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Table-top solid-state laser system cuts brain tissue with unprecedented precision

Researchers from the Max Born Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Short Pulse Spectroscopy (MBI) were involved in the development of a table-top solid-state laser system that could cut brain tissue with unprecedented precision. The achievement is a result of an interdisciplinary EU project that involved partners from seven European countries.

25 May 2012

Aetna's IOE Transplant Network to add UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital

Aetna announced today that UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital has been designated as a participating facility in Aetna's Institutes of Excellence Transplant Network.

25 May 2012

Doctors disagree on new prostate cancer screening guidelines

One doctor suggests the problem is the rush to treatment, not the screening; another suggests that a failure to screen men could be more costly in the long run.

25 May 2012

Longer looks: When is a life too long?; The rising cost of children's health care

I will tell you, what I feel most intensely when I sit by my mother's bed is a crushing sense of guilt for keeping her alive. Who can accept such suffering - who can so conscientiously facilitate it? ... In 1990, there were slightly more than 3 million Americans over the age of 85. Now there are almost 6 million. By 2050 there will be 19 million - approaching 5 percent of the population.

25 May 2012

UofL receives Helmsley Charitable Trust grant to develop technology for paralyzed people

The University of Louisville has received $6.3 million from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to support research in the Department of Neurological Surgery and the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at UofL developing the next generation of technology to help paralyzed people regain movement in their limbs and enhance their quality of life.

25 May 2012

Viewpoints: Politics of the Medicare debate; Measuring the impact of Catholic bishops' legal challenge

So don't expect the Obama administration to agree to any cuts in Medicare between now and Election Day. And don't expect them to show any support for Rep. Paul Ryan's plan to privatize Medicare. Holding strong on Medicare is the silver bullet for Obama. It may offset some of seniors' concerns about low interest rates on their savings.

25 May 2012

Oxidative stress may put obese patients at increased risk of kidney damage after heart surgery

Oxidative stress may put obese patients at increased risk of developing kidney damage after heart surgery, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

25 May 2012

Alpha-2 agonists decrease postoperative consumption of opioid drugs

A study from researchers at Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland, provides evidence that use of alpha-2 agonists alongside opioids in surgical patients decreased opioid use by 25-30 percent. Even though opioid use was less, these patients reported slightly less pain after surgery.

25 May 2012

LVRC safe and effective choice for patients with severe heterogeneous emphysema

A tiny, resilient metal wire designed to gather and compress diseased lung tissue may offer relief to patients with severe heterogeneous emphysema, a subtype of the disease that involves specific, usually isolated areas of the lungs, according to the results of a multicenter international trial conducted in the Netherlands, Germany and France. The wire, called a lung volume reduction coil (LVRC), can be easily implanted and is designed to take the place of more invasive procedures used to improve the lung function of emphysema patients.

24 May 2012

NYU Langone surgeons perform robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy in New York

A team of urological surgeons from NYU Langone Medical Center performed a robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy in New York and beamed the procedure from New York via high definition satellite to more than 400 participants attending the American Urological Association's (AUA) 2012 Annual Meeting in Atlanta earlier this week.

24 May 2012

Mazor launches Renaissance C-OnSite system

Mazor Robotics Ltd, the leader in innovative surgical robots and complementary products for spine surgery, announced the global launch of the C-OnSite enhancement to its Renaissance system.

24 May 2012

Tenn. doctors, Blue Cross and Blue Shield agree to bundle payments for knee, hip replacements

In other insurance company news, BlueCross Blue Shield of Illinois will pay $25M to settle coverage denial claims.

24 May 2012

CMS sticks with Medicare coverage of PSA test

The federal government is not changing coverage plans "at this time." Meanwhile, a number of urologists and other medical specialists raise concerns that new recommendations against prostate cancer screening will hurt men's health.

24 May 2012

New MicroNav surgical technique provides greater safety and reduces pain

The revolutionary new MicroNav surgical technique, performed by Dr. Scott Hodges, gives greater safety, less pain, minimal cuts and faster recovery from spine surgery using high-tech 3D scanners and GPS-like instruments. These bold claims are backed by more than 600 surgeries with zero infections and zero revisions, a huge improvement over the high failure rate of "open" surgical techniques and questionable "laser" spine surgery.

24 May 2012

Nevro to initiate Senza HF-SCS System study for chronic pain

Nevro Corp., a medical device company focused on achieving improved pain relief for patients suffering from debilitating chronic pain, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for initiation of its SENZA-RCT study, a U.S. prospective, randomized, controlled pivotal clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of Nevro's high-frequency spinal cord stimulation system for the treatment of chronic pain.

24 May 2012

RARP more costly than RRP in treating prostate cancer

In one of the most comprehensive analyses to date of the cost of robotic-assisted, laparoscopic surgery for prostate cancer, researchers at UPMC found that this now-dominant surgical approach is significantly more costly than standard open surgery, despite little scientific evidence of long-term improved patient outcomes.

24 May 2012

USPTO issues patent to QRxPharma’s MoxDuo for treatment of acute and chronic pain

QRxPharma Limited announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued the Company U.S. Patent No. 8,182,837, which does not expire until 2023.

24 May 2012

Tri-City Medical Center leading the way with robotically enhanced spine surgery

Tri-City Medical Center, one of just 10 hospitals nationwide performing robotic spine surgery using the Mazor Renaissance guidance system, is now one of the first hospitals worldwide to use an enhancement to that system that allows surgeons to immediately verify the placement of implants, significantly diminishing the need for follow-up procedures.

23 May 2012

Researchers identify novel biomarkers that could confirm exposure to radiation

Researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin have identified novel biomarkers that could be used to confirm exposure to damaging radiation in large groups of people potentially exposed to unknown and variable doses for the purpose of triage and treatment.

23 May 2012

MRI provides early indication of breast tumor's response to pre-surgical chemotherapy

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides an indication of a breast tumor's response to pre-surgical chemotherapy significantly earlier than possible through clinical examination, according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology.

23 May 2012

Surgery News and Research

Table-top solid-state laser system cuts brain tissue with unprecedented precision

Aetna's IOE Transplant Network to add UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside Hospital

Doctors disagree on new prostate cancer screening guidelines

Longer looks: When is a life too long?; The rising cost of children's health care

UofL receives Helmsley Charitable Trust grant to develop technology for paralyzed people

Viewpoints: Politics of the Medicare debate; Measuring the impact of Catholic bishops' legal challenge

Oxidative stress may put obese patients at increased risk of kidney damage after heart surgery

Alpha-2 agonists decrease postoperative consumption of opioid drugs

LVRC safe and effective choice for patients with severe heterogeneous emphysema

NYU Langone surgeons perform robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy in New York

Mazor launches Renaissance C-OnSite system

Tenn. doctors, Blue Cross and Blue Shield agree to bundle payments for knee, hip replacements

CMS sticks with Medicare coverage of PSA test

New MicroNav surgical technique provides greater safety and reduces pain

Nevro to initiate Senza HF-SCS System study for chronic pain

RARP more costly than RRP in treating prostate cancer

USPTO issues patent to QRxPharma’s MoxDuo for treatment of acute and chronic pain

Tri-City Medical Center leading the way with robotically enhanced spine surgery

Researchers identify novel biomarkers that could confirm exposure to radiation

MRI provides early indication of breast tumor's response to pre-surgical chemotherapy

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

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