Medicexchange.com News

Archive for June, 2010

New dental imaging tool may improve tooth decay detection in children that detects the infection in the early stages of oral bacteria. A newly introduced imaging tool is being used to oncover the oral bacteria that is present in children which will further help in lowering the risks of tooth decay and in improving dental care. This was a result of a recent study published in Pediatric Dentistry.

The usage of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) driven biouminescence, which is a contemporary dental tool is very essential to dentists as they help detect visible light caused by bacteria-based ATP that leads to tooth decay.

To actually ascertain how to find the ATP, few researchers together enrolled a total of 33 patients aged between 7 to 12 years from the Oregon Health and Science University School of Dentistry. Samples of plaque and saliva were taken by the examiners. These were abstracted from one of the teeth from each of the four parts of the participants present for this examination.

It was found that the estimation of the specimens resulted in patients having high amount of bacteria cells and ATP measurements ended up in developing tooth decay compared to the others.

ATP detection may help the present clinics to determine the efficiency of interventional therapies, including the use of mouth rinses and perhaps in the detection of bacterial infections in periodontal and other infectious diseases,” said Curt Machida, professor of integrative biosciences and pediatric dentistry at the school.

Many families dont have the advantage of having dental insurances. For these sections, there are a few discounted dental plans that can provide them with the dental care and attention that these families member including the young ones need.  The application to this facility can avail them regular dental treatment on low rates that can help them to prevent various dental complications that can even cause tooth decay.

Updated version of OnGuard CAD technology boasts half the rate above the relative improvement in sensitivity and 73% reduction in false positive marks.

The Riverain Medical revealed that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the newest and the latest version of the OnGuard Chest X-ray Computer-Aided Detection (CAD) technology. OnGuard describes solitary pulmonary modules that equates early-stage lung cancer on an prevailing chest X-ray. The improved performance of this version manifest a 73% reduction in false positive results and 50% higher relative sensitivity compared to the original product.

Most of the Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer this year. A very small percentage of these patients will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the earliest stages when it can be cured. When lung cancer is discovered  early, the life span of the human can triple compared to the rate of years he wil live if diagnosed later. Varied notes show that OnGuard can detect 37-50% of lung cancers that were left out in the first understanding.

“Our published studies demonstrate that OnGuard can detect up to 50% of the lung cancers that were missed in the initial interpretation,” says Dr. Charles White, Professor and Vice Chairman of Radiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “OnGuard provides physicians with a tool to help identify suspicious nodules in the lungs earlier.”

OnGuard uses pattern recognition and machine learning technology to indentify nodules. Well centered, scaled markers are situated around regions that may be early-stage lung cancer. DUe to the use of the digital chest X-ray, the additional radiation dose, patient procedure, hardware or stand-alone workstation needed is avoided to merge the technology into any radiology department.

“OnGuard can make a difference in the fight against lung cancer,” explains Diane Hirakawa, CEO and Chairman of Riverain Medical. “This technology can improve the detection of lung cancer in its earliest stages when treatments are most effective.”

As EMR gathers wide acceptance among the medical community, many are looking to read about other’s experience of electronic medical records in the form of EMR software reviews. EMR Vendors seem to be wary of publishing user reviews even though for many potential purchasers they are the most valuable and accurate way to identify which EMR solution will be most appropriate for them.

At MedicExchange we have identified some 500 EMR vendors which all adds up to a great deal of user confusion and purchaser nerves. The incredible choice and the lack of clarity in the positioning of EMR is a real issue that vendors need to address if they are to get some traction in the market.

It does not help when an online search for EMR sofware reviews bring up some pretty amusing results, of which my favourite must be  reviews from www.healthtechnologyreview.com which has been spammed in an unholy way by the samizdat pharmaceutical industry – for which read, resellers of viagra!

After  four (semi) serious reviews such as…

I’ve been using their EMR & Billing software for 4 months now. It took us just over 2 months to get acquainted with it. All in all it’s been well worth it as it’s greatly improved our operations.

there then follows 189 spam EMR reviews such as…

I have screenshot the page so as to avoid causing trouble on my own page. Much of the spam contains useful and pithy advice:

Friend at court is better than a penny in purse or Good thongs dont last for ever

but one thing is sure… it won’t help decision makers in the EMR space.

