Health hot news

Acuson SC2000 is the world’s first echocardiography system to acquire instantaneous, nonstitched full-volume images of the heart in a single heartbeat. Siemens Healthcare unveils the Acuson SC2000 volume imaging ultrasound system, the first system in the world to acquire non-stitched real-time full-volume 3D images of the heart in one single heart cycle, during the European Congress of Radiology (ESC), August 30 - September 4, 2008 in Munich, Germany.

American Bio Medica Corporation (NASDAQ:ABMC) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted CLIA waived status to the Company’s Rapid TOX® point of collection drug test product line. The waiver applies to all 14 drugs that the Company currently tests for in addition to two different cut-off levels for its Opiate and Cocaine tests. CLIA waived tests are recognized by FDA to be so simple to use and so accurate that there is little risk of error.

The central role of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) in cellular processes, especially in cancer, has made them an important target for several antibody- and small molecule-based inhibitors specific for various RTKs for the treatment of different tumour entities.

In patients with diabetes, the CYPHER® Sirolimus-eluting Coronary Stent outperformed the Taxus® Stent with significantly lower rates of in-segment restenosis (a reblockage within the stented area), target lesion revascularization (TLR; the need for another interventional procedure) and major adverse events (MACE, a composite of death, heart attack and TLR) at nine months according to clinical data appearing recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

With Tropical Storm Gustav projected to hit the Gulf Coast as a hurricane next week, Fresenius Medical Care North America, operator of the nation’s leading network of dialysis facilities, encourages all dialysis patients in the area to begin preparing now for the storm. Also, with three months left in the hurricane season, Fresenius reminds anyone on dialysis who lives in hurricane-prone areas to be prepared for a storm.

For 19-year-old Karlee Carbert, rugby isn’t just a sport, it’s a passion. But the rough and tumble game can be physically demanding, as Carbert reveals “some games you can hit your head as many as five times.” Carbert has suffered three concussions in her career but after the first two her response was the same, “usually you hit your head, get a headache and once the headache is gone you go back.

Improvements in the prevention of catheter-related infections will be a prime focus at the annual conference of the Association for Vascular Access (AVA) in Sept. The conference comes on the eve of major changes in Medicare that will eliminate payments to hospitals that fail to prevent certain hospital-acquired infections. AVA will hold its 22nd Annual Scientific Meeting Sept. 11-14 in Savannah, Ga.

Cook Medical announced a significant milestone for its EVOLUTION® Mechanical Dilator Sheath technology, an innovative new tool designed to remove faulty, ineffective leads in patients with cardiac pacemakers. To date, 200 medical centers in the United States have adopted the breakthrough technology that utilizes venous entry during pacemaker lead extraction procedures.

An ultrasound probe small enough to ride along at the tip of a catheter can provide physicians with clearer real-time images of soft tissue without the risks associated with conventional x-ray catheter guidance. Duke University biomedical engineers designed and fabricated the novel ultrasound probe which is powerful enough to provide detailed, 3-D images. The new device works like an insect’s compound eye, blending images from 108 miniature transducers working together.

Aperio Technologies, Inc., (Aperio), a global leader in digital pathology for the healthcare and life sciences industry, has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the ER and PR image analysis applications available through its patented ScanScope® slide scanning system.