SMS messaging in paging systems
Bosch launched a new paging system which automatically diverts paging calls to mobile phones, so that an SMS message can be sent.
Medical technology
FDA strengthens device monitoring
Following a 12-month examination of the way medical devices are monitored for safety after approval, the USA's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a new programme to `transform and strengthen´ current monitoring of new technology as well as existing products.
Dual-Source CT
X-ray computed tomography (CT) has shown an absolutely remarkable and impressive increase in its performance characteristics for many years - remarkable because the modality was declared dead in the 1980s, impressive because these developments seemed impossible to many, for technical and for physics reasons.
Top award for single use laryngoscopes
England - The Thames Gateway Business Awards
Procuring large equipment
Around €18 billion annually is spent on medical technology in Germany. After the US and Japan, the German medical technology market is the third largest in the world.
In production: A scanner with the biggest gantry aperture and widest scan field
Following enthusiastic reactions to the Aquilion Large Bore (LB) scanner, when shown as a work in progress at last year's ECR, and with orders in hand, Toshiba has commenced production.
Mobile patient positioning table with quick-change battery
The bucky table is an inexpensive tool for X-Ray departments. However, due to the increasing use of movable stands, especially combined with digital imaging receptors, further requirements for a patient positioning table arise.
The Imaging Science Institute
The Imaging Science Institute (ISI) — officially opened in December by Professor Werner Bautz, Director of the Institute of Radiology at the University Hospital Erlangen and Professor Erich R Reinhardt, member of the board at Siemens AG and chairman of the divisional board at Siemens Medical Solutions (Erlangen) — is the third institute (after Berlin and Tubingen) in which Siemens is…
The 3rd Hospital Administrator Forum
I am delighted that the Hospital Administrator Symposium organised by European Hospital is being held in conjunction with the ECR again this year.
Centralised control for OT devices
Core is a modular system that interacts with individual operating theatre (OT) devices to bring them under the ontrol of one centralised monitor.
Multifunctional lithotripter
Lithoskop, a new multifunctional lithotripsy system, is to be publicly launched by Siemens Medical Solutions at the European Association of Urology Congress, to be held in Istanbul, Turkey this March.
Virtual visits with neonates
Although parents are allowed in neonate ICU units, family members and friends are barred. To meet this need, Innsbruck Medical University recently launched the project 'Babywatch' in its neonatology ICU.
New hospital automates drugs distribution
Forli, Italy - With construction almost completed, the 550-bed Ospedale Nuovo G B Morgagni can now provide state of the art services for the community it serves.
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.
Worldwide about 600,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually
Mammography plays a critical part in diagnosing breast cancer. Although this does not prevent the disease, diagnosing breast cancer as early as possible can save lives.
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.
The electronic stethoscope
A processing system said to pick up cardiac sounds and correlate these with any related abnormalities, e.g. valve defects, stenosis, fibrillation, septal defect, etc, has been developed by the US firm Biosignetics Corporation.
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.
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…
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).
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.
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.
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.