The launch of the iPad has changed the frame of debate about mobile computing and medical devices. The combination of portability, screen resolution and long battery life is going to make this form factor the best for medicine and even radiology going forward.

Will it be the iPad or another product? I bet it will not be the Apple tablet but one of coming Android based tablets that will win as the Apple ecosystem will be too narrow for software developers or even the hardware vendors such as Dell who are aggressively targeting the medical industry. Dell has already launched its first tablet computer on the Android

What will matter to medical professionals is ease of use, reliability and price. With the ubiquity of electronic medical records software and electronic health records and the networking of medical information as digital assets, a tablet computer provides the power and versatility of the PC with the form factor of the touchscreen.

You can easily envisage a doctor sitting beside a patient and showing a scan to them on a tablet, zooming in with a finger swipe and helping the patient understand the condition.

A new study published in the Acta Oncologica has found an association between dental x-rays and risk for incidence of thyroid cancers.

A dental x-ray is one of the basic investigations when you consult a dentist. It helps to vizualise the teeth as well as bone and soft tissue structures around it. It enables detection of tooth cavities, cysts, hidden wisdom tooth etc.  And dental x-rays are a common source of low-dose radiation as a course of dental treatment might require multiple dental radiography and the neighouring stuctures like the thyroid gland is also exposed to it. Concern rises as it is proven that the thryoid tissue is quite vulnerable to radiation induced carcinogenesis.

To assess the risk of thyroid cancer from dental x-rays, researchers from Brighton (England), Cambridge (England) and Kuwait conducted a case control study, the results of which are published in the journal Acta Oncologica. The researchers were led by Dr Anjum Memon, senior lecturer and consultant in public health medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (England), a partnership between Brighton and Sussex universities, and NHS (National Health Service) Brighton and Hove (England).

The population-based case-control interview study was conducted in Kuwait and included 313 patients with thyroid cancer and a similar number of individually matched (year of birth ± three years, gender, nationality, district of residence) control subjects.

The results showed that exposure to dental x-rays was significantly associated with an increased risk of thyroid cancer (odds ratio = 2.1, 95% confidence interval: 1.4, 3.1) (p=0.001) with a dose-response pattern (p for trend <0.0001). The association did not vary appreciably by age, gender, nationality, level of education, or parity. Researchers opine that further studies using historical dental x-rays is required to support the hypothesis.

“The public health and clinical implications of these findings are particularly relevant in the light of increases in the incidence of thyroid cancer in many countries over the past 30 years,”said Dr. Anjum Menon, the lead investigator.

The lastes technology of visualizing your body is in the form of 3D/4D ultrasound. 3D ultrasound and 4D Ultrasound i.e. real time 3D or 3D in motion are a natural development of the imaging technology are becoming a clinical reality only now. People around the world prefer a 3D or a 4D to get the exact picture because it helps them to know more.

Talking about 3D ultrasound, this technology has helped in redefining traditional methods of CT and MRI images. The clinical application of 3D ultrasound is likely to advance rapidly, as improved 3D rendering technology becomes more widely available. 3D ultrasound features in helping the parents bond with future offspring. 3D ultrasound is a medical ultrasound technique, that is often used during pregnancy. 3D ultrasounds allow one to see a very clear and intricate images in much the same way as 3D movies but the only difference is that there is no movement.

The next and the most advanced technique is the 4D Ultrasounds that adds the element of time to the 3D process. A 4D ultrasound uses a special sonogram machine and takes images from a few different angles, which reveal more detailed images such as facial features. This technique can purely capture movements made by the baby during the procedure. 4D ultrasounds do not require a doctor’s order and are often done at a private ultrasound business, which specializes in keepsake 4D ultrasounds. The procedure is non-invasive and takes about twenty minutes to complete. 4D allows your doctor to visualize internal anatomy moving in real-time.

