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Asynchronous telemedicine can improve healthcare delivery in rural areas

A lack of infrastructure in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas, often ensures that healthcare provision is absent. Research published in the International Journal of Services, Economics and Management by a team at Howard University in Washington DC suggests a solution to this insidious problem involving the development of telemedicine.

22 Dec 2011

New model to analyze health hazards linked with pesticides and toxic chemicals

Approximately 80,000 industrial chemicals are in use and about 700 new chemicals are introduced to commerce each year in the United States, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. To assess human health risks from exposure to harmful substances, James Englehardt, professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Miami, is proposing a new technique that is more efficient than current methods.

22 Dec 2011

Researchers use functional MRI scans to perform brain decoding

At UCLA's Laboratory of Integrative Neuroimaging Technology, researchers use functional MRI brain scans to observe brain signal changes that take place during mental activity. They then employ computerized machine learning (ML) methods to study these patterns and identify the cognitive state - or sometimes the thought process - of human subjects. The technique is called "brain reading" or "brain decoding."

22 Dec 2011

New silk-based microneedle system for controlled-release drug delivery

Bioengineers at Tufts University School of Engineering have developed a new silk-based microneedle system able to deliver precise amounts of drugs over time and without need for refrigeration. The tiny needles can be fabricated under normal temperature and pressure and from water, so they can be loaded with sensitive biochemical compounds and maintain their activity prior to use. They are also biodegradable and biocompatible.

22 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: HHS punts on essential benefits; A doctor's view of Medicare

The health care reform law passed last year requires insurers to offer, at a minimum, a set of "essential" benefits to individuals and small groups. ... On Friday, however, the Department of Health and Human Services put out a bulletin proposing to let each state come up with its own definition.

22 Dec 2011

Autism Speaks announces 47 new ASD research grants

Autism Speaks, the world's largest autism science and advocacy organization, today announced the awarding of 47 new research grants totaling $13,242,279 in funding over the next three years.

22 Dec 2011

TriVascular treats first Canadian patients with Ovation Abdominal Stent Graft

TriVascular, Inc. of Santa Rosa, California, announced today the first Canadian patients treated with its Ovation Abdominal Stent Graft. The innovative, ultra low profile (14F OD) system is designed to expand the patient population suitable for endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) by addressing a wider range of diseased anatomy.

22 Dec 2011

FDA approves Infrascanner to detect life-threatening brain bleeding

Battlefield corpsmen and medical professionals across the country gained a valuable tool last week, as the Food and Drug Administration approved the first hand-held device to detect life-threatening bleeding in the brain.

22 Dec 2011

Agilent acquires BioSystem Development business

Agilent Technologies Inc. today announced it has completed the acquisition of the BioSystem Development business. BioSystem Development is a privately held company that develops and manufactures the AssayMAP Microchromatography platform to meet the analytical needs of the life sciences industry.

22 Dec 2011

Reva Medical commences its first clincial trial

Reva Medical, a medical device company, has today commenced the very first clinical trial of its ReZolve™ bioresorbable coronary stent. A patient in Brazil was implanted with the device overnight, which flags an exciting chapter for Reva Medical.

21 Dec 2011

New pharma title from iSmithers ‘Update on Polymers for Ocular Drug Delivery’

The eye is the most easily accessible site for topical administration of a medication. Drugs are commonly applied to the eye for localised action on the surface or in the interior of the eye. A major problem in ocular therapeutics is the attainment of an optimal drug concentration at the site of action.

21 Dec 2011

Neurotechnology announces availability of VeriLook Surveillance 2.0

Neurotechnology, a provider of high-precision biometric identification technologies, today announced the availability of VeriLook Surveillance 2.0, a software development kit (SDK) for biometric face identification using live video streams from single or multiple high-resolution digital surveillance cameras.

21 Dec 2011

UMD to expand scientific understanding of human causes and consequences of terrorism

With $3.6 million in new federal funding, researchers at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, based at the University of Maryland, will continue to expand the scientific understanding of the human causes and consequences of terrorism, specifically addressing crucial homeland security issues, such as terrorist behavior, violent extremism and counterterrorism.

21 Dec 2011

Study examines patterns of emergency care delivery in Indiana

The first study to examine patterns of emergency care for an entire state has found that 40 percent of emergency department visits in Indiana over a three-year period were by patients who visited more than one emergency department.

21 Dec 2011

Early intervention mitigates risk of substance abuse among pregnant women

A program for women at risk of substance abuse during pregnancy could save nearly $2 billion annually in health care costs if implemented nationwide, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published online in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' journal, Obstetrics & Gynecology.

21 Dec 2011

Public-private partnerships exponentially expand effects of USAID aid to Jamaica

Public-private partnerships "will boost small enterprises, bring technology to schools and improve sanitation and clean water in Jamaica," a VOA News editorial states and highlights three such partnerships created by USAID.

21 Dec 2011

Siemens Medical pledges $200,000 to SIR Foundation's Discovery Campaign

The Society of Interventional Radiology Foundation's Discovery Campaign, which seeks to further the growth of minimally invasive medicine into new areas of discovery, announced a major corporate pledge to that initiative. Siemens Medical Solutions, a provider of imaging and laboratory diagnostic equipment and information technology and management consulting and services to health care customers, pledged $200,000, as a "Pioneer" Supporter.

From Siemens Healthineers 21 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: If not the health law, then what?; Shifting Medicare costs isn't enough

When President Barack Obama's health care reform was making its way through Congress, Republicans and other opponents registered plenty of criticisms: It was too generous, too inflexible and too centralized. But such concerns were brushed aside in the push to get a bill passed. Today, it's harder to ignore those flaws. Implementation of the program has brought tougher challenges than the administration led Americans to expect. So it has been obliged to make some major concessions to reality.

21 Dec 2011

UC Davis professor monitors world's hot spots for signs of emerging diseases

It's not a matter of if a worldwide pandemic will strike but when, say experts like veterinarian and epidemiologist Jonna Mazet, a professor in the Department of Medicine and Epidemiology in the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine. That's why Mazet, who leads an early warning pandemic system called PREDICT, monitors the world's hot spots, or "hot interfaces" for signs of emerging diseases.

21 Dec 2011

GSK, ProteoTech enter R&D agreement to develop new Parkinson's therapeutics

ProteoTech, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company, has entered into a drug development agreement with GlaxoSmithKline (China) R&D Company Limited (GSK) to collaborate on ProteoTech's small molecule technology platform against misfolded proteins to specifically advance work on its alpha-synuclein therapeutic program for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies.

21 Dec 2011