Catheter News and Research

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In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters . In most uses, a catheter is a thin, flexible tube ("soft" catheter), though in some uses, it is a larger, solid ("hard") catheter. A catheter left inside the body, either temporarily or permanently, may be referred to as an indwelling catheter. A permanently inserted catheter may be referred to as a permcath.

Carbon coatings to prevent bacteria collecting on indwelling catheters

This team of physicists have coated catheters and ureter stents with an extremely thin layer of diamond-like carbon. DLC-coated surfaces do not react chemically with their environment; they are hardwearing, can be sterilised and reduce friction.

18 Nov 2004

A new magnetic navigation system shows promise for use during percutaneous coronary interventions

The magnetic-assisted intervention is being introduced in the United States and Europe, with fewer than 15 systems installed at institutions worldwide. Developed by Stereotaxis, Inc., a St. Louis firm, the system was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003.

9 Nov 2004

Heart arrhythmias easily treated, yet few know risks

Since she was a young girl, Sandra Moore, 46, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., had episodes every few months when her heart started racing.

9 Nov 2004

New valve repair device that could replace major heart surgery

The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) is participating in a nationwide clinical trial of a new valve repair device that could replace major heart surgery in some patients.

8 Nov 2004

Blood flow monitoring system to reduce risks during heart surgery

A unique haemodynamic (blood flow) monitoring system which will help to minimise the risk of complications during cardiovascular surgery is being developed by Leeds-based medical devices company, Medics Research Ltd.

4 Nov 2004

Uterine fibroid treatment option 'safe and effective'

Boston Scientific Corporation today welcomed an announcement by the Interventional Procedures Advisory Committee (IPAC) of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), confirming the safety and efficacy of uterine fibroid embolization (UFE), an innovative treatment for fibroids.

1 Nov 2004

Investigational drug for pulmonary hypertension may improve the quality of life for patients with scleroderma and lupus

An investigational new drug for pulmonary hypertension may improve the quality of life for thousands of patients with scleroderma, lupus, and other associated connective tissue diseases, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

18 Oct 2004

$16 million investment in minute wireless implant technology

Remon Medical Technologies a privately held medical device company, today announced that it has raised $16 million in the initial close of a Series C financing.

23 Sep 2004

Sclerosants in microfoam are the treatment of choice for ulcers of varicose origin

The study brings together the results of more than ten years of monitoring 116 patients affected by varicose ulcers being treated in Granada, Pamplona and Madrid. On comparing these with data from other novel therapies

16 Sep 2004

Therapeutic hypothermia improves the chances of recovery among those who suffer from cardiac arrest

Lowering the body’s temperature after a cardiac arrest dramatically increases the chances for surviving and improves the neurological outcome.

10 Sep 2004

Gene therapy holds much promise for treating aggressive human superficial bladder cancer

Gene therapy that causes the bladder to act like a “bioreactor” to produce and secrete the anti-cancer agent interferon-alpha has shown dramatic benefits in preclinical tests, say researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

8 Sep 2004

Parents and siblings of infants born with severe abnormalities of the left side of the heart should also be screened for heart problems

Brothers and sisters as well as parents of infants born with severe, life-threatening abnormalities of the left side of the heart should be screened for less severe, but related, heart problems, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

7 Sep 2004

FDA approves stent that treats blockages in the main blood vessel leading to the brain

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a stent for use in opening blocked arteries in the neck. The new stent is intended to prevent stroke by treating blockages in the carotid artery, the main blood vessel leading to the brain.

1 Sep 2004

Study suggests intramyocardial injection of cells from bone marrow might be an alternative for heart transplantation

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality around the world and patients with end-stage ischemic heart failure carry the highest morbid-mortality rate.

30 Aug 2004

Cinical trial to evaluate breakthrough breast cancer treatment

Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center will host 20 medical experts from around the United States on Sept. 9 to prepare for a 3,000-patient phase III clinical trial that will evaluate a breakthrough breast cancer treatment.

30 Aug 2004

Clearing toxins in the brains of Alzheimer's patients can stave off future reductions in cognitive abilities

The ever-slowing capacity to clear the build-up of such toxins as isoprostanes and misfolded proteins that accumulate in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients causes the death of cells involved in memory and language.

23 Aug 2004

Corkscrew-like device that removes blood clots from the brains of stroke sufferers

The device "appears fairly safe and has the potential to make dramatic differences in stroke therapy," said Wayne Clark, M.D., professor of neurology and director of the Oregon Stroke Center.

18 Aug 2004

Catheter delivered devices may be just as effective as drug therapy in treating strokes of unidentified origin

A percutaneous catheter procedure to correct a heart abnormality caused by an open patent foramen ovale (PFO), a flap that should be closed in an adult heart, may be just as effective as drug therapy in treating patients who have had strokes of unidentified origin, perhaps caused by this condition.

18 Aug 2004

Blood vessel plug - amplatzer ductal occluder, performs well in trial

In the largest and longest trial yet of a device called the Amplatzer ductal occluder, a duct that shunts blood flow away from the lungs during fetal development but sometimes fails to close after birth, was successfully closed in almost all patients, according to a new study in the Aug. 4, 2004, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

5 Aug 2004

Smart drug that targets cancer cells in the brain following removal of a tumor

The use of a "smart" drug that targets cancer cells in the brain following removal of a tumor may provide treatment that can extend the survival of people with the most common form of primary malignant brain tumor, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

3 Aug 2004