Kaiba was just a newborn when he turned blue because his little lungs weren
Thousands of patients die each year in hospitals across North America due to medical errors that could be prevented were doctors and nurses provided with instant access to patient records via wireless technology. Cue the catch-22: the electromagnetic radiation caused by those very devices can interfere with electronic medical equipment and thus lead to serious clinical consequences for patients.
Luckily, that could soon change thanks to new research from Concordia University that helps define a clear rule of thumb for how close health-care workers with their Wi-Fi devices can be to electronic medical equipment.
In a study researchers from the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science assessed the risk that a medical device will malfunction when radio waves that emanate from portable devices like tablet computers are present in a hospital room.
Hospitals often specify that staff members carrying wireless transmitters not approach sensitive electronic medical devices any closer than a designated minimum separation distance (MSD).
Once daily bathing with disposable cloths with the topical antimicrobial agent chlorhexidine of critically ill patients did not reduce the incidence of health care-associated infections.
Infections acquired during hospitalization (health care associated infections) are associated with increased hospital length of stay, rates of death, and increased costs. The skin of hospitalized patients is a reservoir for infectious pathogens. Subsequent invasion by skin flora is thought to be a mechanism contributing to health care-associated infections. Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum topical antimicrobial agent that, when used to bathe the skin, may decrease the bacterial burden, thereby reducing infections. Chlorhexidine bathing is incorporated into some expert guidelines, according to background information in the article.
Michael J. Noto, M.D., Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., and colleagues conducted a study in which five adult intensive care units in Nashville performed once-daily bathing of all patients (n = 9,340) with disposable cloths impregnated with 2 percent chlorhexidine or non-antimicrobial cloths as a control. Bathing treatments were performed for a 10-week period followed by a 2-week washout period (a period allowed in order to eliminate the effect of the first intervention before starting a new intervention), during which patients were bathed with non-antimicrobial disposable cloths, before switching to the alternate bathing treatment for another 10 weeks.
A total of 55 infections occurred during the chlorhexidine bathing period (4 central line-associated bloodstream infections [CLABSIs], 21 catheter-associated urinary tract infections [CAUTIs], 17 ventilator-associated pneumonia [VAP], and 13 Clostridium difficile) and 60 infections during the control bathing periods (4 CLABSI, 32 CAUTI, 8 VAP, and 16 C difficile infections). After adjusting for various factors, no significant difference between groups in the rate of the primary outcome (composite of these infections) was detected.
Other infection-related secondary outcomes, including health care-associated bloodstream infections, blood culture contamination, and clinical cultures positive for multi-drug resistant organisms were also not improved by chlorhexidine.
Scientists at the University of York have discovered a potential new treatment for prostate cancer using low temperature plasmas (LTPs).
The study is the first time LTPs have been applied on cells grown directly from patient tissue samples. It is the result of a unique collaboration between the York Plasma Institute in the Department of Physics and the Cancer Research Unit (CRU) in York
Paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) are trained to save lives. But they sometimes enter situations where a dying patient
Two UH engineering professors have developed novel optical probes with potential applications in improving diagnosis and treatment for patients with kidney disease.
Wei-Chuan Shih, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Chandra Mohan, Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Endowed Professor of biomedical engineering, began collaborating just over a year ago. Shih
A new, non-invasive nuclear medicine test can be used to determine whether aromatase inhibitor treatment will be effective for specific cancer patients, according to a recent study. The research shows that a PET scan with the ligand C-11-vorozole reliably detects aromatase in all body organs
In Its 41st year, the Arab Health Congress, organized by Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, will provide a new perspective in the field of 3D printing and how it will revolutionize healthcare. The conference will focus on the surgical applications for 3D printing, 3D printing for drug discovery, bioprinting and vascularization, as well as a look at the legal and ethical debates surrounding this technology.
3D bioprinting has enormous potential to save lives. Companies who are able to 3D print liver tissue for instance are scarce at the moment. The next step in the field of 3D bioprinting is being able to print complete organs such as the pancreas, kidney, liver and vascular networks. This procedure could significantly increase the chances of organ survival.
About 50% of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) experience freezing of gait (FOG), an inability to move forward while walking. This can affect not only mobility but also balance. In a new study, researchers report that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can reduce FOG and improve other motor skills in PD patients.
In a study conducted by researchers at the Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, 17 PD patients experiencing FOG were treated with either real or sham high-frequency rTMS in five sessions over a one-week period. After a two-week interval, the patients in both groups were switched to the other treatment. Patients were assessed at three times: at the beginning of the study before stimulation began (pre-rTMS at day 1), immediately after the intervention (post-rTMS at day 5), and one week after cessation of the intervention (follow up at day 12). After switching, the three assessments were repeated. All medications were kept constant throughout the study and all interventions were performed at the same time of day. Both the researchers and the patients were not informed whether real or sham treatment was being administered.
‘This study demonstrated that five cumulative sessions a week of 10 Hz high-frequency rTMS was likely to alleviate FOG in patients with PD, and the effect continued for a week. Similar results were found in the motor and the gait function,’ explained lead investigator Yun-Hee Kim, MD, PhD, Professor in the Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. ‘This study provides evidence that the cumulative high-frequency rTMS is a good candidate as an add-on therapy for FOG in PD.’
The location in each patient’s scalp for optimal stimulation of the anterior tibialis muscle (the front of lower leg) was mapped by stimulating the muscle and moving a pickup coil over the scalp to find the greatest response. This position was then used for each treatment.
A magnetic stimulator was placed and 20 pulses of 10 Hz rTMS were delivered to the target motor cortex areas of the dominant hemisphere. Each pulse lasted five seconds, with 55-second intervals between pulses, delivering 1,000 pulses in 20 minutes. Sham stimulation was conducted with a coil held at a 90 degree position in order to ensure that the magnetic field did not stimulate the motor cortex.
Patients were evaluated after treatments using the FOG-Q, a self-assessment scale for evaluating FOG symptoms in Parkinson’s syndrome. In addition, participants were instructed to walk to a target (traffic cone) one meter behind them, turn around, and then return, as part of a Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) task during a modified Standing-Start 180 degree Turn Test (SS-180). The TUG task was repeated twice in each direction, and the entire process was video recorded to quantify FOG.
When patients underwent real treatment, the FOG-Q and TUG at post-rTMS significantly improved compared with pre-rTMS and these results continued into the follow up period. However, there were no significant changes in FOG-Q or TUG at post-rTMS and follow-up in patients when experiencing the sham treatment. EurekAlert
Held at the brand new National Convention & Exhibition Centre (NECC) in Shanghai from 15 to 18 May, the Healthcare Industry Summit (tHIS) is a large-scale healthcare event that combines China
Prins Hendrikstraat 1
5611HH Eindhoven
The Netherlands
info@interhospi.com
PanGlobal Media IS not responsible for any error or omission that might occur in the electronic display of product or company data.
