August 4th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in News, Research
Tags: Biological Molecules, Biosynthetic Soft Tissue Replacement, Composite Material, hyaluronic acid, Jennifer Elisseeff, Johns Hopkins, Jules Stein, Medicine, PEG-HA Composite, poly ethylene glycol, Reconstruction, Science Translational Medicine, Synthetic Molecules, Translational Tissue Engineering
No Comments »
Yesterday, I came across this press release from Johns Hopkins regarding a new composite material which may someday be used to restore damaged soft tissue. (photo credit)
The liquid material is a composite of biological and synthetic molecules which is injected under the skin. Transdermal light is then used to “set” the material into a more solid structure.
The results of the early experiments in rats and humans has been reported in the July 27 issue of Science Translational Medicine (full reference below).
It is hoped that the new liquid material is a biosynthetic soft tissue replacement composed of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hyaluronic acid (HA).
From the press release Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
August 3rd, 2011 by Berci in Announcements, News
Tags: Apps, FDA, Food and Drug Administration, Generic Aid, Medical Device, Medical Textbooks, Medicine, Medicine 2.0, Mobile Applications, Mobile Apps, Web 2.0
No Comments »
FDA has published an announcement about regulations regarding medical mobile applications.
The agency’s draft guidance defines a small subset of mobile medical apps that impact or may impact the performance or functionality of currently regulated medical devices. This subset includes mobile medical apps that:
a. are used as an accessory to medical device already regulated by the FDA
(For example, an application that allows a health care professional to make a specific diagnosis by viewing a medical image from a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) on a smartphone or a mobile tablet); or
b. transform a mobile communications device into a regulated medical device by using attachments, sensors or other devices
(For example, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ScienceRoll*
August 1st, 2011 by RyanDuBosar in News
Tags: Developing World, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Handwashing, Hospital Acquired Infection, Hospitalization, ICU, Infectious Diseases, Intensive Care Unit, Liam Donaldson, Patient Safety Envoy, Septicemia, Surgical Site Infections, WHO, World Health Organization
No Comments »
The World Health Organization’s new patient safety envoy will take on health care acquired infections in his new role, he announced last week. Liam Donaldson, England’s former Chief Medical Officer, pointed out in his first report as envoy that patient safety incidents occur in 4% to 16% of all hospitalized patients, and that hospital-acquired infections affect hundreds of millions of patients globally.
A WHO report outlined the problem.
High-income countries had pooled health care acquired infection rates of 7.6%. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control estimated that 4.1 million Europeans incur 4.5 million health care acquired infections annually. In the U.S. the incidence rate was 4.5% in 2002, or 9.3 infections per 1,000 patient-days and 1.7 million affected patients.
In Europe, these infections cause Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
August 1st, 2011 by Bryan Vartabedian, M.D. in News, Opinion
Tags: Collaborative Training, Doctor Patient Relationship, Doctors, Empathetic Doctors, Empathy, Health 2.0, Hospitals, Leadership Experiences, Med School curriculum, Medical School, Scholarly Excellence, SELECT Program, Teleos Leadership Institute, University of Pennsylvania, University of South Florida, USF, Wharton School of Finance
No Comments »
Can we teach empathy to the next generation of physicians? The University of South Florida Health thinks so and they’re putting it on the line this week with the launch of the SELECT program, a new curriculum intended to “put empathy, communication and creativity back into doctoring.”
The SELECT (Scholarly Excellence. Leadership Experiences. Collaborative Training.) program will offer 19 select students unique training in leadership development as well as the scholarly tools needed to become physician leaders and catalysts for change. During their first week on campus, instead of the old-style medical school tradition of heading to the gross anatomy lab, SELECT students are immersed in leadership training centered in empathy and other core principles of patient-centered care.
The hope is that this program will prepare the next generation of departmental chairmen, CMOs and physician thought leaders through more intense, non-traditional preparation.
Students will Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at 33 Charts*
July 31st, 2011 by DeborahSchwarzRPA in News, Research
Tags: Biopsy, Bronchoscopies, Cancer, Columbia University, CT Scan, ENB, Health News, Lung, Lung Lesion, Lung Nodules, Lyall A. Gorenstein, Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery, New York-Presbyterian, superDimension Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy, Thoracic Surgery, Tracheobronchial Tube
No Comments »
Every year, a half million bronchoscopies are performed in the U.S. in order to investigate lesions within patients’ lungs. Because conventional bronchoscopy cannot reach the distant regions of the lungs, more invasive surgical procedures are often needed to diagnose lung nodules that may be malignant.
The General Thoracic Surgery Division at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia has begun using a new technology, superDimension Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy™ (ENB). ENB creates a computer-generated reconstruction of the lungs from a CT scan of the tracheobronchial tree, explains Lyall A. Gorenstein, MD, FRCS (C), FACS, Director, Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery. Using these reconstructed images, the system creates a visual pathway so that surgeons can guide steerable catheters to where lung nodules are located, facilitating examination and biopsy.
“This enables us to Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Columbia University Department of Surgery Blog*