The advantages of the 3D and 4D technique are:

• Simplified 3D acquisition
• Reduces study time and decreases the waiting of patients
• Faster examination procedure
• The C-plane obtained, not possible in 2D
• Complete examination through increased perspective from volume data that means better qualitative and quantitative information to diagnose effectively
• All planes of view reproducible: virtual patient

Generally, the risks of 3D ultrasounds mirror those of 2D ultrasounds, as it uses the same ultrasound waves at the same intensity. The potential risk of 3D ultrasounds, if any, would depend on the duration of the ultrasound session rather than whether it is 2D or 3D or 4D. The only noted risk is that there is more than one report of a slight increase in left-handedness in boys whose mothers have received 3D ultrasounds. Left-handedness does not qualify as a medical effect according to the FDA. Other than the above stated risk, there are no reported medical defects or medical issues contributed to the 3D/4D ultrasounds. Medical studies show no increased risk of a 3D/4D ultrasound in comparison to a 2D ultrasound.

Today’s Ultrasound technology helps not only doctors but also the patients to visualize any region of the body, which is relatively inexpensive and safe, especially when compared with other techniques.

The technology of Ultrasound has helped doctors to such an extend that now through this technology, visualize any region of the body. The wave is actually a cyclic sound pressure that consists of a much higher frequency compared to the limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is basically produced for usage not only in the medical field but in various other fields where it s needed to percolate a medium and measure the reflection signature or supply focused energy.

Coming to medical sonography (ultrasonography), this is an ultrasound-based non-invasive diagnostic medical imaging technique used to visualize muscles, tendons, and many internal organs, to capture their size, structure and any pathological lesions with real time tomographic images. Ultrasound is used to help physicians evaluate symptoms like pain, swelling, infection. The technology is relatively inexpensive and safe, especially when compared with other techniques. Because ultrasound images are captured in real-time, they can show the structure and movement of the body’s internal organs, as well as blood flowing through blood vessels.

Lets see some of the advantages of Ultrasound:

• Scanning is non-invasive (no needles or injections) and is usually painless.
• They are widely available, easy-to-use and less expensive than other imaging methods.
• The technology uses sound waves and thus there is no danger of exposure to ionizing radiation like in X-ray, CT etc.
• The scanning gives a clear picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images.
• This is preferred imaging modality for the diagnosis and monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn babies.
• Ultrasound provides real-time imaging, making it a good tool for guiding minimally invasive procedures such as needle biopsies and needle aspiration.
• For standard diagnostic ultrasound there are no known harmful effects on humans.
• Latest applications include its use in pain relief in muscles as well as stiff arthritic joints

For better images, an the ultrasound transducer or an ultrasound probeis placed over the skin over the region to be imaged. A Ultrasound gel is applied over the patient’s skin before the process begins. This is a non-sticky consistancy which is thick and clear that doesnt drip off when applied. The sound waves thus transmitted into the body strikes on the tissue, and reflect back. The reflected sound waves are again picked up by the transducer and send into the ultrasound machine where specialized software converts it into images.

Recent innovations in ultrasound technology include a three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound that converts the sound wave data into 3-D images and even four-dimensional (4-D) ultrasound which is 3-D ultrasound in motion or movement. 4-D is basically used to view a baby and its movements on the screen from the womb.

For the best image, usage of branded ultrasound medical equipments are necessary. Quality ultrasound equipments such as ultrasound transducers and ultrasound probes undergo a carefully designed quality control process and are guaranteed to be in excellent condition, complete with the best warranty in the industry before they are bought.

Another useful equipment of Ultrasound one must not forget are the Portable Ultrasound Machines. The use of portable ultrasound equipments are on the rise due to the huge improvements in portable ultrasound image quality over the last few years. These machines can be carried around without much trouble. These come in use at times where there is an emergency, or a limited area of space, or when it has to be used on the field.

Recently talked to a friend who had an ultrasound scan of their ovaries. The ultrasonographer was quite cagey and left my friend feeling rather anxious about the results. She is at that age where fear of ovarian cancer is real and meaningful and appropriate. She is waiting to hear the results; a wait that is made worse by the fact that the hotline number is always busy. It made me realise that an EMR would make a huge difference to a patient if it allowed them to seek second opinions and circumvent the specific practices of the UK health system. As EMR and EHR programmes are being rolled out, it will be fascinating to see whether they are used to reduce healthcare costs, empower patients and stimulate innovation in healthcare or whether as is most likely they will simply be used to reduce costs and retain the hegemony of medical professionals. The promise of Electronic Medical Records is of a patient record that enables patients to understand a great deal more about both their health and any illnesses they experience and to improve the quality of their lives thereby, it opens an exciting opportunity for community building and sharing health experiences especially for afflictions that impact the social capacity of the patient, it enables universities to undertake extraordinary statistical research into epidemiology and it provides the platform for patients to “own” their own health rather than the contemporary disease of outsourcing it to doctors and numerous alternative quacks.

