The human immune system is usually very efficient in protecting the body against diseases by eliminating pathogens as well as infected, damaged or otherwise suspicious cells. However, it often fails because tumours have developed efficient strategies that hamper the system’s ability to detect and destroy the cancer cells. Report. Ludger Weß
Sucking up blood spilt during a major surgical procedure, or drained from a heart-lung machine after surgery, the Hemosep cell concentration system has a blood bag that uses a chemical sponge technology and mechanical agitator to filter red and white blood cells and platelets through a plastic membrane so that they can then be returned to the patient by intravenous transfusion. Report: Mark…
Ampronix, a world class manufacturer of innovative medical imaging technology, reintroduces it’s Medvix line of near-patient surgical displays. The high quality HD surgical displays are now available for a lower cost.
'We desperately need a ‘no treatment’ trial for DCIS', says Clive Wells, Chairman of the European Working Group on Breast Cancer Pathology, and London Regional Co-ordinator for the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) National Breast Cancer Screening Programme. Interview: Frank Swain
Optimising protective operating theatre clothing in terms of comfort and durability enables significant amounts of waste to be avoided and valuable resources saved.
The safety of little children at the University Children’s Hospital Basel (UKBB) has been assured since February by the installation of Patient SafetyNet, an advanced remote monitoring and clinician notification system manufactured by the California-based company Masimo.
LED Soled15 lighting supplements the Starled Series of lamps manufactured by Acem Medical Company from Bologna, Italy.
Hospital management seek more economic viability and efficiency in the operating theatre (OT) when deciding on the procurement of advanced Management Systems. The special software/hardware of systems achieve shorter operation and documentation times with uniform intervention outcomes.
At least 60% of liver lesions can be characterised purely by ultrasound. Screening and examinations of supposedly healthy patients often result in an accidental discovery of liver lesions. According to Dr Antonius Schuster MD MBA, Head of the Department of Radiology at the LKH Bregenz, (Vorarlberg). ‘The prevalence of such changes is around 20% of patients examined’. Depending on a…
For image management, they progressed from a video-based routing system to a system that uses the network.
Barmer GEK, Germany’s second largest statutory health insurer, is covering the expense of a web-based stimulation therapy developed by Caterna Vision GmbH, a spin-off from the University of Dresden. Report: Cornelia Wels-Maug
The new Carescape R860 is an intuitive critical care ventilator that uses advanced lung protection tools and an innovative user interface to help improve patient care.
A tiny nanoscale device can accurately measure a patient’s blood for methotrexate – a commonly used but potentially toxic cancer drug – in under 60 seconds, according to biomedical instrument designer Jean-François Masson, and Joelle Pelletier, a DHFR enzyme specialist, both at the Chemistry Department, University of Montreal.
The Ebola epidemic in West Africa, war in Syria, typhoon in the Philippines – over and over, German doctors are among those deployed to help. We interviewed Dr Johannes Schad, Medical Director of the Foundation of the German Institute for Disaster Medicine, about his direct experiences on the ground at the worst of times. Interview: Sascha Keutel
Back in 1938, the precision machinist and innovator Hans Rudolph created what is possibly the first respiratory valve specifically for human/animal pulmonary studies.
Research being conducted in the United Kingdom is focusing on techniques to help improve the weaning process for patients coming off mechanical ventilation in hospital intensive care units. Report: Mark Nicholls
The new surgical lighting,
IPS1000A, a video management system from FSN Medical Technologies, aims to help operating theatre (OT) staff to spend less time on the complexities of video use. This system provides popular OT integration capability such as source selection, advanced windowing features, easy switching, and PIP/PBP mode, the manufacturer reports.
The Starled3 NX is suitable for many applications in the operating theatre and diagnoses in, for example, gynaecology, dermatology and general medicine.
Is chlorhexidine still the best decolonisation method? For many decades decolonisation – be it selective intestinal, oral or skin decolonisation – has been the accepted procedure to prevent infections by endogenous bacteria. Report: Brigitte Dinkloh
Critically ill children hospitalised with traumatic injuries have a high risk of acquiring nosocomial infections, especially if their immune function is impaired. A nosocomial infection, such as sepsis, can become as deadly as a traumatic injury, the leading cause of death in children. Report: Cynthia E Keen
Poor logistics logistics and low trained staff numbers are two of the greatest limitations to providing a sufficient molecular diagnostic capacity for Ebola in West Africa, says Andrew S. Thompson, Ph.D., GlobalData’s Senior Analyst.
In uncomplicated stable angina cases no evidence suggests that angioplasty reduces heart attacks or death risks, Mark Nicholls reports
Radiotherapy is being proposed to treat heart diseases, specifically for hypertension and atrial fibrillation (AF).
Evidence is scant on the cooling of comatose patients who have suffered cardiac arrest, stroke or traumatic brain injuries; nevertheless, new methods for cooling patients are continuously being developed.
