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Brain-wave pattern study may lead to techniques for enhancing sleep spindles

People who have trouble sleeping in noisy environments often resort to strategies like earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones that muffle the sound, but a new study from investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) may lead to ways to block disturbing sounds within the brain. In their report in the August 10 issue of Current Biology, the team reports finding a brain-wave pattern, reflecting activity of a key structure, that predicts the ease at which sleep can be disrupted by noise.

10 Aug 2010

Proton therapy to treat patient’s tumor without compromising quality of life

The radiation oncologist's mantra is to deliver the maximum dose of radiation to the malignant tumor, while limiting damage to healthy surrounding tissue. In proton therapy, this balance is achieved by using proton particles, accelerated to nearly the speed of light, to mimic the shape of a tumor and effectively deposit their energy within the confines of it with sub-millimeter precision.

4 Aug 2010

FDA approves two SCS leads for use with Boston Scientific's Precision Plus Spinal Cord Stimulator System

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of two spinal cord stimulation (SCS) leads for use with its Precision Plus™ Spinal Cord Stimulator System, the world's first rechargeable SCS device for the management of chronic pain of the trunk and/or limbs. The Linear™ 3-4 and Linear™ 3-6 Percutaneous Leads offer wider contact spacing to expand the lead choices available to physicians. The Company plans to launch the products immediately in the U.S.; they were launched in Europe and other international markets earlier.

30 Jul 2010

Medtronic launches Defeat-HF clinical trial to evaluate SCS for heart failure

Medtronic, Inc. today announced the global launch of the Defeat-HF (Determining the Feasibility of Spinal Cord Neuromodulation for the Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure) clinical trial. It is the industry's first prospective, randomized study evaluating the clinical feasibility of spinal cord stimulation, or neurostimulation, to improve clinical signs and symptoms of heart failure.

30 Jul 2010

Scientists develop laser activated carbon nanoparticles for drug, gene delivery

Using chemical "nanoblasts" that punch tiny holes in the protective membranes of cells, researchers have demonstrated a new technique for getting therapeutic small molecules, proteins and DNA directly into living cells.Carbon nanoparticles activated by bursts of laser light trigger the tiny blasts, which open holes in cell membranes just long enough to admit therapeutic agents contained in the surrounding fluid. By adjusting laser exposure, the researchers administered a small-molecule marker compound to 90 percent of targeted cells - while keeping more than 90 percent of the cells alive.

28 Jul 2010

Scientists discover repair mechanism of photolyase in sun damaged DNA

Researchers have long known that humans lack a key enzyme one possessed by most of the animal kingdom and even plants that reverses severe sun damage.For the first time, researchers have witnessed how this enzyme works at the atomic level to repair sun-damaged DNA.The discovery holds promise for future sunburn remedies and skin cancer prevention.

26 Jul 2010

An overview of AAPM annual meeting

AAPM is the premier organization in medical physics, a broadly-based scientific and professional discipline encompassing physics principles and applications in medicine and biology. Its membership includes medical physicists who specialize in research that develops cutting-edge technologies and board-certified clinical medical physicists who apply these technologies in community hospitals, clinics, and academic medical centers.

16 Jul 2010

Highlights of AAPM 52nd meeting

The 52nd meeting of the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) convenes from July 18 - 22, 2010 in Philadelphia, PA.

14 Jul 2010

Cardiac Concepts initiates enrollment in European trial of RespiCardia System for CSA

Cardiac Concepts, Inc., a developer of medical devices to treat Heart Failure patients who experience breathing disturbances during sleep, announced today enrollment of the first European patients in a Pilot Clinical Trial. The purpose of the Pilot Study is to understand the respiratory and cardiac benefits of the RespiCardia™ System when treating a breathing disorder known as Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) in Heart Failure patients.

8 Jul 2010

Boston Scientific launches SCS lead splitters for use with Precision Plus Spinal Cord Stimulator System

Boston Scientific Corporation today announced U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and launch of two spinal cord stimulation (SCS) lead splitters for use with its Precision Plus™ Spinal Cord Stimulator System, the world's first rechargeable SCS device for the management of chronic pain of the trunk, back and/or limbs.

24 Jun 2010

Study provides new insight into how brain responds to light

Exposure to extraordinarily brief, millisecond flashes of bright light improves alertness at night, according to a research abstract that will be presented Monday, June 7, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas, at SLEEP 2010, the 24th annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC.

7 Jun 2010

VA partners with National Institutes of Health to research on Parkinson's disease

Veterans and others with Parkinson's disease who undergo deep brain stimulation may benefit from research co-sponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and published recently in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

5 Jun 2010

St. Jude Medical's Epiducer lead delivery system for neurostimulation therapy receives CE Mark approval

St. Jude Medical, Inc., a global medical device company, today announced European CE Mark approval of its new Epiducer™ lead delivery system for neurostimulation therapy. Unveiled at the Neurosurgery 2010 Congress in Lyon, France, the Epiducer lead delivery system is the first of its kind, allowing introduction of S-Series perc-paddle leads as well as multiple lead arrays through a single percutaneous entry point.

27 May 2010

Visually-guided laser-balloon catheter stops abnormal electrical pulses in patients with irregular heartbeats

A new treatment known as a visually-guided laser-balloon catheter successfully interrupted abnormal electrical pulses in patients and pigs with intermittent, irregular heartbeats, in a study reported in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, a journal of the American Heart Association.

26 May 2010

Epeius Biotechnologies announces Phase I/II study results of Rexin-G and Reximmune-C for cancer immunotherapy

Epeius Biotechnologies Corporation today announces the clinical results of the study entitled "A Phase I/II Study of Intravenous Rexin-G and Reximmune-C for Cancer Immunotherapy: The GeneVieve Protocol" at the ASCO Annual Meeting on June 6, 2010. The presentation will be made by Dr. Jorge G. Ignacio, Chairman of the Cancer Institute and Bioethics Committee-Philippine General Hospital, and Principal Investigator of the study.

25 May 2010

Blood-flow fMRI to be used to study brain-wide impact of neural circuitry changes

Like a motorist who knows that the "check engine" light indicates something important but ill-defined is happening, neuroscientists have relied heavily on an incompletely understood technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging to show them what the brain is doing when people respond to different stimuli.

17 May 2010

SANUWAVE Health reports $3.0 million net loss for first-quarter 2010

SANUWAVE Health, Inc.,, an emerging medical technology company focused on regenerative medicine, today reported financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2010 and provided a business update.

14 May 2010

Researchers use new tools to study how brain responds when injury occurs

Researchers at four institutions, led by Stanford University and Brown University, have begun an effort with more than $14 million of federal funding to learn both how the brain and its microcircuitry react to sudden physiological changes and what can be done to encourage recovery from injury.

6 May 2010

Touch Bionics announces launch of i-LIMB Pulse

Touch Bionics, developer of advanced upper-limb bionic technologies, today announced the launch of the i-LIMB Pulse, an all-new version of the revolutionary i-LIMB Hand, the world's first commercially available bionic hand.

5 May 2010

Ventral striatum plays important role in circuitry of reward-oriented behavior: Researchers

An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older - about one in four adults - suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder every year, which equates to approximately 57.7 million adults. Severe psychiatric illness affects a much smaller number of people - about 6 percent, or 1 in 17. Worldwide, an estimated 340 million people suffer from an episode of major depression every year.