The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted virtually every aspect of cancer care and research– from introducing new risks for cancer patients to disrupting the delivery of cancer treatment and the continuity of cancer research.
Setting up ‘COVID-19 free’ hospital areas for surgical patients could save lives during the second wave of the pandemic – reducing the risk of death from lung infections associated with coronavirus, a new global study reveals. Researchers working together in Brazil and beyond found that that patients who had their operation and hospital care in ‘COVID-19 free’ areas had better outcomes.…
Dosimetry specialist PTW Freiburg GmbH signed a collaboration agreement with The Netherlands Cancer Institute – Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital (NKI-AVL, Amsterdam) to jointly develop an advanced EPID-based dosimetry solution for automated patient-specific quality assurance in radiotherapy. The new software module RT EPID, which will become part of PTW’s patient QA platform Veriqa, builds on…
Focused ultrasound waves help researchers at ETH Zurich to deliver drugs to the brain only to where their effect is desired. This method is set to enable treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders and tumours with fewer side effects in the future.
The dosimetry specialist PTW Freiburg GmbH has entered into a collaboration with the US-based bioinformatics company Radialogica LLC to integrate their advanced SciMoCa Monte Carlo dose calculation algorithm into PTW’s patient QA platform Veriqa. The new Veriqa module RT MonteCarlo 3D, which uses the SciMoCa dose engine for calculation-based radiotherapy plan verification, has received CE mark…
In August 2019, the Evangelische Krankenhaus Wesel (EVK) was the first hospital in the Lower Rhine region in Germany to invest in a robotic system for abdominal surgery. In the beginning, the Senhance® Surgical Robotic System, developed by TransEnterix, was used for minimally invasive interventions in general surgery but today its field of application has widened considerably. The EVK team is…
Patients who have hip or knee replacements are set to get more support with their recovery following the launch of a new research study that uses wearable technology to monitor walking patterns. The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) has joined forces with Dynamic Metrics Ltd (DML) to develop and test a system to study mobility and improve a patient’s gait after a joint replacement.
TransEnterix, Inc., a medical device company that is digitizing the interface between the surgeon and the patient to improve minimally invasive surgery, announced that Hackensack Meridian Health Pascack Valley Medical Center, a hospital in New Jersey, successfully completed its first surgical procedures using the Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU).
More than 32,000 people from over 160 countries registered for The Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC 2020) in July. This largest and most influential international conference on dementia science had to be held virtually this year, when important highlights were aired. The ability to identify individuals at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), or at early…
According to the German Federal Ministry of Health, 400,000 to 600,000 patients are diagnosed with hospital-acquired infections every year. The treatment of these nosocomial diseases is complex. Hygiene is a must, especially in the operating room. The IT environment should be designed accordingly.
A pioneering new generation of wireless mini-pacemaker is set to benefit many more patients than before. Following a successful first-in-Europe implantation procedure at the University Hospitals of Leuven, the advance has been described as ‘the beginning of a new paradigm of cardiac pacing’ with the development of the next-generation mini-pacemaker regarded as a major step forward in this…
European Stroke Organisation (ESO) and Stroke Alliance for Europe (SAFE) initiated the implementation phase of the Stroke Action Plan for Europe 2018-2030, with a virtual meeting of over 80 experts from 52 countries, each involved within their national scientific societies or stroke support organisations.
An easy-to-use score for predicting risk of death in adult patients admitted to hospital with covid-19 outperforms existing scores and can be used to support treatment decisions, finds a study published by The BMJ today.
Heart patients hospitalised with COVID-19 can safely continue taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), according to the BRACE CORONA trial presented in a Hot Line session today at ESC Congress 2020.(1)
Researchers hope combining a dual-chamber pacemaker with a Closed Loop Stimulation algorithm could lead to a change of emphasis in clinical practice and help reduce unexplained fainting in more patients with recurrent episodes due to skipped heartbeats.
The Vacuette® Visio Plus Needle with optical venipuncture control can make an important contribution to simplifying blood collection routine for phlebotomists. The needle has a translucent plastic hub, which functions as a view window. If venipuncture is successful, the view window is coloured red due to the blood flow. The Vacuette Visio Plus Needle guarantees a safe blood collection procedure…
For cardiology patients fitted with an implantable cardiac monitor, cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) or pacemaker, home monitoring is a blessing. The system also has many advantages for medical staff, as Kristina Rauholt reports. The nurse and Certified Cardiac Device Specialist for Allied Professionals (CCDS) at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, in Sweden, has worked with home monitoring…
A new study has suggested that more patients could benefit from combinations of cholesterol-lowering drugs to reduce their risk of stroke and heart attacks. While risk is reduced for many patients through taking statins, those at the highest risk of cardiovascular events may benefit from combinations of lipid-lowering therapies, according to the results of a European study of patients across 18…
A Hong Kong man who recovered from COVID-19 was infected again four-and-a-half months later in the first documented instance of human re-infection, researchers at the University of Hong Kong reported.
A new procedure to correct atrial fibrillation (AF) has been performed for the first time in the UK last week at Leicester's Hospitals. AF affects 1-2% of the general population, which amounts to more than 1 million people in the UK, and increases the risk of stroke by five times. Treating the condition with medicine is often ineffective, with many patients continuing to suffer from…
If a father or brother has prostate cancer, his son or brother has an increased risk of this type of cancer. Whether this also applies when precancerous stages of this cancer are discovered in relatives has not yet been known. Now scientists have analyzed data from more than six million men to find out how high the risk of prostate cancer is in this case. Researchers at the German Cancer Research…
For most women with early breast cancer, a single dose of targeted radiotherapy during surgery is just as effective as conventional radiotherapy, which requires several visits to hospital after surgery. This combination of targeted radiotherapy (restricted to the area around the tumour) given immediately after surgery is called targeted intraoperative radiotherapy. Conventional radiotherapy…
A bioactive polymer-ceramic composite for fixing implants and restoring bone defects in the skull was developed by an international group of materials scientists from the Russian National University of Science and Technology (NUST) MISIS Center for Composite Materials. An innovative composition of the material based on eggshell-derived bioceramic provides increased strength and biointegration of…
Using highly complex analytical techniques, a group of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin were able to observe in detail how different metals are released from joint implants and accumulate in the surrounding bone tissue. Findings showed a steady release of metals from various implant components. In contrast to previous assumptions, this was not related to the degree of…
As the corona pandemic continues, mechanical ventilators are vital for the survival of COVID-19 patients who cannot breathe on their own. One of the major challenges is tracking and controlling the pressure of the ventilators, to ensure patients get exactly the amount of air they need. Researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) have developed a technique based on self-learning…