Digital Lightbox replaces the conventional light box used to observe analog x-ray images. Connected to the hospital PACS, the new digital platform can be installed both in meeting rooms and in operating rooms, where clinicians can then access, manipulate, and utilize data for surgery planning. By displaying the human body in 3D, Digital Lightbox helps clinicians to more clearly demonstrate to patients what effects a disease can have and which procedures may be necessary.

Digital Lightbox enables clinicians to select the most valuable images from large amounts of existing medical data. Ergonomic touchscreen technology with zoom functionality makes working with data easy and effective.

Clinicians can intuitively navigate within pictures and between settings. Image scrolling can be performed with one finger; zooming in and out of images with two. Images from different sources can also be fused easily. A measure functionality enables clinicians to set size and other dimensions.

By integrating the communication platform iPlan® Net from BrainLAB, clinicians can perform treatment planning with Digital Lightbox or any PC connected to the hospital network. This eliminates bottlenecks, as busy planning stations are rendered obsolete. iPlan Net helps to simplify the clinical workflow and save costs, as well as strengthen and simplify interdisciplinary collaboration between neurosurgery, nuclear medicine and radiology departments.

Digital Lightbox can be installed in any hospital environment and is compatible with all established image formats, such as DICOM, jpg, bmp, tif, png, avi, wmv. Planning data can be transferred directly from Digital Lightbox to surgical navigation systems designed for precise and minimally invasive procedures.

Video demonstrating the Digital Lightbox:

Press release: World Premiere at University Hospital in Munich: Digital Lightbox...

Product page: Digital Lightbox

From the CX50 product page:

Previously available only on our premium iE33 system, PureWave on the CX50 system allows you to get the clear images you need for confident diagnoses on a wide variety of patients, including the difficult-to-image.

The CX50 system was designed for your critical study requirements. In addition to PureWave, its premium imaging and Doppler performance are possible because of its digital broadband beamformer and XRES technology. Easily perform advanced echo analysis with integrated QLAB and stress echo capability.

The CX50 is designed to make portable exams easy and efficient. One-button iSCAN automatically optimizes 2D and Doppler data for new levels of clarity for your portable studies. On-board QLAB provides advanced analysis capabilities during and after exams.

Portable exams are a challenge, and getting clear diagnostic data is complicated by many factors. Now you can have the image quality you need for the diagnostic confidence wherever you need it – take the CX50 to your patients.

The CX50 system can be used on a specially designed cart, hand carried to your patients, or packed in its special travel case for easy transport to remote destinations.

Press release: Philips new handheld ultrasound system offers premium image quality in a portable system

Product page: CX50 CompactXtreme Ultrasound System

The video below shows off the technology and demonstrates various cuts using the PlasmaBlade compared to scalpels and bovies.

Peak Surgical homepage...

Press release: PEAK Surgical Receives 510(k) Clearance to Market PEAK® Surgery System for Use in General Surgery...

Flashback: Peak PlasmaBlade Wants to Be The New Bovie

From IDEA:

The appleprobe is an ultrasound transducer probe that can be held with a traditional pincer grip as well as in a new way that follows the natural alignment of the hand and wrist. Sonographers often experience repetitive strain injuries in their hands and wrists that are believed to be caused by the pinching and pushing of the pincer grip. This dual grip allows sonographers to switch the way they hold the ultrasound transducer throughout the exam and throughout the day, reducing discomfort and injuries.

Here's a PDF brochure about the appleprobe:

IDEA award details...

From the press release:

AirStrip OB, which is already available for use on PDAs and Smartphones, will allow obstetricians to use their iPhones to remotely access virtual real-time and historical waveform data for both the mother and baby directly from the hospital's labor and delivery unit utilizing only a cell phone connection. A beta version of the AirStrip OB iPhone application will be completed by the end of the month, with AirStrip OB scheduled to be available for use by physicians on iPhones during the fourth quarter of 2008.

