IBM Watson Health has announced that it is collaborating with more than a dozen leading cancer institutes to accelerate the ability of clinicians to identify and personalize treatment options for their patients. The institutes will apply Watson’s advanced cognitive capabilities to reduce from weeks to minutes the ability to translate DNA insights, understand a person
A major challenge in surgically removing tumours, particularly in the brain, is to cut out as much cancer as possible while leaving healthy tissue alone.
Currently available imaging tools to aid doctors during brain surgery, such as MRI, are time-consuming, expensive and do not provide continuous guidance.
Researchers have developed a way of using a different imaging technology, called optical coherence tomography, to help surgeons quickly and safely distinguish healthy from cancerous tissue.
Brain surgery is famously difficult for good reason: When removing a tumour, for example, neurosurgeons walk a tightrope as they try to take out as much of the cancer as possible while keeping crucial brain tissue intact
An innovative fusion of MRI and ultrasound might be a better way to detect and assess prostate cancer, while helping men avoid unnecessary biopsies, researchers say.
The technology blends real-time imaging from both MRI and ultrasound devices, allowing doctors to more accurately direct the biopsy needle that draws cell samples from suspected tumours.
Results from a study presented at The International Liver Congress 2015 demonstrate that the use of a pocket-sized ultrasound device (PUD) helps to reduce the need for further testing in both the inpatient and outpatient setting.
The study evaluated the effectiveness of the PUD when testing for the following conditions: biliary-duct dilation, gallstones, ascites, splenomegaly, pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, urinary retention, urinary stones, abdominal mass and aortic aneurysm.
PUDs offer a comparable performance to standard ultrasonography, however the accuracy of a physical examination is often poor meaning that further tests are required. This study assessed whether adding the use of PUD to physical examination could lead to a reduction in the rate of additional tests.
Of the 1,962 patients included in the study:
726 (37%) were inpatients, 510 (26%) were hepatology outpatients and 726 (37%) were recruited from GPs
Gallstones (37%), ascites – excessive accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity (17%), pleural effusion (13%), urinary stones (13%) and urinary retention (12%) accounted for more than 90% of the clinical questions, confirmed by PUD in 66% of cases
The overall frequency of further tests needed after PUD was 37%
The rate of agreement between findings of the PUD and additional tests was 89%
This study found that after basic training, the use of a PUD offers a simple and effective way to improve the accuracy of diagnosis and reduce the number of tests a patient needs.
EurekAlert
People with a common form of hearing loss not helped by hearing aids achieved significant and sometimes profound improvements in their hearing and understanding of speech with hybrid cochlear implant devices, according to a new multicenter study led by specialists at NYU Langone Medical Center.
In the study researchers at 10 medical centres and private clinics in the United States implanted hybrid cochlear implants into one ear of 50 men and women. All study volunteers had badly damaged high-frequency, inner-ear hair cells, which prevented them from understanding speech, especially in the presence of background noise. All still had sufficient low-frequency hearing, which allowed them to tell apart some sounds and forestalled any use of a regular cochlear implant.
A year after receiving the device, 45 study participants showed overall improvement in their hearing and speech recognition, and no one
Withholding angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) for longer than two days after surgery is associated with a significantly increased risk of postoperative death, according to a study of more than 30,000 patients in the VA health care system by researchers at UC San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC).
ARBs are prescribed for high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease, explained lead author Susan M. Lee, MD, an SFVAMC anesthesiologist and UCSF clinical instructor.
The transition from extensive use of intravenous (IV) sedation for interventional pain procedures to almost exclusive use of oral anxiolysis at an outpatient pain centre led to significant improvements in patient satisfaction and recovery times, a new study shows.
But not all practitioners are on board with such a policy, citing potential safety issues.
By age 60, more than 50 percent of men in the United States suffer from benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition that leads to annoying changes in urinary flow. While medical therapy is usually the first line of treatment, a new minimally invasive implant can dramatically reduce symptoms for men.
A therapy that replaces the faulty gene responsible for cystic fibrosis in patients’ lungs has produced encouraging results in a major UK trial.
One hundred and thirty six patients aged 12 and over received monthly doses of either the therapy or the placebo for one year.
The clinical trial reached its primary endpoint with patients who received therapy having a significant, if modest benefit in lung function compared with those receiving a placebo.
Patients from across England and Scotland participated, and were treated in two centres, Royal Brompton Hospital in London and the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.
The trial is the first to show that repeated doses of gene therapy can have a meaningful effect on the disease, and change the lung function of patients. However, the team say more research is needed to improve the effectiveness before the therapy will be suitable for clinical use. Imperial College London
The first definitive summary of the best and safest treatments for kidney disease and diabetes patients has been compiled by Christchurch doctor and researcher Associate Professor Suetonia Palmer.
The University of Otago, Christchurch researcher together with a global team used innovative statistical analysis to compare hundreds of research studies on the effectiveness of blood-pressure-lowering drugs for patients with kidney disease and diabetes. The result: a one-stop-shop, evidence-based guide on which drugs are safe and effective.
Diabetes and high blood pressure are the most common causes of kidney disease around the world, and people often have both. Chronic kidney disease caused by diabetes always affects both kidneys and generally gets worse over time, often leading to kidney failure requiring dialysis treatment or a kidney transplant.
Associate Professor Palmer says this study is important because diabetes and kidney disease are at epidemic proportions in New Zealand. A common treatment for those with diabetes and kidney disease is blood-pressure-lowering drugs. The aim of these drugs is to prevent kidney damage.
However, doctors and patients face a bewildering array of treatment options as there are many drugs available to lower blood pressure, many used in combination. There are also hundreds of research studies done on the effectiveness of drugs or combinations of drugs. It is not possible for people to identify the best available treatments without scientific advances such as this study.
Associate Professor Palmer works as a nephrologist, or kidney specialist, at the Canterbury District Health Board and commonly sees first-hand how confusing the wide range of treatment options can be for patients, and those who treat them.
Her paper is the first to compare all drug options, and combinations of commonly used drugs, against each other.
April 2024
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