Treatment • healthcare-in-europe.com

News • Delivery options

Radiosurgery vs. whole-brain radiation in lung cancer patients with multiple brain metastases

Although targeted therapies have produced dramatic advances in our ability to control some types of advanced lung cancer, growth of the disease in the brain remains a major problem. Radiation is often used to treat deposits in the brain, but the best technique to deliver radiation can be controversial. Whole-brain radiation therapy, as its name suggest, treats the entire brain but can be…

News • Cooperation

Hitachi to install new proton beam therapy system in Spain

Hitachi, Ltd. announced that it has entered into an agreement to provide Clinica Universidad de Navarra (CUN) with its proton beam therapy (PBT) system. The agreement includes PBT system maintenance following completion of the systems' installation. The PBT System will be installed at CUN's facility in Madrid, Spain and is equipped with state of the art technology including spot scanning…

Article • Infection - defect - regeneration

Challenges in septic bone surgery

Infections associated with osteosynthesis and prostheses are not to be underestimated: the infection rate is reported to be one to three percent after joint prosthetic surgery and five to 10 percent after osteosyntheses. ‘When you include later infections, the rate is twice as high,’ says Professor Andrej Trampuz, infectologist and Head of the Centre for Septic Surgery at the Centre of…

Article • CyberKnife technology training

Stereotactic radiotherapy spreads

In Rennes, France, more than 850 patients have already been treated with a top accelerator equipped with a multileaf collimator, the first of its kind in the country. Brittany’s capital Rennes is leading stereotactic radiotherapy practice as Eugène Marquis Cancer Centre gears up to welcome worldwide technicians to train on the latest CyberKnife system, Accuray’s powerful robotic radiosurgery…

News • Ventricular tachycardia

Deadly heart rhythm halted by noninvasive radiation therapy

Radiation therapy often is used to treat cancer patients. Now, doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown that radiation therapy — aimed directly at the heart — can be used to treat patients with a life-threatening heart rhythm. They treated five patients who had irregular heart rhythms, called ventricular tachycardia, at the School of Medicine. The patients…

News • Technique comparison

Contrast-enhanced digital mammography vs. breast MRI

Contrast-enhanced digital mammography is comparable to breast MRI in evaluating residual breast cancer after neoadjuvant endocrine therapy or chemotherapy, according to the results of a study presented by Mayo Clinic researchers at the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. “Our study aimed to compare contrast-enhanced mammography with breast MRI in evaluating residual breast cancer in…

News • Clinical value

Kidney disease diagnosis made easier through DNA sequencing

DNA sequencing could soon become part of the routine diagnostic workup for patients with chronic kidney disease, suggests a new study from Columbia University Medical Center. The researchers found that DNA sequencing could identify the genetic cause of the disease and influence treatment for many patients with chronic kidney disease.

News • Collaboration

Blue Phantom system used for acceptance of the first Varian Halcyon machine in Europe

IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.), the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions and radiation therapy integrated quality assurance (QA) for the treatment of cancer, announces the acceptance and beam model validation of the first Varian Halcyon machine in Europe to go clinical, at the hospital UZ Leuven in Belgium, using IBA Dosimetry’s Blue Phantom water phantom system.

News • A double-edged sword

Killing cancer cells can also drive tumor growth

Cancer therapies including radiation and chemotherapy seek to treat the disease by killing tumor cells. Now a team including researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown that the dead and dying cancer cells generated by chemotherapy and targeted cancer therapy paradoxically trigger inflammation that promotes aggressive tumor growth. In a study published today in the…

Article • Beyond palliative care

Perspectives of SIRT – who benefits and why?

Selective internal radiotherapy (SIRT) is often only looked at from a palliative perspective. However, the procedure is now also increasingly moving into the curative field, as Prof. Dr. Jens Ricke, Chair of Radiology at the Ludwig-Maximilian University Munich and Director of the Clinic and Polyclinic for Radiology at the University Hospital of the LMU reports. “As a locoregionally used…

Article • Local and elegant

Extending life with TIPS and TACE

Liver disease is widespread in Germany. It is, in fact, the most common cause of death in patients under the age of 40, with liver cirrhosis, which can develop into liver cancer, playing a major role here. These days, modern, comprehensive treatment concepts are unimaginable without interventional radiology, for liver cirrhosis as well as liver cancer. Prof. Dr. Christian Stroszczynski, Director…

News • Lung infections

Four simple tests to help spot pneumonia and reduce unnecessary antibiotics

Testing for fever, high pulse rate, crackly breath sounds, and low oxygen levels could be key to helping GPs distinguish pneumonia from less serious infections, according to a large study published in the European Respiratory Journal. Pneumonia is a severe lung infection that can be life-threatening and often requires treatment with antibiotics. However, it is notoriously difficult to…

News • New study

Prostate Health Index drastically cuts down biopsy rate

A study published in Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases demonstrated that physicians elected to perform fewer biopsies when Prostate Health Index (phi) testing was included in their overall, routine, clinical assessment. Phi testing is recommended for men presenting with elevated serum total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the 4-10 ng/mL range and a non-suspicious digital rectal exam…

News • Study asks neurosurgeons

How old is too old to perform brain surgery?

