RFID Patient Wristbands Safe for CT and MRI
(12:31AM)
Radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology is increasingly being adopted by hospitals to track various assets, including everything from blood bags to surgical sponges. We already reported on its use in tracking patients back in 2005. Now a team of researchers from Switzerland has confirmed the safety of RFID chips used in patient wristbands while being scanned by MRI and CT machines. In the worst case scenario MRI examinations at 3 Tesla lasting up to two hours, the temperature of the tissue directly next to the RFID tag was raised by at most 4 degrees Celsius. The wristband did result in some minor distortions on the resulting MRI images in the immediate area of the tag. There was no effect on CT image quality. The tags remained functioning properly after all scans without any data loss.
Systemically Administered siRNA via Targeted Nanoparticles: Initial Phase I Clinical Trial Results
(12:15AM)
The delivery of siRNA holds promise for targeted gene silencing in the development of potent gene-specific therapeutics against cancer and other diseases. Injection of naked siRNA alone results in poor accumulation within target tissues and can illicit an immune response, so far limiting the utility of siRNA as a systemic therapy.
Mark Davis and colleagues from Caltech have developed a targeted nanoparticle delivery system to shlep siRNA to melanoma patients. The particles contain a cyclodextrin based polymer with polyethylene glycol on the surface of the particle. A transferrin ligand on the surface of the particle is used to target the surface of cancer cells. The authors show dose dependent accumulation of the particles in the tumor and reduction of the mRNA targeted by the siRNA sequence. Results are described for three patients. The clinical effects of the therapy are not yet reported.
From the abstract:
We are at present conducting the first in-human phase I clinical trial involving the systemic administration of siRNA to patients with solid cancers using a targeted, nanoparticle delivery system. Here we provide evidence of inducing an RNAi mechanism of action in a human from the delivered siRNA. Tumour biopsies from melanoma patients obtained after treatment show the presence of intracellularly localized nanoparticles in amounts that correlate with dose levels of the nanoparticles administered (this is, to our knowledge, a first for systemically delivered nanoparticles of any kind). Furthermore, a reduction was found in both the specific messenger RNA (M2 subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (RRM2)) and the protein (RRM2) levels when compared to pre-dosing tissue. Most notably, we detect the presence of an mRNA fragment that demonstrates that siRNA-mediated mRNA cleavage occurs specifically at the site predicted for an RNAi mechanism from a patient who received the highest dose of the nanoparticles. Together, these data demonstrate that siRNA administered systemically to a human can produce a specific gene inhibition (reduction in mRNA and protein) by an RNAi mechanism of action.
Myocardial Infarction Self-Testing Kit Receives EU Clearance
(12:11AM)
China Sky One Medical Inc. has received Conformité Européenne (CE) certification for its Myocardial Infarction and Urine Microalbumin Diagnostic Kits, approving them for sale in the European Union member countries. The AMI diagnostic kit can be used by consumers for the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction. It requires the user to place a blood sample on a marker after which a plus or minus sign will appear, indicating whether the user should seek medical attention. It is based on an assay of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (hFABP), which peaks as early as one hour after myocardial damage occurs, much earlier than the clinically used markers troponin and CKMB. The kit has already been on the market in China since 2007. The Microalbumin Kit is based on an ELISA test showing if microalbuminuria is present, indicating early kidney disease.
Product Information:Diagnostic Kits from China Sky One Medical...
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Don't Forget About Our Sister Sites!
(12:00AM)
If you are a student studying echocardiography, or a department chair trying to develop colleagues' familiarity with cardiac echoes, you may want to check out EchoJournal. Curated by David E. Winchester, MD, a Cardiology Fellow at the University of Florida, EchoJournal is a free video resource for watching and discussing echocardiography clips. The video collection has been steadily growing to become a comprehensive database of diagnosed conditions. Registered members can create their own groups and video collections from the public library as well as to add their own uploads. Anyone able to use YouTube should find himself comfortable working with the EchoJournal interface.
Whether you are a health care strategist, doctor, nurse, patient, or just a citizen concerned with the state of medicine and its future, Medpolitics is the place for you to bring up debates, offer solutions, announce events, organize groups, and establish professional contacts. In other words, Medpolitics is a social network for health care politics. Medpolitics allows anyone to blog, post videos from YouTube, and create discussion forums by topic. Check it out today!
