Magnetic resonance image isn
Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a revolutionary system for monitoring vital signs that could lead to improved detection and prevention of some cardiovascular issues, as well as greater independence for older adults.
Using patent-pending technology called Coded Hemodynamic Imaging, the device is the first portable system that monitors a patient’s blood flow at multiple arterial points simultaneously and without direct contact with the skin. It is ideal for assessing patients with painful burns, highly contagious diseases, or infants in neonatal intensive care whose tiny fingers make traditional monitoring difficult.
‘Traditional systems in wide use now take one blood pulse reading at one spot on the body. This device acts like many virtual sensors that measure blood flow behaviour on various parts of the body. The device relays measurements from all of these pulse points to a computer for continuous monitoring,’ said Robert Amelard, a PhD candidate in systems design engineering at Waterloo and recipient of the prestigious Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. ‘By way of comparison, think of measuring the traffic flow across an entire city rather than through one intersection.’
Continuous data collection at different parts of the body provides a more complete picture of what
Combining optical coherence tomography (OCT) with another advanced imaging technology may more accurately identify coronary artery plaques that are most likely to rupture and cause a heart attack. In a report, investigators from the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) describe the first use in patients of a catheter-based device utilizing both OCT and near-infrared autofluorescence (NIRAF) imaging.
New research demonstrates that the six-step hand-hygiene technique recommended by the World Health Organization is superior to a three-step method suggested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in reducing bacteria on healthcare workers
Two simple interventions — sterile tubing change in combination with hub scrub compliance — can significantly reduce the rates of central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) in children’s hospital neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), according to a multi-centre improvement collaborative.
“The practices we identified that are associated with lower central line infections should be considered by clinicians in efforts to decrease central line infection rates,” said Dr. Anthony J. Piazza, from Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia. “These central line care practices can be incorporated into daily patient care. Lowering central line infections can decrease health care costs and may be associated with fewer deaths, shorter hospital stays, and improved developmental outcomes.”
Dr. Piazza and colleagues from 17 centres participating in the Standardizing Line Care Under Guideline (SLUG Bug) collaborative used orchestrated testing to identify infection practices that contribute to reductions in infection rates.
The collaborative CLABSI rate decreased from a baseline rate of 1.333 to 1.076 per 1000 line-days, a 19.28% reduction, according to the study.
Among the 14 centres that had decreased CLABSI rates during the study period, sterile tubing changes decreased rates by an average of 0.51 and the addition of hub scrub compliance monitoring decreased rates by an average of 1.25 per 1000 line-days.
“We are excited to have identified specific infection prevention practices that helped achieve very low rates of infection,” Dr. Piazza said. “We are hopeful these findings can spread to other areas of the hospital that are still working on lowering infection rates.”
Medscapehttp://tinyurl.com/hpbnysc
Mindray has officially released its new premium Resona 7 ultrasound system recently. The system will be showcased for the first time at Medica 2015 in Dusseldorf, Germany, from November 16-19. Release in the North American market is scheduled for early 2016.
Resona 7 is powered by the revolutionary ZONE Sonography
Head and neck cancer patients may no longer have to undergo invasive post-treatment surgery to remove remaining cancer cells, as research shows that innovative scanning-led surveillance can help identify the need for, and guidance of, neck dissection.
The study from the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire used advanced imaging to identify cancer cells still present after treatment of head and neck cancer with primary chemoradiotherapy.
Previous guidelines meant that all head and neck cancer patients have to undergo neck dissection surgery, a three-hour operation with considerable morbidity and up to a one week hospital stay, because there was no reliable way to identify which patients still had remaining cancer cells.
The use of positron emission tomography
Ji and colleagues used a microscopy technique called stimulated Raman scattering, or SRS, to image cancer cells in human brain tissue. SRS produces different signals for proteins and lipids, which can then be assigned a colour (blue and green, respectively), allowing the authors to differentiate brain cortex from tumour from white matter. Biopsies from adult and paediatric patients with glioblastoma revealed not only distinctive features with SRS microscopy but also the presence of infiltrating cells in tissues that appeared otherwise normal with traditional staining. Such infiltrating cells are important to catch early because leaving them behind after surgery nearly always leads to cancer recurrence. To make this SRS microscopy approach amenable to routine use in neuropathology, the authors also created an objective classifier that integrated different image characteristics, such as the protein/ lipid ratio, axonal density, and degree of cellularity, into one output, on a scale of 0 to 1, that would alert the pathologist to tumour infiltration. The classifier was built using more than 1400 images from patients with glioblastoma and epilepsy, and could distinguish between tumour-infiltrated and non-tumour regions with >99% accuracy, regardless of tumour grade or histologic subtype. This label-free imaging technology could therefore be used to complement existing neurosurgical workflows, allowing for rapid and objective characterization of brain tissues and, in turn, clinical decision-making.
Science Translation Medicine http://tinyurl.com/oxq8ojx
Since up to 90% of patients develop hospital- acquired anemia by their third day in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) with many requiring subsequent transfusions, blood conservation strategies can be of significant benefit to patients and will help reduce costs of care. The new paper observes that within the ICU setting, the total amount of diagnostic (iatrogenic) blood loss is a significant predicator of anemia and subsequent allogeneic transfusion. Notably, iatrogenic blood loss is the factor most easily controlled by the intensivist – the paper discusses the main methods of reducing the contribution of blood tests to the incidence of iatrogenic anemia. Entitled
Between 5 and 30 per cent of those who receive a new hip prosthesis will require a re-operation during their lifetime. New research shows that a high-resolution X-ray method can predict which patients have the greatest risk of re-operation.
In Sweden, around 16,000 hip prosthesis operations are done annually, and about an additional 1,100 re-operations are done where part or all of the prosthetic must be replaced or removed.
The risk of re-operation varies with the patient’s age: around 30 per cent of patients under 50 undergo a re-operation within 15 years, while the corresponding percentage for patients older than 75 is 5-10 per cent.
The risk of re-operations also increases after each new operation on the hip joint.
Over 30 years, researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg have developed a special examination method that makes it possible to measure the prosthesis movement relative to the bone using high-resolution X-rays (called radiostereometry). The method, which has now been evaluated in a doctoral thesis, can be used to predict which patients are at risk of re-operation.
‘With the radiostereometric method, we can discover movements in the artificial joint socket. Since these movements increase the risk that the prosthesis will loosen on the long term, the information can be used to predict re-operation,’ says Maziar Mohaddes, who is presenting the studies in his doctoral thesis.
According to the researchers, the radiostereometric method can predict at an early stage if new prosthetic models and surgical techniques are safe, and if they can be expected to improve the outcome in patients.
The technique in question is so specialized that it is primarily used in research.
According to Maziar Mohaddes, broader clinical use could both identify and to some extent reduce the scope of complications in hip operations.
University of Gothenburghttp://tinyurl.com/hx4pmgf
April 2024
Beukenlaan 137
5616 VD Eindhoven
The Netherlands
+31 85064 55 82
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.