News
Quicker Cardiac Testing Equipment Developed
December 8, 2009 9:32 am | CommentsScientists at Singapore's Institute of Microelectronics (IME) have developed a rapid and sensitive integrated system to test simultaneously for specific cardiac biomarkers in a finger prick amount of blood. The silicon-based system's features could help physicians arrive at the right diagnosis more quickly in patients suspected of having heart attacks – particularly those who do not show obvious signs of chest pains or shortness of breath, according to researchers at IME, one of the research institutes sponsored by Singapore's A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research).
Colon, Cancer Deaths In General Decrease
December 8, 2009 9:15 am | CommentsMike Stobbe, AP The estimate was made in an annual report that shows that, overall, the U.S. cancer death rate is continuing to decline, as it has since the 1990s. The report released Monday focuses largely on cancers of the colon and rectum, which together are the third leading cancer killer in the United States.
Group Corrects Zhu Zhu Pets Safety Statement
December 8, 2009 5:57 am | CommentsA consumer group that reported several of the holiday season's must-have toys are unsafe wants to make a correction. Good Guide says it was wrong to claim in a Saturday statement that Zhu Zhu Pets robotic hamsters and International Playthings' “My First Purse&rdquo contained levels of the heavy metal antimony that exceed federal limits.
Investigation Of CT Radiation Overexposure Continues
December 8, 2009 5:47 am | CommentsReuters Regulators are probing more cases of patients who were exposed to excess radiation from brain scans performed with equipment from General Electric and Toshiba, government officials said. The Food and Drug Administration said some patients received up to eight times the normal amount of radiation, which could cause cataracts and increase the risk of some forms of cancer.
Opera In The OR
December 8, 2009 5:36 am | CommentsCarolyn Y. Johnson, Boston Globe Massachusetts General Hospital surgery resident Claudius Conrad is building upon his prior work with music in the ICU to research the effects it has on surgeons' learning, speed and accuracy. Conrad’s research began when he investigated how music affects intensive care unit patients.
Manager Steals Over $200K From ASC
December 8, 2009 5:10 am | CommentsA man was sentenced to serve up to five years in a Pennsylvania state prison for stealing $234,000 from an ambulatory surgical center where he worked as the business manager. Joseph Grostas pleaded guilty to three counts of embezzling using a company credit card and electronic transfers to his bank account.
New, Faster Weapon In Battling HAIs
December 8, 2009 4:55 am | CommentsMicroPhage recently received its CE Mark for selling and distributing the first of its instrument-free, rapid staph infection testing products in Europe. Based on its Bacteriophage Amplification technology, the product is designed to identify Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bacteria as well as determine methicillin resistance (MRSA) or susceptibility (MSSA) in suspected cases of bacteremia-bacteria in the blood.
Controversial Kidney Transplant Technique Could Help The Very Ill
December 7, 2009 5:23 am | CommentsSurgeons who successfully performed kidney transplants after removing small cancerous and benign masses from the donated organs have published their results in the December issue of the urology journal BJUI . “Transplanting a living donor kidney which has been affected by a renal mass is controversial and considered a high risk,” says co-author Dr Michael W Phelan.
Patient Deaths End Anti-Bleeding Studies
December 7, 2009 5:11 am | CommentsMarley Seaman, AP Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. says it has stopped enrolling patients in trials of a drug intended to reduce bleeding during heart surgery because of deaths among patients that took it. Cubist said a data monitoring board wants to assess the difference between patients on the drug, and those who were on an alternative treatment.
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.