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Sikker Concept Baby Monitor Connects Parent and Child Via Bracelet
(12:00AM)
It's only a concept but the Sikker (Danish for safety) baby monitor is a great idea by designers Jessica Mendoza and Henoc Monte that we think would have both parents and babies alike going gaga. The bracelets, charged on a docking station during the day, would allow two way communication between mother and child, as well as the ability for the mother to monitor the babies temperature and heart rate. It would also allow the mother to play .mp3 lullabies to the baby
If built, they'd probably have to ditch the idea of monitoring temperature since any readings at the wrist would be poor indicators of core body temperature, but connecting parent and child via bracelet is a good idea that has promise and it'd be great to see this built.
I have to say I don't really understand this new gadget. Connected, how? What's the communication, exactly? If it's an audio speaker, how different is it from a standard baby monitor?
BrainLab Takes iPhone-like Digital Lightbox to Next Logical Step
(01:10PM)
We have previously mentioned that BrainLab's Digital Lightbox reminds us of a giant iPhone. Clearly agreeing with our way of thinking, last week at the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons we saw BrainLab demonstrate an implementation of their knee navigation software that simply uses an iPhone/iPod Touch, coupled with a passive tracking attachment and iPhone App. The iPhone, with attached markers, is used to identify bony landmarks on the knee, which are then fed into the BrainLab software for 3-D guidance of knee surgery. The iPhone screen is used as the display, both for marker placement prompting and leg-alignment indicators during the procedure. Using the motion tracking sensor and the iPhone as an input and display, rather than the other solutions BrainLab supports (shown below), reduces the footprint needed in the OR.
There is no mention of the iPhone version of their imaging suite on the BrainLab website, but the FDA 510(K) clearance given for its Uni-Knee software does not define the display technology used, seemingly allowing this configuration.
Hitachi Offers Its Own Take on Ultrasound Elastography
(12:41PM)
Major ultrasound companies Siemens, GE, and Philips have all offered differing flavors of ultrasound elastography, and now Hitachi has entered the market with Hitachi Real-Time Tissue Elastography (HiRTE). Elastography is a technology that uses ultrasound to tell clinicians about the relative tissue hardness, approved in Europe for identifying firmer, possibly cancerous, regions of soft tissues such as liver, breast, and prostate. It uses the visualization of the propagation of mechanical waves through the tissue to derive either a shear wave velocity or a Young's modulus as a measure of tissues stiffness. Hitachi's claim about the measurement being real-time is in comparison to other providers of elastography which require post-processing of static images either at another workstation or after the image is taken. The Hitachi application will be part of its compact platform Hi Vision Avius.
From Diagnostic Imaging:
Hitachi Medical Systems has been a pioneer in the clinical development of elastography and is offering its own version of this technology, Hitachi Real-Time Tissue Elastography (HiRTE), as a key application on its new compact ultrasound platform, Hi Vision Avius, which follows last year's launch of the Hi Vision Preirus.
The application is part of a package of advanced product features on the new machine, including established technologies such as Hi Rez+ (tissue adaptive filtering), HdTHI (high-definition dynamic tissue harmonic imaging) and Hi Com (frequency and spatial compounding), as well as new features such as RVS (real-time virtual sonography). The latter is a software application that uses magnetic tracking sensors on the ultrasound transducer to display real-time freehand ultrasound images alongside synchronous other images.
Elastography may also have applications in cases of rectal cancer.
Sneak Preview of Dr Nano X Game for iPhone
(12:09PM)
Mission Critical Studios, makers of DR Nano iPhone game that we covered previously, is about to release the next version of the nanomedicine inspired video game.
Here's what a company rep tells us about the new version:
Dr Nano was basically a tunnel game in one environment. We took a different approach when creating Dr Nano X we treated as though we were creating a console game.
Dr Nano X has new characters, new worlds to explore in the Nano Verse on foot, sub and swimming.
New weapons... even a jetpack.
Dr Nano X is all about the mission. Using the Nano Shrink Ray and the Mysterious Osmotic Effect move through the NanoVerse on a mission to save your patients (s). Battle defective Nanobots, Parasites, Viruses and more.
Study Claims First In-Vivo Gene Delivery
(10:37AM)
While gene therapy has seemed always just on the verge of being right around the corner, the limitation has always been delivery of the gene. How do you get the new gene to the right cells and activated? An in-vivo mice study in PNAS may take us closer to a usable delivery system. Rui Maeda-Mamiya of the University of Tokyo and others were able to get diabetic mice to increase their insulin levels after delivery of a insulin 2 gene by a water-soluble fullerene.
