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Latest Medical Technology

• Avandia May Raise Osteoporosis Risk

  10Jul
  Categories: Information, News and Updates Comments: 0

  
  The popular diabetes drug marketed as Avandia may increase bone thinning, a discovery that could help explain why diabetics can have an increased risk of fractures.

  New research raises the possibility that long-term treatment with rosiglitazone, as Avandia is also called, could lead to osteoporosis. The diabetes drug is used to improved response to insulin.

  Researchers found that in mice, the drug increased the activity of the cells that degrade bones, according to a report in this week’s online issue of Nature Medicine.

  The finding “has led to a better understanding of the challenges associated with long-term treatment of patients with Type II diabetes,” said Ronald M. Evans of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., lead author of the report.

  “The long-term use of rosiglitazone should be cautious in patients with higher risk of fractures such as older women,” he added. Using it in combination with anti-osteoporosis drugs could be beneficial, he said.

  (Source)

• Brain talk

  10Apr
  Categories: Information Comments: 0

  
  There is a latest technology out in the market today which allows the human brain to make a direct contact with a computer. This will really help those who are obsessive multi-taskers as they would no longer have to be in direct contact with a computer to avail of its services. This could also help patients who are in a coma as the computers can direct interaction when there is one from the sleeping brain. With the digital automatic consciousness, patients can now stop relying on people to interact with slumbering patients and also, unlike people, computers don’t lose hope as they are programmed to do their job which is to awaken brain power in the patient. It becomes necessary to hope for this kind of computer to proliferate if only to help the medical community cope with almost hopeless cases.

• Real Fake Leg

  28Oct
  Categories: Information Comments: 0

  

  Prosthetic legs have evolved to lightweight and more “user friendly”. The old prosthetics were designed just to allow patients to stand with “both legs”, but walking and climbing the stairs were difficult, and running was impossible. Then “bendable” prosthetics were developed. Now a prosthetic that looks like the real thing gives people who lost their legs a better chance to live normal lives, and wear clothes that they otherwise would not wear with the old cyborg-like prosthetic.

  One particular design was called LISA, which stood for lightweight, inconspicuous, shapely and active. Running is now possible, and women can even wear shoes with heels, as the ankles can be adjusted with a button.

  (source)

• MiroCam: The New Endroscopy

  06Sep
  Categories: Information Comments: 0

  

  Take anyone who has undergone Endroscopy and he would tell you the difficulties he experienced as he swallowed the flexible or rigid cable which, of course, can be a source of infection, over-sedation, and, worst, the harming of various body organs. The answer? The wireless capsule camera (which also has other names such as “PillCam”, “video pill”, “Sayaka”, or “Endocapsule” that enables one to view and see areas that the old-fashioned endoscopes have failed to display. This capsule traverses the path of the intestines after a patient takes it in through the mouth. Although it indeed takes a longer time to provide images, the ones it produces are clearer and of better quality.

• Filtering the Blood of Infectious Bacteria/Viruses

  18Jul
  Categories: Information Comments: 0

  Called the HemoPurifier. it is a machine similar to a dialysis machine that uses filters to take out viruses and bacteria from the blood, which can be used for extreme cases of infection. The filter consists of tiny fibers that have active filtering abilities, attracting specific bugs (viruses and bacteria) to lessen their numbers to a manageable level that is controllable through regular drug treatment. The device works by drawing blood from an artery, then filtering it through the mesh of fibers that attracts the bugs that are to be removed thus extending the life of people who have severe infections.
  The key is the filters that are treated with specific agents that are able to attract specific bugs, one filter for the AIDS virus, another for Flu and so on and so forth. The whole blood volume circulates through the filter once every eight minutes and full treatment can take as little as a month with each round taking an hour or so to complete. This breakthrough can allow better treatment of such deadly diseases such as Ebola and other highly contagious bugs that are currently killing more people each and every year.

• Salmonella Has Sweet Tooth

  18Jun
  Categories: Information Comments: 0

  Salmonella has been responsible for many cases of food poisoning the world over and is the bacteria responsible for the recent peanut butter, tomato and other food stuffs that were making headlines. Contamination of foodstuff with this nasty bacterium results in extreme diarrhea, vomiting and more serious effects, with death possible for those with weak immune systems. Researchers in the UK have identified a possible weak point by which to attack the deadly bacteria, it’s sweet tooth. As it turns out, the bacteria feeds on the sugar glucose as it infects its host using it to fuel it’s nasty abilities. Using this weakness, it would be possible to spike the glucose with something that can kill the bacterium and eventually a treatment system that would eliminate the threat from this nasty bugs that though considered to be not that lethal, kills millions the world over each and every year.

• Medical Imaging Technology – Boon or Bane

  18May
  Categories: Diagnostics, Information Comments: 0

  The many discoveries and breakthrough technologies in the field of medical imaging has made the world a healthier place, or is it. Seems with all the available imaging technologies that abound, people are getting more than their fair share of radiation which unfortunately is part of all imaging technology, yes even MRI’s and other imaging technologies that use radio frequencies. People have a maximum allowable limit when it comes to radiation which is actually all over the place and is part of daily life. But the advent of these imaging technologies have made them more accessible to most people who don;t seem to be paying attention to many warnings or set dosage limits which can influence health and diseases profoundly. Read more »

• Technology Advances Lung Cancer Treatment – Again!

  18Apr
  Categories: Developmental stage, Information, Management and Treatment Comments: 0

  When it comes to lung cancer, it is sometimes possible to treat and even remove diseased tissue to prevent further advancement of the disease if screening happens to find it in the early stages of development. Like most cancers, early detection is key to higher survivability rates for the disease has not yet progressed to an advanced state. In lung cancer, there are small and there are large nodules, the later being more easily detected due to the size difference. Doctors have been experimenting with micro-coils, surgical materials that are almost on the nano-scale that mimics a small magnet when bombarded with radio waves making small nodules that used to elude current scanning technologies making detection and targeting easier. Removal of such infected tissue in the early stages is the best way to rid the lungs of already diseased nodules, and getting most of them out, small and large the best possible way to properly cure the disease. Read more »

• 4D Ultrasound

  24Feb
  Categories: Imaging, Information Comments: 0

  

  Technology brings us to a new frontier in medicine – the 4D ultrasound which is now making prenatal screening much easier.

  The 4D ultrasound produces sound waves from many angles which shows moving images of the unborn. The images are more detailed and are captured at a much faster rate compared to 2D or 3D scanning.

  Expectant mothers (and fathers) have a better view of fetal movements inside the womb. They can even ask their doctors for a DVD copy or still images of the baby.

  Doctors also benefit from the use of 4D ultrasound. They have a better view of the fetal development inside the mother’s womb and note if there are any abnormalities or malformations, thus being able to be more prepared for any complications when the baby is born, or if possible, even mitigate any problems even while the baby is still in the womb.

• Studying the Arctic Produces Pocket-Sized MRI Scanner

  30Jan
  Categories: Diagnostics, Information, News and Updates Comments: 0

  The mention of MRI machines bring to mind the gargantuan machines in hospitals that weigh a couple of tons and guzzle up huge amounts of electricity. But that’s a thing of the past for research in the arctic used for studying ice cores from deep the frozen wasteland has produced a small and portable version of the imaging tool enough to be brought by doctors for field operations should they be necessary. MRI’s have been used to save millions of lives with the detailed cross sections of the human body they can produce but only if they can be done in time to see what’s wrong with a patient and that takes time. many patients die because of no access to the imaging technology that is not only rare in some parts of the world but prohibitively very expensive.
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