DOTmed HealthCare Business News
MRI Availability Linked to Possibly Unnecessary Back Surgery
by Brendon Nafziger 10/16/2009Researchers find the more MRI scanners in an area, the more patients get a controversial treatment for lower back pain.
'Smart Band-Aid' Could Prevent Heart Failure Deaths
by Brendon Nafziger 10/15/2009A Massachusetts start-up hopes its warning device could help save people from one of the leading causes of death.
Patients 52 Percent Less Likely to Die by Choosing Best Hospitals
by Brendon Nafziger 10/15/2009Gap between best and worst widens, according to HealthGrades' latest report.
BRIC Countries Expected to Spend $500 Billion on Health Care This Year
by Brendon Nafziger 10/15/2009Spared the worst of the recession and blessed with increasing affluence, middle-income countries like China and Russia are expected to hold 37 percent of the diagnostic imaging market by 2013, according to analysts.
Canadian Radiologist's 30,000 Exams up for Review
by Brendon Nafziger 10/15/2009Over 30,000 radiological exams are up for review in the Canadian province of New Brunswick after colleagues suspect a physician of misinterpreting results.
Want to Dissect a Human Cadaver? There's an App for That
by Brendon Nafziger 10/14/2009Explore the human body with a new iPhone program.
Breakthrough in Electron Microscopy Could Allow Imaging of Living Cells
by Brendon Nafziger 10/14/2009Thanks to electron's quantum quirk, electron microscopes could one day view cells without killing them.
Imaging Costs Prompt OIG Inspections
by Brendon Nafziger 10/13/2009The HHS Inspector General aims to sniff out waste, abuse in emergency X-ray use and imaging reimbursements in response to high cost of imaging services. But are concerns misdirected? DOTmed spoke to ACR.
Kimberly-Clark Nabs I-Flow for $324 Million
by Brendon Nafziger 10/13/2009Consumer goods behemoth acquires the maker of pain-management drug pumps.
Health IT Leaders Gather Near LA
by Brendon Nafziger 10/13/2009Next Generation Health Care Summit brings execs from GE, Verizon and Ochsner to discuss industry challenges.
Error Leads to CT Radiation Overdose
by Brendon Nafziger 10/13/2009Patients at Los Angeles hospital have been overexposed by brain scan.
MRI-Guided Ultrasound Device Heats Up Prostate Cancer
by Brendon Nafziger 10/12/2009Preliminary results "imminent" from proof-of-concept study using Profound Medical's MRI-guided ultrasound device to heat-treat prostate cancer.
Massive Study Sees Whether Radiation, Chemotherapy Lead to Birth Defects in Children of Cancer Survivors
by Brendon Nafziger 10/12/2009Surprising preliminary results so far suggest no harm is done.
Boston Scientific Buys Rights to Pluromed's Kidney Stone Gel
by Brendon Nafziger 10/12/2009The recently FDA-cleared gel is designed to prevent kidney stones from escaping the ureter during treatments.
Ohio Hospital First to Upgrade Philips Convertible MRI
by Brendon Nafziger 10/09/2009MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio has been the test site for what Philips Healthcare claims is one of the first of its kind: an MRI conversion.
Veriphy Now Comes With IMPAX in Canada
by Brendon Nafziger 10/09/2009Nuance's critical test result alert software now part of Agfa's health IT platform.
Hospitals, Take Note: Ventilators Are Flu's Friend
by Brendon Nafziger 10/08/2009Health care providers should wear N95 masks--amidst fears of a global H1N1 outbreak, new warnings about non-invasive ventilation.
Protein Linked to Half of All Cancers
by Brendon Nafziger 10/08/2009Research presented at British conference this week could lead to anti-cancer breakthroughs -- and a drug's already in the pipeline.
Philips Brings Light Sensors Into the Digital Age
by Brendon Nafziger 10/08/2009Light-detecting tubes could be a thing of the past as a technology behind PET goes from analog to digital.
An Ultrasound Unit That Can Fit in Your Backpack
by Brendon Nafziger 10/07/2009SonoSite's NanoMaxx system, based on technology built for the battlefield, gets the FDA OK.
TransEnterix's SPIDER Lures $55 Million in Capital Into Its Web
by Brendon Nafziger 10/07/2009The breakthrough single-port surgical device gets cash needed for commercialization.
Headphones Could Put Heart Devices on the Fritz
by Brendon Nafziger 10/07/2009Magnetic interference from portable headphones can cause potentially life-threatening problems with implanted pacemakers, defibrillators.
CMS Cuts Worse Than Deficit Reduction Act for Clinics, Physicians
by Brendon Nafziger 10/06/2009Proposed changes to Medicare could slash reimbursements by at least 26 percent, according to market consulting firm.
Electronic Health Records Get Small Boost From Study
by Brendon Nafziger 10/06/2009Modest improvements seen, but not "quality panacea."
Eric Fung Returns to Vermillion
by Brendon Nafziger 10/05/2009Researcher who helped develop ovarian cancer test returns from Roche.
