Fifty U.S. hospitals, including NYU Medical Center, have been named to the first Leapfrog Top Hospitals list, based on results from the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey, a national rating system that offers a broad assessment of a hospital?s quality and safety.
UCLA radiologists and Siemens Medical Solutions have jointly developed remote-control software that enables an off-site imaging expert to log onto a personal computer and operate a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine by remote control. Reported in the November issue of Radiology, the study found that the quality of the remote scans were superior to onsite scans by a less experienced technologist, suggesting options for helping facilities or regions with limited medical staff and expertise.
Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) will showcase innovative cardiac solutions designed to streamline workflow and facilitate advanced information management at Cardiovascular Research Foundation?s (CRF) eighteenth annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium in Washington, D.C.Shown for the first time ever in the U.S., the pre-release of the Philips Xcelera 2.1 Cardiovascular Information Solution is one of the key components to Philips integrated catheterization (cath) lab, which includes physiomonitoring, reporting and cardiovascular X-ray technologies to improve patient care and lab management.
Eklin Medical Systems, Inc., a leader in digital radiography (DR), PACS (Picture Archiving and Communication System) and Practice Information Management software (PIMS) for the veterinary care market, announced the introduction of a comprehensive positioning guide for capturing diagnostic equine digital radiographs. The guide features Sheika, a petite gray Arabian mare, who was rescued by the founders of Peninsula Equine Medical Center before she was about to be euthanized by her owner. The 65-page guide provides a quick reference resource for veterinarians and technicians when imaging a horse’s feet, pasterns, fetlocks, stifles, skull, cervical spine and other pertinent anatomy.
Researchers will report results of a follow-on study of the first non-invasive, diabetes-screening device that was able to significantly outperform the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test and the A1C test for identifying diabetes and pre-diabetes in individuals with one or more known risk factors for the disease. Presented at the 2006 Scientific Assembly of the American Academy of Family Physicians, held here, the study showed a prototype of the device was able to identify 29% more patients than the FPG test and 17% more patients than the A1C test. Both the FPG and A1C are blood tests used to screen and evaluate patients at risk for diabetes.
The Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) – a project developed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – is seeking 800 older adults to participate in a study aimed at identifying biological markers of memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Ultimately, scientists hope that brain and biological changes can be detected before memory decline and other symptoms appear, allowing the effectiveness of drugs to be evaluated at the earliest possible time.
Magnetic resonance imaging or an MRI is usually used to locate unseen problems dealing with the head, neck, spine and extremities.
German cancer surgeons have, for the first time, successfully removed a tumour with the aid of new 3-D computer modelling software which the designers say will make these operations safer and more accurate.
Homeopathy is one of the more recent developments in alternative health care. It is based upon theory of “similars” developed in the 18th century by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann.
The DASH diet is based on findings from the “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” a National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-supported study that found that elevated blood pressure levels can be reduced with an eating plan low in total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol, and rich in fruits, vegetables, and lowfat dairy products.