Ultrasonography is now the most widely used imaging method in medicine. But it also contains some disadvantages: for example, the fine detail of the generated images is low; the results are also dependent on the experience of the examiner.
Another shortcoming is the lack of reproducibility of the images. In order to eliminate these disadvantages, instead of using classic sonography which is based on the ‘phased array’ method, the holographic sonography or 3D ultrasonic holography demonstrates new and efficient technology to perfection.
The holographic ultrasound has several clear advantages over classic sonography: For example, 100percent of the scattered or reflected sound waves can be evaluated from the perspective of their information content. Since there is no phase noise with holographic ultrasound and only one barrier – sound wave diffraction – holographic ultrasound achieves a significant increase in resolution. By using ‘very clean’ sound waves (i.e. with very well-defined phases), no information is lost during the process. The conventional method, however, does lose valuable information as the waves created by the superposition of different waves are generated by several transmitters, thus being able to create a clean wave by interference only in certain points. But there are also areas where the waves do not interfere favourably from the standpoint of image formation – causing artefacts – and opposing anything real. The classic technique is also not able to provide 3D information directly. The customary market-based sonography devices only produce cross-sectional images of a relatively thick, averaged layer, which are then assembled into a three-dimensional image. Using our 3D ultrasonic holography, it is possible to directly generate many three-dimensional images per second in real time, which can be reproduced an optional amount of times.
A further advantage of holographic ultrasound is the fast and efficient learning stage for staff in our easy-to-use technology. The behaviour of the measuring head is simple, because the sound wave includes greater range: unlike traditional ultrasound, where the measuring head has to be moved several times to capture different structures from all possible angles of incidence, the 3D holographic method only has to be applied in one position to gather and generate the same and more information in a shorter time frame and at higher resolution. The electronics used can generate stronger impulses which is advantageous especially when a greater range is necessary and/or desired. Furthermore, 3D ultrasonic holography enables the production of portable 3D sonography devices.

Innovision http://tinyurl.com/zurhrg4

ESMO, the leading European professional organisation for medical oncology, has released new consensus guidelines for the management of metastatic colorectal cancer that reflect an increasingly personalized approach to treatment.

‘Management of metastatic colorectal cancer is becoming more complex, requiring a strategic approach and evidence-based patient selection for the best treatment options,’ said chair of the ESMO Consensus Conference Professor Eric Van Cutsem, from the University Hospitals Gasthuisberg/Leuven and KU Leuven, Belgium.

In December 2014, ESMO convened an international consensus panel of experts with subgroups focusing on molecular pathology and biomarkers, local and ablative treatment and treatment of metastatic disease. The subsequent recommendations are based on a significant new body of clinical trial evidence and an advanced understanding of the role and impact of molecular selection.

One of the major innovations in the guidelines is the development of a detailed therapeutic algorithm that takes into account the patient’s condition and fitness; therapeutic goals such as tumour shrinkage or slowing disease progression; and molecular markers. The guidelines also address questions such as the use of chemoembolization and radioembolisation, imaging, and surgical resection.

Recommendations made by the consensus panel include RAS and BRAF mutation testing at diagnosis for all patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. The guidelines also note that there is now growing evidence for more frequent testing for MSI. Testing emerging biomarkers such as EGFR or HER2 is not recommended as routine for patient management.

‘Colon cancer management is making progress, leading patients who can be cured though multidisciplinary management of metastases, and to prolonged survival – up from 6 months to 30 months – in many patients,’ said Professor Van Cutsem.

This progress is also attributed to the use of combination chemotherapy and the development of novel second line agents including angiogenesis inhibitors, EGFR antibodies and new agents for chemorefractory disease such as regorafenib and trifluridine/tipiracil.

This second set of ESMO consensus guidelines for metastatic colorectal guidelines – the first were published in 2012 – integrates with the 2014 ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines on metastatic colorectal cancer, which will be updated for publication in 2017.

Commenting on the guidelines, Dr Fotios Loupakis from the Ospedale Civile – Istituto Toscano Tumori and member of the ESMO Faculty for Gastro-Intestinal Tumors, said, ‘With these long awaited guidelines, the management of metastatic colorectal cancer officially enters the personalized era, addressing the role of existing and emerging biomarkers and their role in the clinic.’

‘The new guidelines move from the clinically-defined historical categories –which were focused on the resectability of metastases, to a less sharp but more realistic assessment that gives more importance to additional elements, such as patient, tumour and treatment characteristics.’

ESMOwww.esmo.org/Press-Office/Press-Releases/ESMO-Releases-New-Consensus-Guidelines-on-the-Management-of-Metastatic-Colorectal-Cancer?hit=ehp

Scientists at the University of Basel have developed nanoparticles which can serve as efficient contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging. This new type of nanoparticles produce around ten times more contrast than the actual contrast agents and are responsive to specific environments.