Whole-Brain Radiation Therapy Leads to Cognitive Decline
by Brendon Nafziger 10/05/2009Brain cancer patients lose some cognitive function after whole-brain radiation treatments, according to a study published online and ahead-of-publication in The Lancet.
UNC's Health Record Breach Raises Questions About the Safety of EHR
by Brendon Nafziger 10/02/2009Hackers might have gained access to the confidential medical history of 160,000 women in the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill's mammography database.
Metallic Glass Leads the Way Toward Dissolvable Bone Implants
by Brendon Nafziger 10/02/2009Screws and other implants made of this magnesium-based material might not need to be removed in follow-up surgeries.
Mass Spectrometry-
Based Device Can Help Surgeons ID Cancerous Tissue on the Fly
by Brendon Nafziger
10/02/2009 Technique using mass spectrometry and electrosurgery could help surgeons know when they've fully removed a tumor in under one second.
PET Scans Distinguish High- and Low-Risk Uterine Tumors
by Brendon Nafziger 10/01/2009Different rates of uptake of two tracers can help doctors determine the aggressiveness of uterine cancers.
Electronic Records Still Error-Prone, Says Study
by Brendon Nafziger 09/30/2009Doctors at a VA hospital in Texas find that even with EHR in place, critical alerts get missed.
Sequenom Sacks CEO, R&D Chief, Amidst Speculation of Data Mishandling
by Brendon Nafziger 09/30/2009Sequenom sacks CEO, vice president of R&D following revelations that results from its highly anticipated test for Down syndrome were mishandled.
Cryo-Imaging Lets Researchers Image Single Cells
by Brendon Nafziger 09/29/2009Technology using ultra-fine slices of frozen specimens lets researchers microscopically examine an entire mouse -- right down to a single cell.
Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer Has Few Side Effects
by Brendon Nafziger 09/29/2009One of the largest studies ever conducted on the aftereffects of radiation treatment for prostate cancer aims to ease urologists' fears.
fMRI Discoverer to Receive Nobel Notice?
by Brendon Nafziger 09/28/2009Thomson Reuters names Seiji Ogawa, the discoverer of functional MRIs, as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Covidien Gains a New Aspect
by Brendon Nafziger 09/28/2009Covidien adds brain-monitoring technology to its portfolio with Aspect.
New Master's Degree for Nuke Med Techs
by Brendon Nafziger 09/28/2009First ever master's degree program for nuclear medicine technologists begins this fall.
Device Shows When Narrowing Arteries Are Really Dangerous
by Brendon Nafziger 09/28/2009St. Jude's tool to measure fractional flow reserve could help avoid unneeded stents.
David Fisher Takes Reins at MITA
by Brendon Nafziger 09/25/2009Former Senate adviser and Medtronic lobbyist expected to come on board in October.
New Device Explored to Relieve Menstrual Cramps
by Brendon Nafziger 09/25/2009Relief could be on its way for women who suffer from unusually severe menstrual pains, if findings to be presented this fall at the annual meeting of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists hold true.
Eye Movement Exam More Accurate Than MRI in Stroke Prediction
by Brendon Nafziger 09/25/2009Bedside test trumps technology in predicting certain kinds of strokes.
Why Are You So Radiosensitive?
by Brendon Nafziger 09/25/2009A massive study in Europe might shed light on why some patients are highly vulnerable to radiation.
Philips and Celsion Turn Up the Heat On Cancer
by Brendon Nafziger 09/24/2009A heat-activated drug and a new temperature-raising ultrasound device might offer precisely targeted cancer treatment.
Pancreatic Fat Sign of Diabetes, Obesity
by Brendon Nafziger 09/24/2009Forget fasting glucose levels: a new way to identify those at risk of developing diabetes could be imaging for fat buildup in the pancreas.
Contrast Agents Basically Harmless, Study Shows
by Brendon Nafziger 09/24/2009Two commonly used contrast agents only trigger adverse reactions in about one out of 1,000 cases.
Vegetative, But Not, Perhaps, Unconscious
by Brendon Nafziger 09/23/2009Ability to learn among those in vegetative states predicts likelihood of recovery, suggesting some retention of awareness.
Philips and Bruker Likely Going Ahead with MPI
by Brendon Nafziger 09/23/2009Deal to manufacture fast new imaging modality might be signed as early as the end of this year.
FDA OKs Blood Test for Ovarian Cancer
by Brendon Nafziger 09/22/2009Test could improve survival rates by identifying which women need to see a specialist for their surgeries.
A Pill a Day to Keep Cancer Away?
by Brendon Nafziger 09/22/2009Scientists in Israel believe new treatments could eventually turn cancer into a chronically manageable disease. The tumor dormancy model may transform cancer care.
CT Scans Measure Up to SPECT When it Comes to Heart Health
by Brendon Nafziger 09/21/2009New study shows CT scans provide a SPECT-comparable picture of heart function while also detecting arterial narrowing.