Imaging News and Research

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Vulnerable plaque may be easier to detect through optical coherence tomography

Research results indicate that optical coherence tomography (OCT), a newly evolving imaging method, may be the best tool available to detect vulnerable plaque in coronary arteries. The findings will be presented at the 20th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) scientific symposium, sponsored by the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF).

12 Oct 2008

Landmark study unlocks stem cell, DNA secrets to speed therapies

In a groundbreaking study led by an eminent molecular biologist at Florida State University, researchers have discovered that as embryonic stem cells turn into different cell types, there are dramatic corresponding changes to the order in which DNA is replicated and reorganized.

12 Oct 2008

Women require less tobacco exposure than men to increase colon cancer risk

While smoking poses a health threat to both men and women, women require less tobacco exposure than men to have a significant increased risk for colorectal cancer, according to new research presented at the 73rd Annual ACG Scientific Meeting in Orlando.

6 Oct 2008

Discovery of important fat precursor cell

To understand where fat comes from, you have to start with a skinny mouse. By using such a creature, and observing the growth of fat after injections of different kinds of immature cells, Rockefeller University scientists have discovered an important fat precursor cell that may in time explain how changes in the numbers of fat cells might increase and lead to obesity.

5 Oct 2008

Surgical treatment provides new option for some colorectal cancer patients

Research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that a surgical technique not traditionally used in advanced abdominal cancer may be a viable treatment option for some patients previously thought to be untreatable, offering the real possibility of extending survival for those patients.

30 Sep 2008

Hybrid nanoparticles image and treat tumors

By combining a magnetic nanoparticle, a fluorescent quantum dot, and an anticancer drug within a lipid-based nanoparticle, a multi-institutional research team headed by members of the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer has created a single agent that can image and treat tumors. In addition, this new nanoparticle is able to avoid detection by the immune system, enabling the particle to remain in the body for extended periods of time.

28 Sep 2008

Targeted nanoparticles map tumor blood supply in 3-D, assess therapy

One of the defining characteristics of solid tumors is the development of a network of new blood vessels to nourish the rapidly reproducing malignant cells. Now, using a nanoparticle targeted to those new blood vessels, a joint academic-industrial research team, led by investigators from the Siteman Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence, has developed a way to construct a three-dimensional (3-D) map of tumor-induced angiogenesis and monitor the effects of drug therapies on those new blood vessels.

28 Sep 2008

Nanotubes detect tumors and deliver high-potency punch

Researchers at the Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Focused on Therapy Response (CCNE-TR), based at Stanford University, have found a new way to target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells untouched.

28 Sep 2008

Nanobubbles deliver targeted cancer drugs using ultrasound

Using a combination of polymers that respond to temperature, a research team at the University of Utah has developed a multifunctional nanoparticle that can image tumors using ultrasound and simultaneously deliver cell-damaging energy and anticancer drugs to those tumors. In addition, these nanoparticles appear to act specifically on tumors and not on healthy tissue.

28 Sep 2008

Gene variant boosts risk of fatty liver disease

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that individuals who carry a specific form of the gene PNPLA3 have more fat in their livers and a greater risk of developing liver inflammation.

25 Sep 2008

New technology to analyse human cells

A new technology which enables scientists to identify proteins by making a map of the energy flow inside the protein is revealed in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal.

23 Sep 2008

New kinds of optical sensors make MRI scans safer

Magnetic resonance scans will be safer for children and other patients needing anaesthesia, thanks to new kinds of optical sensors developed by a team of European researchers.

21 Sep 2008

Breast MRI scan could determine need for radiation therapy

For women whose breast cancer has spread to their lymph nodes, a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan could replace exploratory surgery as the method for determining whether those women need radiation therapy to treat their disease, according to a study to be presented during the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) which opens today in Boston.

21 Sep 2008

Muscle stem cell identity confirmed

A single cell can repopulate damaged skeletal muscle in mice, say scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine, who devised a way to track the cell's fate in living animals. The research is the first to confirm that so-called satellite cells encircling muscle fibers harbor an elusive muscle stem cell.

17 Sep 2008

New tool for early diagnosis of breast cancer

Scientists from Finland, Germany and the ESRF have developed a new X-ray technique for the early detection of breast cancer. This allows a 3D visualization of the breast with a high spatial resolution and is extremely sensitive to alterations in the tissue, such as those generated by cancer. This technique could be used in the next years in hospitals. It may help doctors to detect tumours with greater precision than is possible using current X-ray mammography.

17 Sep 2008

Cardiologists find old-fashioned physical exams just as good for assessing heart failure as new technology

Patient history and physical examination, traditionally the cornerstone diagnostic tool for medical care, may still be among the most accurate and cost-efficient methods to assess patients with congestive heart failure, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

17 Sep 2008

Novel treatment for prostate cancer

Scientists at Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) are developing and commercializing a promising novel therapy for the treatment of prostate cancer that may offer patients a faster and more precise treatment than existing clinical alternatives, with fewer side effects.

15 Sep 2008

An 'HIV-test' equivalent for early detection of lung cancer

A team of researchers led by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center reports online today in the Journal of Clinical Oncology the validation of a potential "HIV-test" equivalent for the early detection of lung cancer. The test, which relies on immune-system signals, much like an HIV test, can detect the presence of lung cancer a year prior to diagnosis, long before symptoms appear.

15 Sep 2008

Scientists develop nanometer-sized 'cargo ships' to target and destroy tumors

Scientists have developed nanometer-sized 'cargo ships' that can sail throughout the body via the bloodstream without immediate detection from the body's immune radar system and ferry their cargo of anti-cancer drugs and markers into tumors that might otherwise go untreated or undetected.

11 Sep 2008