From the study abstract:
Water-soluble fullerenes are molecules with great potential for biological use because they can endow unique characteristics of amphipathic property and form a self-assembled structure by chemical modification. Effective gene delivery in vitro with tetra(piperazino)fullerene epoxide (TPFE) and its superiority to Lipofectin have been described in a previous report. For this study, we evaluated the efficacy of in vivo gene delivery by TPFE. Delivery of enhanced green fluorescent protein gene (EGFP) by TPFE on pregnant female ICR mice showed distinct organ selectivity compared with Lipofectin; moreover, higher gene expression by TPFE was found in liver and spleen, but not in the lung. No acute toxicity of TPFE was found for the liver and kidney, although Lipofectin significantly increased liver enzymes and blood urea nitrogen. In fetal tissues, neither TPFE nor Lipofectin induced EGFP gene expression. Delivery of insulin 2 gene to female C57/BL6 mice increased plasma insulin levels and reduced blood glucose concentrations, indicating the potential of TPFE-based gene delivery for clinical application. In conclusion, this study demonstrated effective gene delivery in vivo for the first time using a water-soluble fullerene.
Envoy Esteem: First Totally Implantable Hearing System Gains FDA Approval
(10:37AM)
The FDA has given approval for Envoy Medical's Esteem hearing system, the first totally implantable prosthetic for moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss. The system detects vibrations at the eardrum, processes the signal digitally, then applies physical vibrations directly to the cochlea.
Clinical studies showed that 56% had improved hearing with the Envoy Esteem compared to their pre-implant hearing aids. However, 7% experienced facial paralysis and 42% experienced taste disturbance as a result of the surgical implantation of the device. Envoy will follow up with a new study of 120 subjects to further evaluate post-implantation complications and device effectiveness.
Cell Levitation to Build 3D Matrix Structures
(10:08AM)
Jokes about needing special glasses aside, Nature Nanotechnology published a letter on March 14, 2010 describing progress in three dimensional cell culture technology from Glauco Souza, et. al. at the Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. According to the research team, prior attempts at 3-D culture have included “protein based gel environments or rotational/agitation-based bioreactors” and yet “broad, practical application of such methods has not been achieved.” The novel method they describe uses magnetic fields to manipulate cells which have endocytosed “gold-hydrogels” which incorporate magnetic iron oxide. Once the cells have taken up the iron in the hydrogel, a magnetic field is applied which levitates the cells, allowing them to grow in a three dimensional architecture as opposed to the standard two dimensional fashion.
One benefit of this technology as reported in the letter is the flexibility of the cell culture medium. Current products available use a fixed chemical environment in their scaffolding to support three dimensional growth of cells. Because certain cell populations have specific metabolic requirements which must be met by the culture medium, the fixed chemical environment of existing 3-D culture techniques may preclude specific cell populations from being used. However, because this technology does not rely on a chemical environment, cell lines are not limited by the medium they grow in but rather the ability to take in the iron laced hydrogel.
The researchers state the potential applications of their work include “biotechnology, drug discovery, stem cell research, or regenerative medicine.” They go on to say, “Indeed, a potential long-term goal is the possibility of accomplishing the ‘engineering’ of normal tissues or complex organs.” The technology has been licensed to n3D Biosciences out of Houston, Texas.
every day I read about stem cell research in America and I hope it will make fast progress I have a horrible condition called Idiopathic Axonal peripheral neuropathy I live in Scotland and my doctor says there is no research treatment cure in Scotland UK It ill be decades before something is available Does this sound like the middle ages???
Does anyone know if stem cell treatment can help my wasting leg muslces within a year i can hardly walk HELP PLEASE
Information Superhighway Through Your Arm
(09:46AM)
Scientists at Korea University in Seoul have demonstrated a prototype of a new biomonitoring system that transmits data through the body, replacing wires and minimizing the need for batteries.
The device is 300 micrometres thick and in a test, using a metal electrode coated with a flexible silicon-rich polymer, the researchers transmitted data at a rate of 10 megabits per second through a person's arm. The device was tested for skin safety after continuous wearing and the data was transmitted via low-frequency electromagnetic waves through the skin.
The technology may have implications for diagnostics, as it can be used to detect electric fluctuations as is currently done by ECG and EEG machines.
Virtobot is the name of a forensic robot used at the University of Bern's Institute of Forensic Medicine to perform virtual autopsies. In the futuristic Virtopsy laboratory, the robot scans the contours and texture of the human body by projecting light bars on it and acquiring high definition images. These data are combined with the CT images acquired by the scanner in the same room. A three dimensional image of the body is then reconstructed that can be used during forensic examinations and be preserved as long as necessary. Additionally, the robot can also perform CT guided biopsies. The US forces have already installed a Virtopsy laboratory at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to assess the cause of death of soldiers sent back from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Retinal Implant First Results from Human Trial
(12:55AM)
Retinal Implant AG from Reutlingen, Germany has announced the results of the first human trial of its subretinal implant. Eleven patients who lost their sight due to retinitis pigmentosa received the implant through surgical transchoroidal implantation. Energy was delivered to the implant via a retroauricular plug. Implantation was successful in all patients without any adverse events.
