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

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

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

Prescription opioid abuse has reached epidemic proportions, with more than half of patients being treated for chronic pain reportedly misusing their medication at some point.

However, new research led by University at Buffalo psychiatric nursing researcher Yu-Ping Chang found motivational interviewing, a form of behavioural counselling, is an effective tool at curbing the abuse.

Prescription opioids, which includes pain medications such as morphine and codeine

The first recommendations on multimodality imaging assessment of prosthetic heart valves have been published.
The novel document was produced by the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). They are endorsed by the Chinese Society of Echocardiography, the Inter-American Society of Echocardiography, and the Brazilian Department of Cardiovascular Imaging.
‘Prosthetic heart valves are the best treatment for the majority of patients with severe symptomatic valvular heart disease,’ said first author Professor Patrizio Lancellotti. ‘Heart valve disease is one of the most common types of cardiovascular disease and affects around 3-6% of the population over 65 years.’
Heart valve replacement is performed using mechanical or biological prostheses. It is estimated that by 2050, some 850 000 prosthetic heart valves will be implanted every year in western countries.
Dysfunction of prosthetic heart valves is rare but can be life threatening. When it does occur, it is crucial to determine the cause as this will define what treatment is needed. The paper published provides the first recommendations on how to use multimodality imaging to detect and diagnose prosthetic heart valve complications.
When prosthetic heart valve complications are suspected, the authors recommend:
First-line imaging with 2D transthoracic echocardiography (TTE); 2D and 3D TTE and transesophageal echocardiography (TOE) for complete evaluation; Cinefluoroscopy to evaluate disc mobility and valve ring structure; Cardiac computed tomography (CT) to visualize calcification, degeneration, pannus, thrombus; Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) to assess cardiac and valvular function; Nuclear imaging, especially when infective endocarditis is suspected.
‘In this paper we have underlined the incremental value of all imaging modalities to evaluate prosthetic heart valves,’ said Professor Lancellotti. ‘Echocardiography should be used in the first instance to detect any dysfunction. Non-echo imaging modalities can be performed afterwards if more information is needed to establish the cause and extent of complications.’
He concluded: ‘We have introduced new algorithms to help clinicians diagnose and quantify prosthetic heart valve dysfunction. They are easy to use and we hope will improve assessment and subsequent management of patients so that when complications do occur, better outcomes can be achieved.’

European Society of Cardiology http://tinyurl.com/go9gwgq