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New preoperative prepping kit to address surgical site infection risk

3M's Infection Prevention Division and Sage Products are working together to offer surgical staff and patients a new preoperative prepping kit to help address surgical site infection (SSI) risk within three main reservoirs of bacteria in the body: the nares, the oral cavity and the skin.

12 Apr 2012

Entrepreneurs dig into health IT

If ever an industry were ready for disruption, it is the American health care industry. Americans spend about $7,600 a year per person on health care, one in two adults lives with a chronic disease and the average wait time to see a doctor in a metropolitan area is 20 days.

12 Apr 2012

Abiomed's Impella cVAD device awarded CE Mark

Abiomed, Inc., a leading provider of break-through heart support technologies, today announced it has received CE Marking approval in the European Union to market the Impella cVAD device, a new percutaneous Impella® heart pump that provides peak flow of approximately 4 liters of blood per minute.

12 Apr 2012

Hi-C sequencing decodes 3-D structure of DNA folds in chromosomes

Chromosomes are strands of DNA that contain the blueprint of all living organisms. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes that instruct how genes are regulated during development of the human body. While scientists have developed an understanding of the one-dimensional structure of DNA, until today, little was known about how different parts of DNA are folded next to each other inside the nucleus.

12 Apr 2012

Communications engineers join fight against AIDS in Africa through wireless printer program

The Associated Press/Huffington Post reports on how communications engineers are joining the fight against AIDS in Africa, highlighting a project in Mozambique that brings wireless printers equipped with cell phone technology to remote villages.

12 Apr 2012

Online tool can accurately diagnose autism within minutes

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have significantly reduced from hours to minutes the time it takes to accurately detect autism in young children.

12 Apr 2012

Scientists use two different methods to visualize rare CTCs, double positive cells in mBC

New research from The Ohio State University utilizes two different methods to visualize circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as well as other unusual circulating cells with both epithelial and hematopoietic characteristics in metastatic breast cancer.

12 Apr 2012

RiboMed releases multi-marker methylation prognostic test for glioma

RiboMed Clinical Services Laboratory (RCSL), a CLIA-certified subsidiary of RiboMed Biotechnologies, today announced the release of a multi-marker methylation prognostic test for grading gliomas, the most common type of brain cancer.

12 Apr 2012

Research explores power of offering colon cancer screening options

Researchers find that when given a choice of methods, more people will opt to get screened for colon cancer. Meanwhile, a separate study found that insurance coverage of lung cancer screenings for high-risk patients could prevent -- at a low cost -- thousands of deaths annually.

12 Apr 2012

Education tool helps chest pain patients decide on stress testing

Chest pain patients educated about their future heart attack risk and involved in deciding care options were more likely than less-aware patients to opt out of stress testing, according to research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal.

12 Apr 2012

Scientists aim to develop new testing methods for drug-induced liver failure

Liver damage caused by medicinal drugs is one of the most common reasons for liver failure and liver transplants in the Western world. Nevertheless, it is difficult to predict which active ingredients will turn out to be toxic for the organ. Oftentimes the problems are not discovered until the drug is already on the market. Prof. Dr. Jens Timmer, Freiburg physicist and Director of the FRIAS School of Life Sciences - LifeNet, is a project partner in a consortium that wants to solve this problem.

12 Apr 2012

ECG abnormalities associated with increased risk of CHD in older adults

In a study that included elderly men and women without preexisting cardiovascular disease, major and minor electrocardiographic abnormalities were associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) events and improved the prediction of CHD events such as heart attack, beyond traditional cardiovascular risk factors, according to a study in the April 11 issue of JAMA.

12 Apr 2012

Quest Diagnostics receives FDA clearance for Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct test

Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance to its Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct Test on the 3M Integrated Cycler.

From Quest Diagnostics 12 Apr 2012

Preliminary results from GE Healthcare’s flutemetamol Phase 3 studies on AD

GE Healthcare today announced the preliminary results of two Phase 3 studies of its investigational PET amyloid imaging agent, [18F]flutemetamol, where both studies met their primary endpoints. One study, in terminally ill patients who agreed to undergo brain autopsy, showed strong concordance between flutemetamol PET images and Alzheimer's disease-associated beta amyloid brain pathology.

12 Apr 2012

ST2 more specific than BNP for heart failure diagnosis

Critical Diagnostics today announced publication in the latest issue of the Journal of Heart Failure results of a study involving 995 patients who presented to the emergency room (ER) with chest pain. The study concluded that in this undifferentiated, symptomatic patient population ST2 was more specific for acute heart failure than BNP and that ST2 is independently predictive of future death and/or heart failure and has incremental utility in combination with BNP.

12 Apr 2012

Mayo Clinic to offer novel device for patients with GERD

Mayo Clinic in Florida will be one of the first health care institutions in the United States to offer a newly approved device to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The condition, also known as acid reflux disease, can lead to serious health problems.

12 Apr 2012

Emdeon, MZIHC enter services agreement

MZI HealthCare, LLC (MZIHC), a leading provider of health plan administration software, announced today that it has entered into a services agreement with Emdeon, a leading provider of revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions.

12 Apr 2012

Boston Scientific launches Z Flex-270 Steerable Sheath in the U.S.

Boston Scientific Corporation announces the U.S. market launch of its Z Flex-270 Steerable Sheath. The device is intended for use in a wide range of electrophysiology (EP) procedures to facilitate the introduction and placement of diagnostic and therapeutic catheters within the heart.

12 Apr 2012

University of Limerick researchers develop device to increase angioplasty success rates

Developed by biomedical engineers at the University of Limerick the device will improve success rates in angioplasty procedures. It is estimated that over 1 million angioplasty procedures are undertaken worldwide each year and the value of products relating to this procedure is in the region of €500million.

11 Apr 2012