The AirStrip OB iPhone application will provide users with multi-touch capabilities to quickly scroll and zoom through critical data, including contraction and fetal heart waveform patterns. The AirStrip OB iPhone version will be taking advantage of not only the expanded iPhone screen size, but also Apple's newly announced push notification service to send alerts to physicians based on individual physician customization. Furthermore, AirStrip OB on the iPhone will allow doctors to add patients to a "My Patients" list that will help physicians navigate through data more efficiently when time is of the essence.

Press release: AirStrip Technologies, L.P. Preps Revolutionary Medical Application for Apple iPhone 3G (.pdf)...

AirStrip company page...

Flashbacks: The AirStrip OB® for Wireless Fetal Heart Rate Monitoring

Some patients who are potential candidates for balloon therapy are currently excluded because of the location of the lesion and their breast size. Contura’s advanced multi-lumen design may address this issue for certain patients. In addition, the Contura MLB uses vacuum to remove excess seroma and air to enhance conformance of often irregularly shaped lumpectomy cavity walls to the balloon surface in order to deliver precise radiation dosing through multiple radiation source lumens.

“The novel proprietary design of our newest Contura Multi-Lumen Radiation Balloon (MLB) Catheter allows the clinician greater flexibility in appropriately fitting the lumpectomy cavity with a balloon catheter,” said Lloyd Malchow, SenoRx President and Chief Executive Officer. “The new-size Contura balloon may be appropriate for approximately 10 to15 percent of patients where a larger balloon is warranted and will allow us to compete for these cases. The product is currently being evaluated at several clinical sites and is expected to become generally available during the third quarter of 2008. The original Contura is 4 to 5 centimeters in diameter, while the new balloon can be used for larger lumpectomy cavities ranging from 5 to 6 centimeters in diameter.”

Press release: SenoRx Receives Additional 510(k) Clearance for Its Contura MLB...

Product page: Contura ...

The company explains its technology:

Laser opto-acoustic imaging technology combines optics and acoustics with a goal of improving the accuracy of the cancer diagnosis without the use of ionizing radiation (x-ray). The process starts by illuminating the breast with laser light of specific wavelengths. Tumors preferentially absorb the light over normal tissue and become slightly heated. A transient thermoelastic expansion causes a tumor to emit a pressure (acoustic) wave. This acoustic wave is then detected by an array of sensors positioned around the periphery of the breast held within the probe.

Signals from the sensors are analyzed and assembled into high contrast, high-resolution images that present the lesion in striking color. Because image contrast is related to both blood volume and oxygenation status, lesions may be correlated with benign or malignant histopathology. This is because malignant tumors possess increased microvasculature, but deplete oxygen from the blood at a higher rate than benign growths. Deoxygenated blood results in brighter images in the presence of a shorter wavelength than it does in the presence of a longer wavelength.

This technology has the merit of both the high contrast and spectral specificity of optical imaging and the sensitivity and resolution of ultrasonic imaging. It is more than just a combination of the two methods. The goal is to incorporate laser illumination and ultrasonic detection to achieve very high detection sensitivity.

Laser opto-acoustic imaging may permit the identification of tumors as small as 2 mm and has demonstrated the ability to see submillimeter structures. Early detection is important because biologically advanced tumors are more capable of metastasis.

Technology page @ Seno Medical: Laser Opto-Acoustic Imaging...

Press release: Seno Medical Instruments Launches First-Ever Commercially Available Opto-Acoustic Small Animal Imaging Research System...

Flashbacks: Optoacoustic Technology for Early Cancer Detection

From the announcement press release:

This innovative G-Wire™ will enable physicians to visually track the actual orientation as well as the 3D spatial tip position of the wire while manipulating it in real time. In addition, it will enable marking and 3D visualization capabilities also offered by the MediGuide technology. These capabilities are achieved using MediGuide's Medical Positioning System (gMPS™) technology, incorporated within various Cath Labs which has been recently approved for use in Europe. This new functionality is expected to be extremely useful during procedures such as chronic total occlusion (CTO) as well as other complex operations which require accurate wire manipulation in the field of interventional cardiology.

