Author Archive
MIT’s “Perfect Mirror” Technology Used To Shrink Tumor
by bethany on Nov.20, 2008, under Cancer
Medical lasers are like science fiction heat rays that can vaporize tumors. The problem has been getting the lasers to where they are needed inside the body while protecting healthy tissue.
Now “perfect mirror” technology, developed by MIT researchers, is being used to shoot a laser through a spaghetti-thin, flexible fiber to attack tumors and other diseased tissue in highly targeted, minimally invasive surgery.
OmniGuide fiber, licensed through MIT’s Technology Licensing Office, scored a world first at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston last October when thoracic surgeon Dr. Raphael Bueno used it to shrink a patient’s cancerous lung tumor by 90 percent. Although carbon dioxide lasers have been used for more than 30 years to surgically remove diseased tissue in the throat, larynx, intestines and elsewhere, there was no easy way to get the lasers inside the body. Extensive surgery was required.
Woman Gets First Tailor-Made Trachea Transplant Without Drugs
by bethany on Nov.19, 2008, under Uncategorized
Claudia Castillo
stem cells, thus eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs. Performed in June using tissue from the woman’s bone marrow, the procedure raises the prospect of transplanting other organs without drugs to supress the immune system.
“This technique has great promise,” said Dr. Eric Genden, who did a
similar transplant in 2005 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Patients with donated organs run the risk of having those organs be rejected by the body and most patients with donated organs must take immunosuppressants for the rest of their lives.
“The probability this lady will have a rejection is almost zero
percent,” says Dr. Paolo Macchiarini, head of thoracic surgery at the
Hospital Clinic, Barcelona who performed the transplant.
“The patient is enjoying a normal life with no signs of rejection after four months.”
Claudia Castillo sought help after a case of tuberculosis destroyed
part of her trachea.
More information is available from Reuters.
Study Links Birth Defects To Assisted Reproduction
by bethany on Nov.19, 2008, under general research
A recent study found that couples relying on medical technology to conceive have a substantially higher risk for some kinds of birth defects, according to a study published in the journal Human Reproduction.
A report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found infants who were conceived with assisted reproduction have twice the average risk for cleft lips and heart defects and almost four times as many gastrointestinal defects.
Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of babies born using medical procedures such as in vitro fertilization and intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection were healthy.
Experts stress that, though assisted reproduction has been linked to birth defects, it is possible that people relying on such procedures have chromosomal abnormalities responsible for their infertility as well as the birth defects.
Because carrying twins or triplets increases the risk of birth defects, the study only considered pregnancies resulting in a single birth. More than 14,000 women from 10 states took part in the study–281 of which used assisted reproduction.
Cleveland Clinic Releases Top Ten Medical Innovations For 2009
by bethany on Nov.14, 2008, under observations
The Cleveland Clinic has recently released its list of Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2009. Chosen by a panel of Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists, the list was announced at the clinic’s 2008 Medical Innovation Summit ) “Once again, we are seeing a diverse list of technologies that have the potential to make an enormous medical impact in the near future,” explains Michael Roizen, M.D., who chaired the Top 10 Medical Innovations List. The selections are as follows:
1. Use of Circulating Tumor Cell Technology: Use of new technology to measure circulating tumor cells as a predictor of success of chemotherapy.
2. Warm Organ Perfusion Device:
Warm organ perfusion device to preserve organs for transplantation during transplant.
3. Diaphragm Pacing System:
Improvements in multi-spectral image analysis to assess multiple protein pathway configuration in a single sample/cell.
4. Multi-Spectral Imaging Systems:
Use of a diaphragm (phrenic nerve) stimulator to enable paralyzed patients to breath without the assistance of a mechanical ventilator.
5. Percutaneous Mitral Valve Regurgitation Repair:
Use of a special clip to percutaneously repair mitral valve regurgitation (MVR).
6. New Strategies for Creating Vaccines for Avian Flu:
Use of new strategies for creating vaccines for avian flu, including genetically-engineered virus-like particles (VLPs) as the basis for vaccines.
7. LESS and NOTES Applications:
Laparoendoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) and Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopy (NOTES) for nephrectomy, cystectomy, prostatectomy, colon resection, and other applications.
8. Integration of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (Tractography):
Integration of diffusion tensor imaging (tractography) with surgical navigation of the brain to minimize damage to fiber tracts during brain surgery.
9. Doppler-Guided Uterine Artery Occlusion:
Doppler-guided non-invasive transvaginal uterine artery occlusion for treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids.
10. Private Sector National Health Information Exchange:
Use of a common exchange standard among participants to enable access through the Internet regardless of provider source.
Cloning From The Grave
by bethany on Nov.04, 2008, under cloning
Image Courtesy www.dailymail.co.uk
Researchers in Japan have announced that they have created clones of a mouse that had been frozen for 16 years. It is reportedly the first time scientists have cloned a frozen animal. Potential applications of the research include bringing extinct animals such as the woolly mammoth back to life. Critics of the research have voiced concerns that the research will lead to cloning of human beings.
Scientists had previously thought that freezing a body would create ice crystals that destroy cellular DNA. For this reason, the Japanese researchers at the Centre for Developmental Biology in Kobe, Japan used brain cells because they believed the skull and the fat content of the brain would protect the cells from damage. Still, the success rate of the procedure was quite low: it took 1,100 attempts to produce seven healthy clones.
More information on the research is available at the Daily Mail.
