Surgery News and Research

RSS

New procedure used for breast cancer surgery

Breast cancer surgeons and radiation oncologists at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange performed a new procedure combining removal of a patient’s breast tumor with the power of electron beam radiation in the operating room.

8 Sep 2009

Mid-Atlantic region’s first laparoscopic gastric banding surgery performed at AEHN

Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (AEHN) announced today that its chief bariatric surgeon successfully performed the Mid-Atlantic region’s first laparoscopic gastric banding surgery, which is performed through a single incision in a patient’s umbilicus (or belly button), ultimately resulting in the potential for no visible scar.

8 Sep 2009

Microline PENTAX launches rebranded website and new company logo

Microline PENTAX, Inc., a leading manufacturer of reposable instruments for minimally invasive surgery, announced today that it has completed the change of its corporate name to Microline Surgical, Inc. The company will also issue a new logo and launch a rebranded website.

8 Sep 2009

Powered SAFE Scribe hair replacement technique unveiled at ISHRS meeting

James A. Harris, M.D., director of Hair Sciences Center of Colorado, which specializes in state-of-the-art medical and surgical hair restoration, recently introduced to surgeons around the world his latest advancement in hair replacement, the Powered SAFE Scribe. The product was unveiled to the medical community during the 17th Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) held in late July in Amsterdam.

8 Sep 2009

DOR's Phase 1/2 clinical trial for prevention of radiation enteritis receives NIH grant

DOR BioPharma, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: DORB) (DOR or the Company), a late-stage biotechnology company, announced today that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded DOR a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to support the conduct of a Phase 1/2 clinical trial evaluating DOR201, a time-release formulation of oral beclomethasone dipropionate (oral BDP), for the prevention of acute radiation enteritis.

8 Sep 2009

FDA approves DuraSeal spine sealant for the U.S. market

Covidien (NYSE: COV), a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved DuraSeal™ spine sealant for use in the United States.

8 Sep 2009

Chronic periodontitis linked to head and neck cancer

Chronic periodontitis, a form of gum disease, is an independent risk factor for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. This suggests the need for increased efforts to prevent and treat periodontitis as a possible means to reduce the risk of this form of cancer.

8 Sep 2009

Specific targeting of brain tumors with an optical/magnetic resonance imaging nanoprobe across the blood-brain barrier

Earlier this year, researchers at the University of Washington reported that they had developed a toxin-nanoparticle combination that inhibits brain cancer invasion when added to tumor cells growing in culture.

7 Sep 2009

Harmless shard from childhood virus shell may halt biological process

A harmless shard from the shell of a common childhood virus may halt a biological process that kills a significant percentage of battlefield casualties, heart attack victims and oxygen-deprived newborns, according to research presented Sunday, September 6, 2009, at the 12th European meeting on complement in human disease in Budapest, Hungary.

7 Sep 2009

Keratoconus patients to benefit from new contact lens launched by SynergEyes

SynergEyes, Inc., the high Dk hybrid contact lens manufacturer, recently introduced a new advanced lens design for keratoconus patients. ClearKone(TM) is a revolutionary contact lens that takes advantage of the best features of the hybrid platform, providing superior visual acuity, centration, stability, and all-day comfort.

5 Sep 2009

Many high health costs remain mysterious, including the cost of reform

Health care's high costs are a main reason lawmakers are taking on health reform, but it's also a challenge to identify and target the many reasons care is so expensive. NPR takes a look at medical devices, like plastic tubes and scalpels, that boast surprisingly big price tags. A $2,000 dollar metal stent must be tiny and flexible, a $60 plastic catheter must bend in exactly the right way and "the market is still sorting itself out" on the appropriate price of relatively new specialty scalpels used for heart surgery (Joffe-Walt 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

MSMC's revenue bonds affirmed as BB+ by Fitch Ratings

Fitch Ratings affirmed the 'BB+' rating on approximately $260 million of the City of Miami Beach Health Facilities Authority Hospital Revenue Bonds, series 1998, 2001A and 2004 issued on behalf of Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida (MSMC). The Rating Outlook is revised to Stable from Negative.

5 Sep 2009

AxoGuard Nerve Protector and AxoGuard Nerve Connector launched in the U.S.

AxoGen, Inc. today announced the U.S. market launch of AxoGuard™ Nerve Protector and AxoGuard™ Nerve Connector for the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries. The launch was announced at the American Society for Surgery of the Hand in San Francisco.

5 Sep 2009

Study reveals elevated cTnT levels in post-CABG patients

Levels of a biomarker used in the diagnosis of heart attacks are almost universally elevated in patients who have undergone coronary-artery bypass grafting (CABG) and, when markedly elevated, are powerfully prognostic, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Heart Center has found.

5 Sep 2009

Delcath Systems to present abstract at ILCA Annual Conference

Delcath Systems, Inc., a medical technology company testing its proprietary treatment method for primary and metastatic cancers to the liver, announced that Dr. James F. Pingpank, Associate Professor of Surgery for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will present an abstract at the International Liver Cancer Association's (ILCA) Third Annual Conference on Saturday, September 5, 2009 in Milan, Italy.

4 Sep 2009

Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in European hospitals is low, says study

Tobacco use is prohibited in hospitals in many European countries, although levels of compliance with this regulation differ. A study carried out by researchers from the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) has shown for the first time that exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in European hospitals is "low", and "without any notable differences" between them.

4 Sep 2009

Two new da Vinci Si HD Surgical System robots added to Swedish Medical Center

As one of the first medical centers in the Northwest to perform robot-assisted surgery, Swedish Medical Center is home to the fastest-growing and most experienced robot-assisted surgical program in the region. Swedish established the multidisciplinary robot-assisted surgical program in 2005 and has since performed more than 2,000 robot-assisted surgeries, more than any other program in the region.

4 Sep 2009

Flat fees and EMR usage vary significantly in different hospitals

HighRoads, the company providing employers – for the first time – complete control over their health care costs and compliance, today announced findings from the industry’s first medical travel request for information (RFI) for Fortune 500 employers to compare health care procedural ethics, quality and costs around the world.

4 Sep 2009

SCA collaborates with Surgical Hospital to expand its services

Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma, located in Oklahoma City, today announced that it has partnered with Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA), one of the country's largest providers of specialty surgical services.

4 Sep 2009

Periurethral suspension technique results in greater continence rates after RALIP

The September issue of European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology, features an article and a video in the Surgery in Motion section by Vipul R. Patel et al, showing that the periurethral suspension technique results in significantly greater continence rates at 3 months after robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP).

4 Sep 2009