Small silent VADs
Ventricular assist devices (VAD) have been used since the 1980s, primarily to provide support after cardiac surgery for several days during recovery, or more often to keep patients alive until later heart transplantation (HTx).
Medical technology
Ploughing vigorously forward
The UK - In the 1990s, the nationally co-ordinated NHS Breast Screening Programme was already saving lives - a 21% fall in breast cancer mortality over the last decade and, with the cervical screening programme, this was viewed as among the best cancer screening programmes in the world. However, in that period, the country's cancer services, as a whole did not match up to those of other European…
Clinical quality ventilator for home use
Camena, an innovative ventilator that provides clinical-quality ventilation for patients at home, will be launched, at the European Respiratory Society (ERS) annual meeting (4-8 September 2004, Glasgow, UK), by Dräger Medical AG & Co KGaA, of Lübeck, Germany.
Ultrasound CT for early diagnosis
Karlsruhe, Germany - A new type of ultrasound computed tomography (CT) system promising to improve diagnosis significantly is currently being developed at the Research Centre Karlsruhe.
Efficient screening programmes
Modern methods and technology make it possible to combine out- and inpatient treatment through comprehensive, overlapping systems and to standardise and optimise early diagnosis, therapy and aftercare for malignant diseases of the female breast regionally.
World's lowest radiation doses
The Swedish firm Sectra reports that its digital MicroDose Mammography system reduces radiation by 80%, compared with traditional film-based systems, and that its completely new detection technology allows this without compromising image quality.
Wireless at the bedside
Italy - The WardInHand project, which set out to provide a tool for medical teams to access a hospital information system (HIS) from wards, does not replace or compete with existing hospital systems but adds mobility and 'ubiquitous computing' to the HIS, by exchanging information with existing tools and updating clinical data in real time.
50 years of open heart surgery
Fifty years ago Henry Gibbon introduced a vital tool for cardiac surgery - the heart-lung machine. While pioneering efforts were made in the first half of the 20th century, this equipment enabled reproducible operations for either congenital or acquired heart disease in many patients.
Stimulating cell metabolism
G-ogo sport, a new innovation from Dr. Goettfert Systems, uses a pulsing magnetic field to stimulate cell metabolism.
HIV
Medication regimes based on cocktails of antiretroviral drugs can reduce the AIDS virus to almost undetectable levels.
3-D simulation
Exomio, a new simulation technique, improves the accuracy of radiation therapy and reduces treatment planning time to a matter of minutes, according to scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research IGD, who developed the system with industrial partners MedCom GmbH and Medintec GmbH. They also report that the product has obtained worldwide clinical approval and that 60…
Mobile test detects infarction in minutes
The earlier a cardiac infarction is detected the better the patient's chances of survival. However, because tests for cardiac infarction check for protein molecules that are released from heart muscle during cell necrosis, and these enter the blood very slowly, it can take three hours to gain a reliable result.
Neuromed buyout
Germany - Diagnostic imaging equipment handler Neuromed Solutions GmbH (est. 1993) has split from the firm's former managing company UMS Neuromed AG.
40,000 mobile theatre operations
UK - Launching the “world's most advanced mobile operating theatre”, at the annual scientific meeting of the British Association of Day Surgery, Gary King, Managing Director of Vanguard Healthcare predicted that, as from January 2004, over 40,000 NHS operations will be carried out in mobile theatres.
Web advisories aid physicians
Monitoring and rapidly introducing new developments into everyday practice is an increasingly difficult task for many doctors. Additionally, patients are more informed due to media medical reports, which raise their expectations that doctors can offer a quick, reliable interpretation of the latest medical data.
PUI saves costs
Russia & Netherlands - Immediate echocardiographic assessment during consultation rounds can lead to significant cost savings and can shorten the time to diagnosis, according to a new study carried out by teams at the Dept. of Cardiology, Thoraxcentre, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam and the Dept. of Internal Diseases, Medical Academy of Nizhny, Novgorod.
Titanised ilicone breast implants
Implants presently in use consist of a smooth or textured silicone shell filled with a silicone gel or saline solution. The latter has one decisive drawback - the breast may cool considerably in winter. Smooth silicone implants may also shift or turn.
CE approved
The Biotronik Home Monitoring Service, which gained CE approval in May, has now monitored over 1,500 patients worldwide. Studies indicate that 88% of patients claim an increased sense of security due to the service.
Robot-assisted total knee replacement
Total knee replacement (TKR) is a common procedure for treatment of severe gonarthrosis, but the outcome may be unsatisfactory due to primary malalignment of the prosthetic components. To improve precision and accuracy of this surgical procedure, CASPAR, a commercial robotic surgical system, has been adapted to assist the surgeon in preoperative planning and intraoperative execution of TKR
Hygienic and versatile lighting
The Trilux 554 series has been designed to meet sterile demands in clean rooms. Trilux-Lenze, the manufacturer reports:
Movement Mapping (MM)
During the past decade total hip replacements have increased, even for younger patients with degenerative joint disease. Due to new bearing surfaces, such as the ceramics-ceramics combination, the range of postoperative free movements is gaining importance, particularly for younger patients.
Precision radio therapy
Professor Wolfgang Schlegel, Head of the Department of Medical Physics at the German Cancer Research Centre, has been awarded the 2003 clinical section of the German Cancer Award, for significantly improving the precision with which radiation beams can be directed at a tumour.
Article • Stick to conventional tests!
New cervical smear tests are not better
France - Researchers have found new cervical smear tests to be unreliable and conclude that these should not replace conventional tests (PAP smears). Their study also emphasises the need to improve the 'hard evidence' in studies of new technologies. It also has implications for the regulation of medical devices and clinical practice, as well as hospital laboratory economics.
Wheelchair guidance by facial movements
Visual interfaces facilitate natural and simple interfaces for human-robot interaction. Nowadays there are many applications using these, such as teleconferencing with improved visual sensation, virtual reality systems, lip readers, assistance for mobility assistance for the disabled, etc. The use of head movements and gestures offers a natural way for severely disabled people, who cannot use a…