From the press release:
“I first noticed my eyesight was impaired at 16, and over a period of 16-17 years, my condition deteriorated to complete blindness,” said the 11th patient, a 45 year-old Finland-based male. “I knew there was a chance the implant wouldn’t enable me to see anything, but I was willing to participate in the research with the hope I would regain some sight. When the microchip was turned on, I immediately was able to distinguish light from dark and see outlines of objects. As I got used to the implant, my vision improved dramatically. I was able to form letters into words, even correcting the spelling of my name. I recognized foreign objects such as a banana and could distinguish between a fork, knife and spoon. Most impressively, I could recognize the outlines of people and differentiate heights and arm movements from 20 feet away.”
The implant was removed according to protocol after one or three months, but one study participant was apparently so happy with it that he refused explantation and now has been carrying the implant for four years. The study findings will be presented on May 3th on the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Medtronic's MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time Revel System Receives FDA Approval
(12:00AM)
Medtronic has received FDA approval for its integrated diabetes management system called MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time Revel System. The system combines insulin pump therapy, continuous glucose monitoring and diabetes therapy management software. It features predictive alerts which signal trends in blood glucose levels notifying patients to take preventive measures. For maximal comfort it can be combined with the Medtronic wireless continuous glucose monitoring system and measurements can be uploaded to the online Carelink personal management software. The system is made available immediately in five different colors.
NOTE: We would like to welcome Dr. Wouter Stomp to Medgadget editorial board. He is an MD from the Netherlands, currently working on PhD in radiology. This is his first post.
Radio frequency identification device (RFID) technology is increasingly being adopted by hospitals to track various assets, including everything from blood bags to surgical sponges. We already reported on its use in tracking patients back in 2005. Now a team of researchers from Switzerland has confirmed the safety of RFID chips used in patient wristbands while being scanned by MRI and CT machines. In the worst case scenario MRI examinations at 3 Tesla lasting up to two hours, the temperature of the tissue directly next to the RFID tag was raised by at most 4 degrees Celsius. The wristband did result in some minor distortions on the resulting MRI images in the immediate area of the tag. There was no effect on CT image quality. The tags remained functioning properly after all scans without any data loss.
The delivery of siRNA holds promise for targeted gene silencing in the development of potent gene-specific therapeutics against cancer and other diseases. Injection of naked siRNA alone results in poor accumulation within target tissues and can illicit an immune response, so far limiting the utility of siRNA as a systemic therapy.
China Sky One Medical Inc. has received Conformité Européenne (CE) certification for its Myocardial Infarction and Urine Microalbumin Diagnostic Kits, approving them for sale in the European Union member countries. The AMI diagnostic kit can be used by consumers for the early diagnosis of myocardial infarction. It requires the user to place a blood sample on a marker after which a plus or minus sign will appear, indicating whether the user should seek medical attention. It is based on an assay of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (hFABP), which peaks as early as one hour after myocardial damage occurs, much earlier than the clinically used markers troponin and CKMB. The kit has already been on the market in China since 2007. The Microalbumin Kit is based on an ELISA test showing if microalbuminuria is present, indicating early kidney disease.
While gene therapy has seemed always just on the verge of being right around the corner, the limitation has always been delivery of the gene. How do you get the new gene to the right cells and activated? An in-vivo mice study in PNAS may take us closer to a usable delivery system. Rui Maeda-Mamiya of the University of Tokyo and others were able to get diabetic mice to increase their insulin levels after delivery of a insulin 2 gene by a water-soluble fullerene. 
The system detects vibrations at the eardrum, processes the signal digitally, then applies physical vibrations directly to the cochlea. 
Jokes about needing special glasses aside, Nature Nanotechnology published a letter on March 14, 2010 describing progress in three dimensional cell culture technology from Glauco Souza, et. al. at the Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. According to the research team, prior attempts at 3-D culture have included “protein based gel environments or rotational/agitation-based bioreactors” and yet “broad, practical application of such methods has not been achieved.” The novel method they describe uses magnetic fields to manipulate cells which have endocytosed “gold-hydrogels” which incorporate magnetic iron oxide. Once the cells have taken up the iron in the hydrogel, a magnetic field is applied which levitates the cells, allowing them to grow in a three dimensional architecture as opposed to the standard two dimensional fashion. 
Scientists at Korea University in Seoul have demonstrated a prototype of a new biomonitoring system that transmits data through the body, replacing wires and minimizing the need for batteries.