People sometimes joke that easy tasks are “not brain surgery.” But what happens when it actually is brain surgery? How old is too old to be a neurosurgeon? In a new Mayo Clinic Proceedings study, most neurosurgeons disagreed with an absolute age cutoff, but half favored additional testing for neurosurgeons 65 and older. Some professions, including commercial pilots, FBI agents and air traffic…

Article • The interdisciplinary challenge

Evaluating ICU care for cancer patients

Progressive treatments offer new chances for cancer patients, but also could result in as yet unknown complications. The number of cancer patients transferred to the ICU for cancer-specific and internal medicine related reasons is on the increase. Caring for them on the ICU is a complex challenge, with interdisciplinary cooperation playing an essential part. Certain criteria need to be met for…

Article • Developed by Single Use Surgical

Top quality single-use suctions

A pioneering single-use Diathermy Abbey Needle with suction that helps surgeons improve performance and outcomes during a range of procedures is on show at this year’s Medica.

Launching: The 27-inch medical trade 4K monitor

A major addition to Ikegami’s range of surgical monitors is being launched at Medica this year. ‘The new MLW-2750HD is a 27-inch 4K UHD display in a shallow-profile configuration, fully optimised for use in operating rooms,’ the manufacturer reports. ‘With its 800 cd/m2 high brightness IPS 8 megapixel display panel, this new monitor improves the efficiency of medical teams by enabling…

The right kind of light

Manufactured in Italy, the STARLED3 NX lamp, based on next generation LED technology, provides cold, shadowless light, long life and low energy consumption, and directs light beams according to needs, so is suitable for diagnosis, gynaecology, dermatology, general medicine and surgery.

Printing 3-D human parts

Everyone is unique – and so is human anatomy. Thus orthopaedics or implantology call for medical products that provide a perfect fit and demand is high for one-off components, or small production runs. At the same time, the materials used and manufacturing standards applied must fulfil extremely stringent quality control. This also holds for specialised surgical instruments and medical devices,…

Article • Augmented Reality in the operating theatre

Virtual data merges with a real body

Medical Augmented Reality (AR) assistance systems overlay information onto a surgeon’s field of view. This technology is complex and expensive. Therefore, the procedure must offer a big advantage compared to conventional treatment and diagnostic methods to qualify for standard use. The objective is a system that shows a surgeon a 3-D image of inside the body plus instruments used during surgery…

News • Cholesterol testing

Follow-up test reduces heart attack reoccurrence risk

If you have a heart attack or stroke, it’s important to get your “bad” cholesterol measured by your doctor on a follow up visit. Researchers have found that one step is significantly associated with a reduced risk of suffering another serious cardiovascular episode. The new research, conducted by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute in Salt Lake City, found that…

Dermatology added to a fine portfolio

A new Cervical Rotating Biopsy Punch featuring a low profile jaw was ‘designed to provide specialists with better access to the transformation zone,’ DTR Medical reports, adding that the punch offers a 360° rotation for flexible positioning and the sharp metal jaw to ensure a clean cut, delivering the clinician with the best possible view and the assurance of achieving biopsies first time.

The House Curette and Rosen Needle

Award-winning UK manufacturer of sterile single-use surgical instruments, DTR Medical are showcasing their new House Curette and Rosen Needle at Medica this year. ‘The House Curette includes sharp, dual action tips that scrape and scoop tough cortical bone during middle ear procedures,’ the firm explains. ‘The double-ended stainless steel instrument has clearly labelled 2.0 and 3.0mm ends,…

Article • A world without pressure

The pioneering mattress

To coincide with Pressure Injury Prevention Day on 16 November, United Kingdom manufacturer Rober LTD is again at Medica highlighting how advanced technology can help ‘stop the pressure’.

Interview • Multiresistant pathogens

'Antibiotics don’t generate large profits'

During our European Hospital interview with specialist in microbiology, virology and infection epidemiology Beniam Ghebremedhin MD, from the University Hospital Wuppertal, spoke about the impact of migration on infections, and ways to tackle the problem of multiresistant pathogens. ‘There is a lack of specialists in infectious diseases, for direct patient care on hospital wards as well as in…

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