Martin B. Leon, M.D., Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and Founder of the Cardiovascular Research Foundation in New York City, said: “This collaboration brings together the most advanced guidewires and sophisticated imaging and guidance technology, providing an exciting opportunity to improve CTO therapy in the future.”

Dr. Osamu Katoh, Director of Research Center at the Toyohashi Heart Center, said
"No matter how you look at it, Asahi's guide wire technology produces one to one torque performance. The integration of Asahi's one to one torque performance technology and MediGuide's gMPS navigation technology, will create a tremendous synergy effect that could dramatically improve the treatment options for complex lesions, including CTO's"

Press release: Asahi Intecc and MediGuide announced collaboration in development and sales of innovative gMPS™ Enabled Guide Wire (G-Wire™) ...

More from Globes...

ASAHI INTECC torque technology page...

Flashbacks: Medical Position System (MPS) from MediGuide: GPS for Cath

From the announcement by European AlphaGalileo Foundation:

...a research group from the University of Alcalá managed by Professor Juan Manuel Bellón from the department of surgery of the UAH has developed and patented a new device to prevent the occurrence of incisional hernias. This prevention is carried out by the incorporation of prosthesis into the suture of the abdominal wall which is designed to increase the cohesive forces of the scar. The new design and concept of the prosthesis, named Laparomesh has the shape of a upside down T and is made with silicone and polypropylene, which are biomaterials that will not be absorbed by the body.

The goal of the Laparomesh is to create a reinforcement much like a tendon in the linea alba that would efficiently consolidate the suture of the laparotomy and significantly reduce the cases of incisional hernias. Different to the other prostheses of its type, the design by Professor Bellon and his team is placed neither above nor below, but it encloses both apertures of the abdominal wall, attaching itself to the different anatomical planes by means of a polypropylene suture.

Professor Bellón, stated that the current average number of cases of incisional hernias is around 15% to 20%, and it is estimated to reduce these numbers to 3%-4% using this newly patented mesh.

Press release: New patented prophylactic mesh for the repair of defects in the abdominal wall...

Image caption: T shaped prosthesis for the reinforcement of medium laparotomies 1. Vertical branch of the T. 2. Horizontal branch. 3 Silicon cover (peritoneum), 4. Union between polypropylene and the silicon (thermoseal or suture). (Credit: Image courtesy of University of Alcal)

From Philips:

'Celebrating Pregnancy' is a pregnancy scenario for the future. From conception to childbirth and beyond, bringing a child into the world is both a joy and a challenge. While medical advances have made the experience safer than ever, hospital environments have hardly changed. Mothers (and fathers) are often treated like patients with an illness, rather than parents-to-be. Wouldn't it be wonderful if prenatal care and, in particular, fetal ultrasounds were as comfortable as they are exciting? And what if the entire experience was one that could be shared with the entire family, including the experience of that first view of the baby? If a picture is worth a thousand words, a 4D virtual image with audio is priceless.

A 4-D time-lapse ultrasound image like this may elicit warm emotions as parents distinguish their unborn baby's facial features and fingers for the first time, but the same cannot usually be said about the clinical environment in which such images are created.

Under the slogan "Celebrating Pregnancy," Royal Philips Electronics is intending to transform these "uncomfortable and impersonal" experiences into "a much more playful, enjoyable format for the parents," says Frank Rettenbacher, a product designer for Philips.

Last year, Philips researchers began modeling ultrasound visits after a spa-like experience, complete with ambient lighting and new technologies intended to reduce stress. Images are streamed onto a big, bubble-like screen. With large, clearer images, Rettenbacher says, doctors may be able to "diagnose abnormalities a lot earlier than [they can] today."

Press release of this and other design concepts from Royal Philips Electronics...

(hat tip: bookofjoe)