August 27th, 2011 by Iltifat Husain, M.D. in News
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Fujifilm Synapase Mobility is now available in the U.S., and not just on the iPhone, but for the Android and iPad as well. Fujifilm makes a variety of medical images devices, from ultrasound devices to computed radiology devices (x-rays).
If you use their backend server (Synapse PACS and Synapse RIS), you can now view your images on your mobile devices. What’s really interesting about their mobile suite is that it’s browser is independent, scalable, and doesn’t just display static images.
Currently the system isn’t FDA approved, but with the amount of business Fujifilm already has in the medical ecosystem, one would think this would happen sooner than later.
..It provides Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at iMedicalApps*
August 15th, 2011 by Medgadget in News
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GE Healthcare has received the FDA OK for its Optima CT660 computed tomography (CT) system. The CT660, which is already available in Europe, Latin America and Asia, distinguishes itself by its compact footprint combined with a modular design and low dose imaging. In addition, it is also one of the most energy efficient CT scanners available and has an “environmental design” that eases refurbishment and end-of-life recycling. The scanner itself is scalable from 32 to 128 slices through purchasable options and features automatic table positioning and a color 12-inch integrated gantry display monitor. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
August 7th, 2011 by Lucy Hornstein, M.D. in Opinion, True Stories
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I saw a lady with a boil. It began as a small red bump which got bigger and harder, then drained white stuff, and was now getting better.
The reason she was worried about it was its location: it was on her breast. This was why the chief complaint officially read, “Breast lump” despite the fact that it was technically no such thing.
I examined her carefully, determining that the pathologic process was indeed confined to the skin and clinically did not involve the actual breast tissue in any way. However because she was of an age for screening mammography, I did take the opportunity to urge her to have it; which she did. The problem arrived with the radiology report:
A marker is placed over the area of palpable abnormality. Mammographic images reveal normal breast tissue with no mass or architectural distortion. The pathologic process is confined to the skin. Recommend surgical excision. (emphasis mine)
Um, no. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Dinosaur*
July 13th, 2011 by Stanley Feld, M.D. in Better Health Network
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The primary stakeholders in the healthcare system are patients and physicians. The incentives for patients and physicians to save money are non existent. The secondary stakeholders have taken advantage of non existent incentives to create a healthcare system that generates ever increasing costs.
Patients and physicians are the only stakeholders that can control costs. They initiate the use of the healthcare system’s resources.
Healthcare costs for medical procedures such as an MRI or CT scan have been found to vary by as much as 683% in the same town, depending on which physicians patients choose, according to a study by Change: Healthcare.
The implication is that individual physicians are responsible for the differences. Most physicians do not own MRIs, CAT scanners or PET scanners. Secondary stakeholders own the equipment. They price the procedures and profit from the equipment, not the physicians. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Repairing the Healthcare System*
July 5th, 2011 by admin in Health Policy, Health Tips
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If you are a smoker, or love someone who smokes, the specter of lung cancer is ever looming. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to detect lung cancer in its earliest and most curable stages, much like the goal of mammograms for breast cancer?
Although it seems like common sense to do such advance checks—a process called lung cancer screening—studies to date haven’t shown that finding lung cancer early translates into fewer deaths from the disease.
A new report in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that screening heavy smokers with yearly low-dose CT scans can reduce deaths from lung cancer by 20% compared to screening with chest x-rays. The results are from the National Lung Screening Trial, which included more than 53,000 current and former heavy smokers between the ages of 55 and 74. (Preliminary results from this trial were covered in the Harvard Health Letter and in the Harvard Health blog.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Harvard Health Blog*
