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Prototype breast cancer imaging system may improve patient care

A prototype breast imaging system combining positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologies could greatly improve breast cancer imaging capabilities, according to researchers at SNM's 56th Annual Meeting.

15 Jun 2009

New software experiment seeks to improve care for diabetics

Twenty-five diabetic patients will be given computers that connect them to health care providers to maintain an ongoing dialogue about their condition, and allow doctors to monitor their status, in a new patient-care experiment by Microsoft and the University of Miami, the Miami Herald reports.

11 Jun 2009

New optical colon cancer screening technique shows promise

Recent clinical trials show that a new colon cancer screening technique created by Northwestern University researchers has a high enough sensitivity that it could potentially be as or more successful than a colonoscopy in screening for colon cancer.

10 Jun 2009

New imaging technique: toward spinal cord regeneration?

The axon is a part of the neuron through which nerve impulses are transmitted, and at the end of which is located the synapse, which connects it to another neuron. In the event of a lesion, the axon is the component which must be regenerated in order to restore the connections between the different neurons and re-form the nerve.

5 Jun 2009

Toshiba Medical Visualization Systems releases Voxar 3D advanced visualization products

Toshiba Medical Visualization Systems has announced two major releases in its Voxar 3D product line: Voxar 3D 6.3.2 Workstation and Voxar 3D 6.3.2 ActiveX.

4 Jun 2009

Soap-sniffing sensors that monitor health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes

Call it a breathalyzer for the hands. Using sensors capable of detecting drugs in breath, new technology developed at University of Florida monitors health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes given off from their hands.

3 Jun 2009

A bionic broadband ear

MIT engineers have built a fast, ultra-broadband, low-power radio chip, modeled on the human inner ear, that could enable wireless devices capable of receiving cell phone, Internet, radio and television signals.

3 Jun 2009

SmartPill capsule for ulcerative colitis patients

An electronic diagnostic tool called the SmartPill is swallowed by patients in order to take measurements as it travels through the gastrointestinal tract.

3 Jun 2009

Blue light goggles improve sleep quality in the elderly

Sleep disturbances increase as we age. Some studies report more than half of seniors 65 years of age or older suffer from chronic sleep disturbances. Researchers have long believed that the sleep disturbances common among the elderly often result from a disruption of the body's circadian rhythms - biological cycles that repeat approximately every 24 hours.

1 Jun 2009

New credit card-sized device detects heart disease using less than one drop of blood

Testing people for heart disease might be just a finger prick away thanks to a new credit card-sized device created by a team of researchers from Harvard and Northeastern universities in Boston.

1 Jun 2009

New ultra-sensitive device detects viruses in minutes

Imagine being able to detect in just a few minutes whether someone is infected with a virus. This has now become a reality, thanks to a new ultra-sensitive detector that has been developed by Ostendum, a spin-off company of the University of Twente.

28 May 2009

FDA approves new ankle prosthetic

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved a total ankle replacement system for arthritic or deformed ankles that may preserve some range of motion in the joint.

28 May 2009

New surgical tool for complicated eye surgery

Eye surgeons will soon have a new surgical tool to help make a complicated eye surgery less labor intensive while providing significant advantages for corneal transplant patients, as a result of an invention by a Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center physician.

28 May 2009

American Cancer Society unveils social web application for cancer patients

The American Cancer Society today unveiled its Circle Of Sharing social web application designed to help cancer patients, their families, and their friends better coordinate support and cancer information as they move through treatment and beyond.

28 May 2009

New microscopic device reveals cause of blood clots

Australian researchers have discovered a new way that blood clots can form which might explain why current anti-clotting drugs are sometimes ineffective.

26 May 2009

QIAGEN launches novel product enabling non-invasive prenatal diagnostics and cancer detection

QIAGEN today announced the launch of a novel product for extraction of free circulating fragments of tumor- and fetal-derived nucleic acids as well as viral nucleic acids in human blood. Scientists consider these DNA and RNA fragments to have great potential for the highly sensitive and non-invasive diagnosis of a wide range of diseases, including congenital disorders, malignancies such as colon and lung cancer, and infections.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 25 May 2009

New device for coagulating and killing unwanted tissue during surgery

Acculis Limited, the UK based specialist microwave ablation company based in Denmead, England, has announced the clearance of its latest device for coagulating and killing unwanted tissue during surgery.

24 May 2009

President Obama reverses Bush policy preventing consumers from suing product makers in State courts

President Obama on Wednesday ordered federal agencies to rescind regulations enacted by former President George W. Bush's administration that protect manufacturers of such products as medical devices from product-liability lawsuits in state court, the Wall Street Journal reports.

22 May 2009

Getting more from whole-transcript microarrays

The widely-used Affymetrix Whole-Transcript Gene 1.0 ST (sense target) microarray platform, normally used to assay gene expression, can also be utilized to interrogate exon-specific splicing. Research published today in the open access journal BMC Bioinformatics shows scientists how to monitor alternative splicing activity on a genome-wide scale, without investing in new exon microarray technologies.

22 May 2009

Robotic therapy for cerebral palsy

Over the past few years, MIT engineers have successfully tested robotic devices to help stroke patients learn to control their arms and legs. Now, they're building on that work to help children with cerebral palsy.

20 May 2009