Many breast tumors grow in response to female hormones, especially estrogen. Drugs that reduce estrogen levels in the body often are effective in reducing tumor size and preventing recurrence of the cancer. But some tumors become resistant to these therapies and continue to grow and spread.
When two Spanish oncologists launched the first independent Spanish oncology forum this May in Madrid, European Hospital’s correspondent spoke with Dr Javier Cortés, co-organiser of the event, to find out more about its expected impact in their field.
A debate has flared up across the United Kingdom over which genre of music should be played in the operating theatre during surgery. Amid claims that loud music can be distracting to some surgical personnel, questions have also been posed as to who should choose the music – the head surgeon or nurse? How loud it should be played, or should music is permissible in the operating theatre (OT) at…
The hybrid operating room is one of the most innovative developments in the surgical sector. The combination of interventional and minimally invasive surgical procedures is exciting for many clinical disciplines. The room design, intraoperative imaging techniques as well as interdisciplinary collaboration play a pivotal role in this.
Robot-assisted surgery still meets with considerable skepticism even though Intuitive Surgical’s Da Vinci system has been around for more than a decade. However, few surgeons and researchers are seeking ways to expand the surgical toolbox. Not so the members of the working group ‘Surgical technology and training’ at the General, Visceral and Transplantation Surgery Department, University…
Intelligent robots supervised by surgeons could help remove human error from the operating room. Dr. Peter C. Kim, Vice President and Associate Surgeon-in-Chief at Sheikh Zayed Institute for Pediatric Surgical Innovation at Children's National Health System (CNSH) in Washington, D.C., and his colleagues designed and programmed “Smart Tissue Autonomous Robot”, or simply STAR, to successfully…
‘An autonomously working robot in the operating theatre will continue to be a vision of the future for a long time to come,’ according to Professor Uwe Spetzger, Clinical Director and Neurosurgery Specialist at Karlsruhe City Hospital. At the same time, he is calling for political support for the development and promotion of these innovative technologies and asking funding bodies to rethink…
3-D print technology is expanding to cardiology surgery and interventional procedures. Research is scarce in Europe but a group of Spain-based cardiologists are currently developing 3-D print models to assess their value in the heart.
3D imaging is continuously improving, with devices simultaneously becoming more manageable and mobile. The new C-arm system Ziehm Vision RFD 3D is opening up a new dimension. The device was tested by Dr Jan-Sven Jarvers, orthopaedic and trauma surgery specialist at the University Hospital Leipzig, and was introduced last September during the Eurospine Congress in Copenhagen. ‘In the future,…
Wound infections after surgery are not uncommon and can be fatal. In Germany, postoperative wound infections are now the most common type of hospital acquired infection (HAI), with a proportion of 24%.
A ‘technology’ project to modernise healthcare for patients with long- term medical conditions is being trialled in the United Kingdom in seven ‘test bed’ initiatives. Test Beds, a term used to describe a technology project resulting from collaborations between the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and international innovators, aims to harness technology to address issues facing…
Bed blocking is a major problem within NHS hospitals across the UK, with thousands of patients sitting in hospital beds facing a ‘delayed discharge’ until the necessary next stage of their care becomes available. A delay may be non-availability of a temporary or permanent space in a residential home, or rehabilitation unit, or a smaller community hospital, or lack of a supportive care package…
Scientists at the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) and the Max F. Perutz Laboratories (MFPL) in Vienna have discovered a new way to turn the immune system’s weapons against fungal invaders. This knowledge could lead to the development of new and improved anti-fungal treatments.
The University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) is launching a major international clinical trial to test a minimally invasive and safer surgical approach for patients with lung cancer: video-assisted thoracoscopic (VATS) lobectomy with ultrasonic pulmonary artery sealing.
Doctors and scientists at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City printed and used a 3D kidney to help save a patient's organ during a complicated tumor-removal procedural. The 3D-printed model allowed doctors to study the patient's kidney in 3D to determine how to best remove the tumor as it was located in a precarious location adjacent to vital arteries and veins. Thanks to the model of…
Previously known as a provider of high quality, high-end monitors, Eizo is developing into a systems solutions supplier.
During many and various 2015 medical congresses 3-D visualisation has been a key topic as the industry continues to introduce improved hardware and software in ever-shorter intervals. Interventional medicine is entering a new dimension, was a popular slogan. The crystal clear, coloured visualisation of body cavities previously only visible in cloudy black and white may be fascinating, but it does…
Sony Medical offers an end-to-end video processing chain for medical-grade 4K surgical visualisation. The conversion will not happen overnight, but 4K is a natural next step for improving visualisation during surgery, according to John Herman, the European Marketing Manager for Surgical Solutions at Sony Medical.
Coronary or peripheral bypasses are the most frequently performed vascular operations. Although one million patients per year and around the world, undergo this intervention, its failure rate reaches 50%, because of poor vessel healing, leading to vessel graft occlusion. To improve the outcome of bypasses, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) work together with medical doctors from…
Prostate cancer patients may soon have a new option to treat their disease: laser heat. UCLA researchers have found that focal laser ablation – the precise application of heat via laser to a tumor – is both feasible and safe in men with intermediate risk prostate cancer.
Jersey Shore University Medical Center, part of Meridian CardioVascular Network, is the first hospital in New Jersey to implant the Micra® Transcatheter Pacing System (TPS) – the world’s smallest pacemaker – since the device gained U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in April 2016.
CarThera, a French company based at the Brain and Spine Institute (ICM), that designs and develops innovative ultrasound-based medical devices to treat brain disorders, announces the publication on initial successes in disrupting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) with the use of ultrasound. This has been achieved in association with teams from the Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris (the Greater…
A new study by a Yale researcher may support the use of a device for patients suffering from irregular heart rhythms.
Drexel University scientists have discovered an unusual mechanism for how two new antimalarial drugs operate: They give the parasite’s skin a boost in cholesterol, making it unable to traverse the narrow labyrinths of the human bloodstream. The drugs also seem to trick the parasite into reproducing prematurely.