Contrast agents enhance the imaging of tissues obtained by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Whilst the detection of structural details in the body can be significantly improved by using contrast agents, current substances produce insufficient contrast for the detection of the early stages of diseases. Another limitation is that current contrast agents do not sense their biochemical environments. Researchers from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Basel have developed nanoparticles, which can serve as ‘smart’ contrast agents for MRI.

Contrast agents are usually based on the metal Gadolinium, which is injected and serves for an improved imaging of various organs in an MRI. Gadolinium ions should be bound with a carrier compound to avoid the toxicity to the human body of the free ions. Therefore, highly efficient contrast agents requiring lower Gadolinium concentrations represent an important step for advancing diagnosis and improving patient health prognosis.

The research groups of Prof. Cornelia Palivan and Prof. Wolfgang Meier from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Basel have introduced a new type of nanoparticles, which combine multiple properties required for contrast agents: an increased MRI contrast for lower concentration, a potential for long blood circulation and responsiveness to different biochemical environments. These nanoparticles were obtained by co-assembly of heparin-functionalized polymers with trapped gadolinium ions and stimuli-responsive peptides.

The study shows, that the nanoparticles have the capacity of enhancing the MRI signal tenfold higher than the current agents. In addition, they have an enhanced efficacy in reductive milieu, characteristic for specific regions, such as cancerous tissues. These nanoparticles fulfil numerous key criteria for further development, such as absence of cellular toxicity, no apparent anticoagulation property, and high shelf stability. The concept developed by the researchers at the University of Basel to produce better contrast agents based on nanoparticles highlights a new direction in the design of MRI contrast agents, and supports their implementation for future applications.

University of Basel www.unibas.ch/en/News-Events/News/Uni-Research/Better-Contrast-Agents-Based-on-Nanoparticles.html

Stanford Health Care recently released a new app that allows patients using Android smartphones to easily access their own medical information anywhere in the world. The Android version and the iOS 8 MyHealth mobile app are both designed to put a patient’s health information right at their fingertips, making it quick and simple for them to manage their care, including reviewing test results, paying medical bills, managing prescriptions, scheduling appointments, and conducting video visits with Stanford physicians.
‘At Stanford Health Care we are continuing to develop a suite of mobile offerings and innovations that empower our patients, making it easy and convenient for them to access the information and tools they need to manage their health,’ said Pravene Nath, MD, Chief Information Officer, Stanford Health Care. ‘By developing and incorporating new digital technology and leveraging available health data, we are providing increased, flexible opportunities for patients to engage with clinicians and better manage their overall care.’
Over 200,000 people are now messaging their physicians, scheduling appointments, and reviewing their medical records through Stanford Health Care’s MyHealth. The in-house developed apps leverage Stanford Health Care’s digital platform, which with its electronic health record integration provides a seamless experience for the user to get all the important health information they need. Additionally, the apps allow patients to communicate directly with their care team through a confidential and secure messaging system, and make quick, easy, and secure online payments.
This latest version also includes new features such as:
TouchID for faster and more secure entry; and In app and Apple Watch alerts when new lab results and messages from the patient’s care team are received.

Stanford Health Care http://tinyurl.com/zmfwdv8

Researchers from The University of Texas at Arlington have demonstrated that electrical conductivity can be an effective means to precisely measure the amount of blood present in dry blood spot analysis, providing a new alternative to the current preferred approach of measuring sodium levels.
Dry blood spots are a pinprick of blood blotted on filter paper and allowed to air dry, which is then sent to a laboratory for analysis. Simple and inexpensive, dry blood spot analysis is routinely used to screen newborns for metabolic disorders and has also proven effective in diagnosing infant HIV infection, especially in developing countries where health budgets are limited.
‘Our new method, which involves using an electrode probe to measure electrical conductivity, has proven accurate to within one percent,’ said Purnendu Dasgupta, Hamish Small Chair in Ion Analysis and James Garrett Professor in UTA’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. ‘It also has the considerable advantage of using up none of the sample where the currently preferred approach uses around half the sample.’

Dasgupta and his co-researchers used 12 volunteers aged 20 to 66, taking pinpricks of blood and letting the dry blood spot samples dry. They then took a 3 millimeter punch out of each dry blood spot, dissolved the punch in methanol and water mixtures and used a dip-type small diameter ring-disk electrode to measure the conductance of the samples, determining the minimum immersion depth that proved accurate in measuring the amount of blood to within one percent.
‘As analytical instrumentation has improved, dry blood spot analysis is becoming increasingly popular for clinical trials to monitor the effects of therapeutic drugs and for large-scale epidemiology and genetic studies, where it is vital to know the exact amount of blood in the sample,’ Dasgupta said. ‘Our new dip probe method offers clear advantages, but it does have the same problem as measuring sodium in that it does not function if the subject has abnormal electrolyte levels, which happens in some diseases.’

www.uta.edu/news/releases/2016/07/Dasgupta%20Blood%20Spots.php