concluded Dr Philippe Ritter, Chairman of the Cardiostim 2010 congress, after reviewing findings of studies that delivered unequivocal evidence that remote monitoring is not only a safe alternative to clinic…
No white lab coats anywhere; instead men in hard hats, equipped with hammers and drills. The Düsseldorf University Hospital’s Cardiology Pneumology and Angiology Clinic is a construction site, but once the workmen have packed up their tools and removed the scaffolding the view to the human heart will be unobstructed and clearer than ever before. Here, innovative patient care and a highly…
Agfa HealthCare, a leading provider of diagnostic imaging and healthcare IT solutions, announces today that it has signed an agreement with TomTec, active in the sector of echocardiography image analysis, reporting and data management, for the integration of its Image-Arena solution into the company's IMPAX Cardiovascular Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). TomTec offers a wide…
In Switzerland, they say, the clocks tick a little slower than elsewhere in the world. Not at Schiller AG in Baar, however: The company remains forever ahead of the times. Since 1971, physicist Alfred E Schiller, the company’s founder and managing director, has successfully shown competitors in the tough intensive and emergency care market what innovative progress really means.
Looking ahead to MEDICA 2010 (17 to 20 November) the signs are good. The high number of registrations is a sign of optimism in the medical technology industry and the number of exhibitors has already seen a significant increase in comparison to last year. With six months left to go until the fair begins, some 115,000 square metres of exhibition space had already been booked.
When we look at our hands, how do we know they are part of our body? This seems like a strange question because it is something most of us take for granted. Exciting new data from a research group at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden show that the brain uses a combination of sensory signals from our eyes and limbs to achieve a sense of ‘body ownership’.
Worthing Hospital, on the south coast of England, has installed a CARESTREAM DRX-Evolution dual detector room in its busy Accident & Emergency (A&E) department. The new modular system, with its cassette-sized wireless detector, floor rail and full auto positioning, replaces the existing analogue room.
Treating seriously injured patients is part of daily routine for medical teams at the Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department of the University Hospital in Brno, Czech Republic. Up to 2,600 operations a year take place in this department alone, in the second largest Czech clinic. Updated with Trumpf medical technology, the centre reports quicker and more appropriate responses to planned as well…
Early problems of ultra-high field Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been overcome by successful development of adequate hardware. In consequence big efforts have been achieved in structural imaging, as well in functional imaging. Basic scientists and physicians who work in ultra-high-field MRI in Europe and the USA, met at the Berlin Ultra-high-field Facility (BUFF), in the Max Dehlbrück…
Modern magnetic resonance (MR) tomographs with very strong magnetic fields produce images of steadily increasing precision and are currently gaining more and more importance in radiological diagnostics. In conventional MRI the patient lies in a tunnel, which many people find difficult or even impossible to do, given a scan time of approximately 20 minutes. Physicians of the Joint Radiology…
Despite some uncertainty about how it works, there is a growing consensus that Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) – also known as Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) – is revolutionising wound care. Speaking at the 1st International Surgical Wound Forum, held recently in Amsterdam, surgeons from Europe and the USA predicted the growing use of this innovative technology across the spectrum of…
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), a wireless technology primarily known from the field of logistics, has become a focal point in hospitals and similar areas. RFID makes it possible to manage hospital beds from a central location or track the whereabouts of surgical instruments.
A probe suitable for imaging soft tissue for use with the VivoSight Multi-Beam optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging system has been launched by manufacturer Michelson Diagnostics. The probe enables in vivo imaging of oral and gynaecological tissue.
During the Forum MedTech Pharma (30 June to 1 July, Nuremberg, Germany)Texas Instruments discusses the impact of semiconductor innovation on the development of medical equipment. ‘As an integrated circuit (IC) provider we sell both analogue and digital solutions to system houses, which then integrate the product,’ explained Dr Karthik Vasanth, Medical Business Unit Product Line Manager at…
During the opening of the fully renovated InHealth MRI Centre at Mayday Hospital in Croydon, UK, three renowned Harlequin rugby players demonstrated just how ‘open’ the newly installed Oasis 1.2 Tesla highfield open MRI system is. Rugby players are notably large. This Hitachi system can accommodate patients who cannot fit into a conventional closed bore type of magnet.
The new Dell Precision T5500 Long-Life workstation has been adopted by Siemens Healthcare Sector to power its Acuson SC2000 volume imaging ultrasound system. The selected workstation is part of a larger programme by Dell’s OEM division designed to provide longer manufacturing lifecycles, service and dependable system stability to address specific needs of the embedded and OEM markets.
SECARS microscopy, a procedure which is based on quantum effects, with which certain molecules can be monitored virtually in real time, turns out to be a highly sensitive tool for the non-invasive research of the most varied diseases and may supplement the medical diagnosis tools of CT and MRI in the future.
Based on its recent analysis of the medical imaging market, Frost & Sullivan recognises Carestream Health, Inc., with the 2010 North American Frost & Sullivan Company of the Year Award. By implementing successful product and business strategies across the two pillars of its medical imaging business - digital/computed radiography (DR/CR) and imaging informatics - Carestream Health has…
GE Healthcare has introduced to the European market the Giraffe® Shuttle transportable power source for its Giraffe and Panda families of incubators and warmers. By transforming these healing environments into transport devices, the Giraffe Shuttle eliminates the need for transferring premature and sick babies to and from transport incubators.
The fit of a prosthetic leg is a vital element in determining how well an amputee will function and adapt to the device. Historically, this has been a time-consuming art performed by skilled prosthetists. Today, computers have added science to the mix.
Surgical planning is complex. Today’s surgeons can utilise information from various sources – including CT and MRI images, as well as f-MRI, PET or electro-physiological signals. For minimally invasive surgery (MIS) these additional imaging data are of particular importance, in that they enable precise navigation within the body.
