CLARITY News and Research

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The lipid-exchanged, anatomically rigid, imaging/immunostaining compatible, tissue hydrogel (CLARITY) method was initially designed in 2013 by Chung and Deisseroth at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Using this process, post-mortem organs can be labeled for proteins and nucleic acids, enabling analysis of intact samples to create detailed 3D images.

Doctors' questions about end-of-life legalities may result in patient pain

When treatment options dwindle or are exhausted, terminally ill-patients often opt for pain management and comfort over life-extending therapies.

16 Nov 2008

Doctors' questions about end-of-life legalities may result in patient pain

When treatment options dwindle or are exhausted, terminally ill-patients often opt for pain management and comfort over life-extending therapies. However, a team of researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, University of Rochester Medical Center and Unity Health System, report that a lack of thorough understanding about the laws governing end-of-life care may be leaving many medical providers with an ethical dilemma and causing some terminally-ill patients considerable, unnecessary pain.

13 Nov 2008

NIH funds two new centers for imaging technology for neurodegenerative disorders and software for protein analysis

The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced today it will provide up to an estimated $11 million over the next five years to create two new Biomedical Technology Research Centers (BTRCs) that will provide researchers nationwide with access to specialized research tools, training and state-of-the-art equipment.

15 Oct 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

Supreme Court prepares to hear pre-emption case that could give pharmaceutical companies protection against liability

The case of a Vermont women who won a $6 million award from Wyeth for failure to adequately warn her of the risk of one of its products is the "latest in a brisk parade of similar ones" in which the U.S. Supreme Court will examine the principle of pre-emption, which states that FDA approval of drugs or medical devices pre-empts the ability for individuals to sue manufacturers for liability in state courts, the New York Times reports.

22 Sep 2008

Pre-hospital treatment on the way to percutaneous coronary intervention

For patients with acute ST-segment-elevation AMI (STEMI) within 12 hours after symptom onset and with persistent ST-segment elevation, or new or presumednew left bundle-branch block with concomitant ST-segment elevation, restoring coronary blood flow as early as possible is the main goal of reperfusion strategies.

2 Sep 2008

FDA issues new rules on product warning label updates for pharmaceuticals, medical devices

FDA last week issued new rules that aim to ensure medication warning labels provide clear and concise information to consumers, the AP/Denver Post reports.

26 Aug 2008

Bristol University receives new funds for research into stress and the brain

Over £500,000 has been awarded to Bristol University academics to fund research into how stress hormones act in the brain.

11 Aug 2008

The brain under pressure: Bristol Neuroscience attracts BBSRC grant

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has awarded a grant of over £0.5 million to groups in the Laboratories for Integrative Neuroscience and Endocrinology and the MRC Centre for Synaptic Plasticity (project leader, Professor Kei Cho). The funding will support research into how brain cells maintain their performance, and create memories, during periods of acute stress.

23 Jul 2008

War supplemental spending bill that would block Medicaid rules shows 'inability' of Congress to control spending, opinion piece states

"If Congress stops" a series of proposed Medicaid rules "by amending the defense spending bill, it will have demonstrated its inability to control unnecessary spending -- and abdicated its role to set sound policy," Dennis Smith, former director of the Center for Medicaid and State Operations and a senior fellow in health care reform at the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece.

26 Jun 2008

Optimising use of ventilators to treat patients while minimising risk of injury

The ventilators on an intensive care ward of a hospital offer a vital lifeline to the sickest and most vulnerable patients, providing the oxygen that keeps them alive when they are unable to breathe for themselves.

3 Jun 2008

Blood pressure confusion for diabetics

For people with diabetes, high blood pressure poses a special threat, multiplying their risk of heart attacks, strokes and kidney problems.

19 May 2008

Ranibizumab therapy for diabetic eye disease shows promise

A JDRF collaboration between Johns Hopkins researchers and Genentech has shown that a drug for the treatment of diabetic eye disease has performed better in clinical trials than the current standard treatment using laser surgery.

29 Apr 2008

HHS appeals decision that requires release of Medicare physician claims data

HHS last week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia filed an appeal of an August 2007 court decision that requires the department to release Medicare claims data on more than 40 million beneficiaries and 700,000 physicians, the Los Angeles Times reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, Los Angeles Times, 4/19).

21 Apr 2008

New clues to cataract formation

It is the No. 1 line-item cost of Medicare reimbursement and affects more than 20 million people in the United States. Cataracts, which can have devastating effects on the eye, affect 42 percent of the population between the ages of 70 and 80, and 68 percent of the population over the age of 80, according to the National Eye Institute.

17 Apr 2008

New robotic interventional imaging technology holds promise of improved cancer care

New research released at the Society of Interventional Radiology's (SIR) Annual Scientific Meeting in Washington, D.C., this week, holds promise of a new interventional imaging capability using advanced robotics provided by Siemens Healthcare (www.siemens.com/healthcare), to improve the value of chemoembolization in treating cancer.

From Siemens Healthineers 18 Mar 2008

Heparin shortage, infusion therapy firm intros MaxPlusClear

Maximus, a business unit of leading infusion therapy firm Medegen Inc., has introduced its MaxPlus Clear positive displacement connector for use in patient care.

10 Mar 2008

Dark-field x-ray images sharpen medical imaging

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the EPFL in Switzerland have developed a novel method for producing dark-field x-ray images at wavelengths used in typical medical and industrial imaging equipment.

21 Jan 2008

Survey shows US teens confident in their inventiveness; hands-on, project-based learning needed

American teens are confident they can invent solutions to some of the world's pressing challenges, such as protecting and restoring the natural environment, but more than half feel unprepared for careers in technology and engineering, the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index has found this year.

17 Jan 2008

Concept of patients' charters 'inadequate'

The concept of patients' charters is inadequate and should be replaced with charters of health responsibilities, argues an expert in this week's British Medical Journal.

10 Dec 2007