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Nearly half of children with epilepsy experience adverse events due to invasive EEG

Some type of adverse event occurs in nearly half of children with severe epilepsy undergoing invasive electroencephalography (EEG) recordings, reports a study in the December issue of Operative Neurosurgery, a quarterly supplement to Neurosurgery, official journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

14 Dec 2011

Scientists shed light on 3-D structure of olfactory receptor binding site

Banana, mango or apricot - telling these smells apart is no problem for the human nose. How the olfactory organ distinguishes such similar smells has been uncovered by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at the RUB. The scientists were the first to shed light on the dynamics of the three-dimensional structure of the binding site of an olfactory receptor. In so doing, they also found a characteristic pattern of hydrogen bonds between odorant and receptor, which accounts for the specificity of the olfactory sensors.

14 Dec 2011

Lobbying reports highlight focus on health care rules, calorie-count laws

The world's biggest burger chain lobbied Congress, the White House, the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services on the sweeping health care changes that were signed into law in March 2010. In general the new health care rules will require more companies to offer health care insurance to employees. McDonald's also homed in on a part in the law that would require more restaurants to add calorie information to their menus.

14 Dec 2011

Canadian researchers develop portable device to monitor HIV in rural areas

A team of Canadian researchers has "created a portable device that uses a computer chip with software capable of analyzing blood tests outside the lab ... that could make it easier, faster and cheaper to track the progression of HIV in patients living in the developing world," Postmedia News/Vancouver Sun reports.

14 Dec 2011

ASM launches clinical microbiology web portal

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) has launched a clinical microbiology web portal, that focuses all of ASM's clinical and external relevant content into one user-friendly site.

14 Dec 2011

Promising results from Fate Therapeutics' ProHema Phase 1b trial on hematologic malignancies

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. announced today promising clinical results from a Phase 1b trial of ProHema (FT1050-enhanced umbilical cord blood) as part of double-umbilical cord blood (UCB) transplants in adult patients with hematologic malignancies who have undergone reduced-intensity conditioning therapy.

14 Dec 2011

Medtronic agrees to $23.5 million settlement in Kickback case

Medtronic Inc. has agreed to pay $23.5 million to resolve allegations that it paid illegal kickbacks to physicians who participated in its postmarket studies and device registries to induce doctors to implant the company's pacemakers and defibrillators, the Department of Justice said Monday.

14 Dec 2011

FDA allows marketing of Infrascanner Model 1000 for intracranial hematomas diagnosis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first hand-held device intended to aid in the detection of life-threatening bleeding in the skull called intracranial hematomas, using near-infrared spectroscopy.

14 Dec 2011

Microneedle-based sensors can detect real-time chemical changes in the body

Researchers from North Carolina State University, Sandia National Laboratories, and the University of California, San Diego have developed new technology that uses microneedles to allow doctors to detect real-time chemical changes in the body - and to continuously do so for an extended period of time.

14 Dec 2011

Mimicking periosteum to heal traumatic bone injury

A manmade package filled with nature's bone-building ingredients delivers the goods over time and space to heal serious bone injuries faster than products currently available, Cleveland researchers have found.

14 Dec 2011

Aethlon Hemopurifier can capture Nef protein exosomes linked with HIV

Aethlon Medical, Inc., the pioneer in developing therapeutic filtration devices to address infectious disease and cancer, announced today that researchers have discovered that the Aethlon Hemopurifier is able to capture particles known as Nef protein exosomes, which contribute to the progression of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

14 Dec 2011

Study highlights how technical swimsuits artificially enhanced athlete performance in 2009

Superstar swimmers and certain comic book superheroes have something unusual in common--when they wear special suits, they gain phenomenal abilities. A first-of-its-kind study from Northwestern Medicine highlights how now-banned technical swimsuits artificially enhanced athlete performance in 2009.

14 Dec 2011

Microwave ablation therapy may be safe, effective for pulmonary metastases

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced that Radiology, the monthly journal of the Radiological Society of North America, has published a new research study led by Prof. Thomas J. Vogl, MD, entitled, "Microwave Ablation Therapy: Clinical Utility in Treatment of Pulmonary Metastases."

14 Dec 2011

U.S. DoD awards $11M to study two different ways to treat PTSD in war veterans

A team of researchers who have pioneered novel treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been awarded an $11 million, four-year grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to investigate the differences between virtual reality and traditional prolonged exposure therapy.

14 Dec 2011

Indiscriminate expensive imaging has little clinical benefit in patients requiring epidural steroid injections

Johns Hopkins-led research suggests that routine MRI imaging does nothing to improve the treatment of patients who need injections of steroids into their spinal columns to relieve pain. Moreover, MRI plays only a small role in a doctor's decision to give these epidural steroid injections (ESIs), the most common procedure performed at pain clinics in the United States.

14 Dec 2011

DNA sequencing identifies new altered genes that drive CLL

The most comprehensive search to date of DNA abnormalities in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) has unearthed several new altered genes that drive this common blood cancer, a finding that could potentially help doctors predict whether an individual patient's disease will progress rapidly or remain indolent for years, say scientists from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Broad Institute.

13 Dec 2011

Intertwined diseases may both contribute to cognitive decline in Parkinson's

A method of classifying brain atrophy patterns in Alzheimer's disease patients using MRIs can also detect cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease, according to a new study by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Researchers also found that higher baseline Alzheimer's patterns of atrophy predicted long-term cognitive decline in cognitively normal Parkinson's patients.

13 Dec 2011

Basque engineer develops computer-based psychological tool for sportsperson

Teskal is a computing application designed to relieve 'the loneliness of the sportsperson'. The better a sportsperson is, the more time he or she spends away from home, and few can afford the luxury of travelling with psychologists, coaches, etc.

13 Dec 2011

WPI to develop smart phone app for foot ulcers, advanced diabetes

An interdisciplinary research team at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has received a $1.2 million award from the National Science Foundation to develop a smart phone application that will help people with advanced diabetes and foot ulcers better manage their disease.

13 Dec 2011

Inaccurate blood pressure assessment may impact hypertension treatment decisions

Because some clinicians fail to stick to official recommendations for blood pressure monitoring, a number of patients are misclassified, which could have an impact on decisions about their treatment. According to Gretchen Ray and colleagues, from the University of New Mexico College of Pharmacy, when routine blood pressure monitoring in clinics is compared with measurements based on the latest guidelines, 93 percent of patients have different blood pressure readings.

13 Dec 2011