News
FDA Warns Of Sterilization Device Issues
December 7, 2009 5:00 am | CommentsAccording to the Food and Drug Administration, doctors and hospitals should stop using a device from Steris Corp. to sterilize surgical tools. The company’s SS1 sterilizer device has reportedly been malfunctioning, which has lead to patients becoming infected from unsterile instruments. The FDA recommends physicians begin using alternative devices, while Steris representatives have been reassuring customers about future usage.
Gift Guide: Tech Gadgets That Help Promote A Healthier Lifestyle
December 7, 2009 4:34 am | CommentsAnick Jesdanun, AP In simpler times, maintaining good health was a matter of joining a gym or lacing up running shoes for a lap in the park. At most, you'd buy a watch with a digital display so you could time your laps. These days, a range of gadgets can help boost your workouts, and I'm not talking about iPods that distract you as you lift weights or sprint to nowhere on a treadmill.
Beware Of Mr. Squiggles This Christmas
December 7, 2009 4:21 am | CommentsA consumer group contends one of the holiday season's must-have toys is unsafe, but the maker of the robotic Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters defends its product against a study by San Francisco-based GoodGuide stating that higher-than-allowed levels of the chemical antimony were found in the toy. GoodGuide named Zhu Zhu Pets hamsters one of the top-selling toys with low ratings after finding antimony, which can cause health problems, on the hair and nose of one of the toy hamsters, called Mr.
Recessionary Impacts On Hospitals
December 7, 2009 4:01 am | CommentsAccording to a recent AHA (American Hospital Association) survey, which is included in the 2010 edition of AHA Hospital Statistics , the recession continues to impact community hospital operations. As unemployment rises, six in 10 hospitals report seeing more uninsured patients in the emergency department and half cite an increased need for health clinics and other subsidized services.
$765 vs. $9.4 billion: How A Stethoscope Shows Us The Way
December 4, 2009 6:17 am | CommentsJeff Reinke , editorial director The new 3200 Model 3M/Littmann Electronic Stethoscope, which is compatible with Zargis Cardioscan software, was recently introduced. It costs $765 and has the potential to replace other testing procedures that run somewhere in the neighborhood of $9.4 billion annually.
Burn Patients Benefit From Faster-Growing Skin Grafts
December 4, 2009 4:23 am | CommentsFrench scientists have found a way to create human skin rapidly from stem cells, a discovery that could save the lives of many burns victims who are vulnerable to infection, but must wait weeks for skin grafts. The scientists made the breakthrough by creating a patch of human skin on a mouse's back using stem cells – cells which have the ability to develop into any human cell.
U.S. Approves Human Stem Cell Research
December 4, 2009 4:11 am | CommentsThe batches, known as lines, were made by two researchers at Harvard University and Rockefeller University using private funds, said Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. In March, Obama lifted restrictions on human embryonic stem cell research imposed by his predecessor.
Best Practices Project Improves ER Heart Attack Success
December 4, 2009 3:55 am | CommentsLauran Neergaard, AP Hospitals are giving faster care to lots more heart attack patients, which translates to more lives being saved. Better than three-quarters of people suffering major heart attacks are getting their blocked arteries reopened within 90 minutes of arriving in the emergency room, says a Yale University study of 831 hospitals.
More Minority Doctors Needed
December 4, 2009 3:23 am | CommentsMike Stobbe, AP The new U.S. Surgeon General has called for increased efforts in growing the number of minority physicians. In one of her first speeches to a large crowd since she was sworn in Nov. 3, Dr. Regina Benjamin noted that only six percent of U.S. physicians are minorities — the same as it was a century ago.
Joining Forces For The Smallest Patient
December 4, 2009 3:09 am | CommentsSTERIS Corporation and NeoForce Group, Inc. have agreed to jointly promote the world’s first dedicated surgical system for term and preterm newborns. The new system includes a dedicated neonatal surgical table, customized visualization and integration technology, full procedural capabilities and enhanced connectivity to families and medical professionals outside the room.
Capsa Acquires Artromick Mobile Solutions
December 4, 2009 2:57 am | CommentsCapsa Solutions, a leading provider of storage, processing and transport products, has announced the acquisition of Artromick Mobile Solutions Group and their comprehensive line of medication, medical and mobile computing carts. Artromick Mobile Solutions Group was previously owned by Sterling Partners, a Chicago and Baltimore-based private equity firm.
Blood-Clotting Foam Wins Award
December 2, 2009 7:38 am | CommentsRemedium Technologies Inc., a company developing a shaving cream-like foam that stops severe bleeding, won $10,000 in the Most Promising Security Idea category of the Global Security Challenge 2009. Selected from more than 100 entries from around the world, Remedium is developing a high-pressure foam that can be sprayed into an injured body cavity, adhering to tissue and rapidly stopping bleeding as it expands.
Needle Injuries Going Unreported
December 2, 2009 7:19 am | CommentsMegan Brooks, Reuters The problem, Dr. Martin A. Makary of Johns Hopkins University notes, is that hospitals are not creating a “culture of speaking up. If people are not speaking up regarding their own safety concerns, it's probably a surrogate marker of people not speaking up about patient safety concerns.
H1N1 Generates New Disaster Plans
December 2, 2009 7:07 am | CommentsMaggie Fox, Reuters Stung by the continuing struggle to make a vaccine against the swine flu pandemic, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Tuesday her department would review its approach to disaster preparedness. The goal, Sebelius said, will be streamlined regulations that speed the approval of new technologies being promoted through government contracts with private companies.
Mind Control For Robotic Hand
December 2, 2009 6:56 am | CommentsA group of European scientists say they have successfully connected a robotic hand to a man who had lost an arm, allowing him to feel sensations in the artificial hand and control it with his thoughts. The experiment lasted a month. Scientists say it was the first time an amputee has been able to make complex movements using his mind to control a biomechanical hand connected to his nervous system.
