Catheters News and Research

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Vibrating catheters break through clogged arteries

A new vibrating catheter breaks through clogged arteries like a jackhammer, obliterating total blockages in patients with dangerous chronic total occlusions (CTOs).

13 Sep 2007

Call for improved treatments of stroke

A coalition of physicians representing a wide range of medical specialties has issued a call to action to improve the treatment of stroke.

22 Aug 2007

Staggering costs of end-stage renal disease in U.S.

Recent progress in the prevention and treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in the United States give reason for "cautious optimism," but skyrocketing costs are a major concern, according to a Special Article in the October Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

12 Aug 2007

Testosterone replacement therapy for men

For decades, older women have taken hormone replacements to replenish estrogen and progesterone levels lost to aging.

9 Aug 2007

New device to treat chronic congestive heart failure

As part of a 40-site national trial, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center are studying a new medical device designed to treat patients with chronic congestive heart failure.

3 Aug 2007

Innovative gene therapy research for muscular dystrophy

A major grant of approximately $10 million from the National Institutes of Health will help investigators at Columbus Children's Research Institute (CCRI) at Columbus Children's Hospital learn more about strategies to treat muscular dystrophy, potentially leading to two new gene therapy approaches.

3 Aug 2007

New diagnostic tool to detect infection-causing bacteria

Infection-causing bacteria can't hide from researchers at Northern Arizona University, who recently helped develop the first diagnostic tool to detect them.

3 Aug 2007

Medical students respond positively to simulated patient experience

When a vomiting, simulated patient mannequin was rolled into the lecture hall last fall to teach large numbers of first- and second-year Wake Forest University School of Medicine students about the brain and nervous system, Michael T. Fitch, M.D., Ph.D., wasn't sure what to expect.

23 Jul 2007

Spectranetics receives FDA go ahead to market laser catheters

Spectranetics Corporation has announced it has received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its TURBO elite line of laser catheters for the treatment of all stenoses and occlusions within arteries of the leg.

13 Jul 2007

Bacterial biofilms

In one of the first potential applications of synthetic biology, an emerging field that aims to design and build useful biomolecular systems, researchers from MIT and Boston University are engineering viruses to attack and destroy the surface biofilms that harbor harmful bacteria in the body and on industrial and medical devices.

10 Jul 2007

Human immune system in a test tube

Surgical instruments or implants that are contaminated with residual bacteria, or pyrogens, can cause blood poisoning in patients. Researchers are developing a test that imitates the human immune system in the laboratory, eliminating the need for animal experiments.

4 Jul 2007

Threat of MRSA superbug under-estimated

According to the Center for Disease Control in the United States (CDC), MRSA (Methicillin-Associated Staphylococcus Aureus) infections continue to be a concern for hospitals worldwide and now account for more than 50% of hospital-acquired Staphylococcus aureus infections.

26 Jun 2007

VA tops private hospitals in infection-control study

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers are more likely than non-VA hospitals to follow recommendations for preventing bloodstream infections associated with central venous catheters, says a survey of more than 500 U.S. health care centers.

3 Jun 2007

Needle-less intravascular catheter connector valve could lead to patient infections

Patients might be at greater risk for developing bloodstream infections due to a common device used in hospitals around the country, according to a research team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) in Omaha, Nebraska.

1 Jun 2007

Breakthrough in prevention of post-surgical urinary incontinence

Thousands of men facing surgical removal of the prostate due to cancer may someday have one less thing to worry about: post-surgical urinary incontinence.

16 May 2007

Custom stents hold microcapsules to treat diabetes

Johns Hopkins undergraduates have invented a device to improve cell therapy for diabetes patients by anchoring transplanted insulin-producing cells inside a major blood vessel.

7 May 2007

Mesoblast receives FDA clearance for heart attack stem cell trial

Australia's adult stem cell company, Mesoblast Limited has announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has cleared the Investigational New Drug Submission (IND) of its US-based sister company, Angioblast Systems Inc., to commence a Phase 2 clinical trial of its allogeneic, or 'off-the-shelf', adult stem cells for patients with heart attacks.

4 May 2007