Technology News and Research

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Grant for private, secure, electronic medical records search system

A Boston consortium has been awarded one of two national grants to form a CDC Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics.

28 Sep 2005

HeartMate XVE left ventricular assist device

Nine years ago this week, a team of University of Michigan doctors gave a dying heart patient a second chance at life by implanting a high-tech pump in his chest. The high-risk procedure was the first in Michigan performed using a new blood-pumping device called a HeartMate XVE left ventricular assist device, which helped the patient live until he received a heart transplant five weeks later.

28 Sep 2005

Nanoparticles as an invisible diet

Utah State University researchers are in the early stages of scientifically tricking the body into eating less and finding a treatment for obesity without dangerous side effects.

28 Sep 2005

Chicken virus helps develop novel vaccines

Researchers at the University of South Australia are developing novel vaccines by using a chicken virus to either stimulate or suppress the body's immune system.

28 Sep 2005

Stem cells help regenerate cartilage and bone

UK scientists are working on new methods to regenerate cartilage and bone by delivering genes to stem cells within the body to instruct them to turn into bone cells.

28 Sep 2005

Discovery may lead to development of more effective antibiotics

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the John Innes Centre in the United Kingdom have uncovered a mechanism with which disease-causing bacteria may thwart the body's natural defense responses. The findings, which could ultimately lead to the development of more effective antibiotics, appear in the September 29, 2005 issue of the journal Nature.

28 Sep 2005

100 year old technology to fight MRSA

A technique that has been around for more than one hundred years is being used in new research as a way of killing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) using light. The research to be reported today at the British Pharmaceutical Conference in Manchester, is being undertaken by researchers from Queen's University Belfast.

28 Sep 2005

New option for treatment of lower back pain

Abbott today announced that it has started enrolling patients in a new U.S. clinical study to evaluate the potential benefits of its Wallis Mechanical Normalization System, a new spinal implant technology for the treatment of mild to moderate degenerative disc disease designed to stabilize the spine and reduce pain while preserving range of motion.

28 Sep 2005

From aircraft aerodynamics to improved heart implants

At first glance airplane wings and human hearts have little in common, but, say a team of European researchers, a technology used to measure airflow over wings can now be used to help keep hearts in working order.

28 Sep 2005

Digital mammography and breast cancer in older women

Digital mammography that uses computers to detect breast cancer found significantly (up to 28%) more cancers than screen film mammography in women 50 and younger, premenopausal and perimenopausal women, and women with dense breasts, according to results from one of the largest breast cancer screening studies ever performed.

27 Sep 2005

Combining optical tomography with standard ultrasound imaging can help distinguish early-stage breast cancer

A new study shows that combining a technology called optical tomography with standard ultrasound imaging can help distinguish early-stage breast cancer from non-cancerous lesions--and potentially reduce the number of breast biopsies performed. The study appears in the October issue of the journal Radiology.

27 Sep 2005

Cancer vaccine based on the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, can cure mice with breast tumors

A team from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has shown that by using a cancer vaccine based on the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, they can cure mice with established breast tumors. Cancer vaccines, which are more properly described as immunotherapy, work by boosting an immune response against tumor-associated antigens.

27 Sep 2005

Artificial Cervical (neck) Disc for treatment of degenerative disc disease

Rush University Medical Center is one of the few sites in the country selected to participate in a clinical trial for the Artificial Cervical (neck) Disc, the latest technology in the field.

27 Sep 2005

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have identified three new genetic mutations in brain tumors

...a discovery that could pave the way for more effective cancer treatments.

27 Sep 2005

Powerful orthopedic repair compound

Bone Solutions, Inc. of Dallas, TX, announced at a Dow Jones Lifescience Conference that it had successfully tested its magnesium-based orthopedic adhesive technology in multiple studies to prove full biocompatibility for injection into animals and humans, with powerful mechanical properties that gave its unusual strength and performance beyond current orthopedic industry products.

26 Sep 2005

Innovative new treatment for moderate to severe heart failure

Cardiologists at Beth Israel Medical Center are currently enrolling patients in an investigational study that is looking at the safety and efficacy of an innovative new treatment for moderate to severe heart failure, in which a unique pacemaker-like device helps strengthen the heart's pumping power

26 Sep 2005

Nanogen issued patent relating to biological screening device

Nanogen announced today it was issued Patent No. 6,942,778, "Microstructure Apparatus and Method for Separating Differently Charged Molecules Using an Applied Electric Field" by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

26 Sep 2005

New treatment option for chronic sinusitis

Acclarent on Saturday unveiled their new treatment option for chronic sinusitis, the Balloon Sinuplasty procedure. Results from the initial safety and feasibility study of this unique, catheter-based treatment for chronic sinusitis were presented by William Bolger, MD, FACS.

26 Sep 2005

Microchip system aims to reduce the number of animals used in the development of new drugs

Reducing the number of animals used in the development of new drugs is a priority for the pharmaceutical industry

26 Sep 2005

Surprising immune system cells discovery

Immune system cells are connected to each other by an extensive network of tiny tunnels that, like a building's hidden pneumatic tube system, are used to shoot signals to distant cells.

26 Sep 2005