The Medical Equipment Report, called ’2010 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards’, emphasises on the annual rankings of leading medical equipment companies in 30 market segments.

The research firm KLAS, monitoring and reporting the performance of healthcare vendors has announced the 2010 leading medical equipment vendors. These companies are classified further into eight key market categories such as computed tomography (CT), digital mammography, automated medication dispensing and ultrasound. The 2010 Best in KLAS distinction award has been bestowed on them for their excellence in meeting customer satisfaction.

Thousands of healthcare providers throughout the United States and Canada had submitted their evaluations of these healthcare vendors in the last 12 months, based on which, KLAS decided on the rankings on a vendor’s performance in product quality, implementation, and service& support. The top most company in a particular group of the biggest and effective section is reserved on the BEST in KLAS award.

Following is a list of the 2010 Best in KLAS medical equipment vendor products:

• Automated Medication Dispensing Units (Over 200 Beds)
  Omnicell OmniRx

• Computed Radiography (CR) – Multi-Plate
  FUJIFILM FCR XG5000

• Digital X-ray
  SHIMADZU RADspeed

• Magnetic Resonance (MR) – 1.5T
  Toshiba Vantage

• Mammography – Digital
  Hologic Selenia

• Smart Pumps – LVP
  B. Braun Outlook

• Ultrasound – General Imaging
  Toshiba Xario

The Medical Equipment report, The 2010 Top 20 Best in KLAS Awards also noticed the best medical equipment vendor in all the segments of the market called the Top 20, along with identifying the most promising KLAS honorees. The score can supersede additional categories such as 3T magnetic resonance, interventional/cardiac x-ray, nuclear medicine and others.

Toshiba was rated number one, with total performance score of 90.61 %, next in line is FUJIFILM, Carestream and GE.”A major investment in medical equipment – whether for diagnostic imaging, pharmacy automation or another vital area – is a significant, often costly, endeavor for any healthcare organization,” said KLAS President Adam Gale.

“This annual report, recognizing medical equipment vendors that have shown a unique dedication to their customers, is intended to helpproviders wade through all the options and identify vendors and solutions that are the best fit for their organizations.”

Cancer treatment response can be found with blood test that involves chemically cleaning the blood for DNA fragments shed by dying cells and check if cattle are afflicted by mad cow disease.

Scientists from Chronix Biomedical has discovered that the blood test could identify accurately 90% of the patients with breast and prostate cancer. This result will be showcased at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago. According to Howard B. Urnovitz, CEO and co-founder of Chronix, “It’s not a genetic test, It’s really an apoptosis test.”

The results of the test could be deciphered on the rates of cell death or apoptosis. ‘Hot spots” along the genome,that are linked to cancers, in case of breast or prostrate cancers. The excessive presence of DNA fragments from these “hotspots” in the blood identifies cancer in a patient.

Blood samples were compared from about 178 breast cancer and 197 prostate cancer patients for the research.It was revealed that around 92% of all cancers,100% had no false positives.

“If you have a disease whose fundamental basis is that cells die, then this test would be effective,” Urnovitz said. “We can say it works in mad cow, chronic wasting disease, breast and prostate cancer. We predict, and I could be wrong, that it will work on all cancers.”

“It represents a whole area of research underway in many labs around the world to answer this question of finding these small, unique markers for cancer that we can effectively and routinely measure for detection or treatment,” said Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society.

However, the process of implementation of these tests will need to wait for personal diagnoses indefinately. Chronix considers the plans to promote and market the test product to pharmaceutical companies and cancer researchers will be the first step to monitor if these experimental drugs shrink tumors and prevent cancer recurrence in the first place.