News Archive
Archive of industry news from the global hospital industryNews By Date
February 2012
Top
UK hospital invests in SATO self-adhesive paediatric wristband
Frimley Park Hospital NHS Trust in Surrey, UK, has selected SATO, a provider of data collection systems and labelling, to provide its self-adhesive paediatric/infant soft...
US hospital performs first robot-assisted thoracic surgery
St John's Hospital in the US state of Minnesota has performed the first robot-assisted thoracic surgery to treat lung...
UK children's hospital receives device to reduce anxiety in patients
The Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, Scotland, has received Diversionary Therapy Technologies' (DTT) ditto device from Sick Kids Friends...
Michigan hospital deploys Toshiba's new ultrasound system
Spectrum Health in Michigan, US, has deployed the first Aplio 500 ultrasound system from Toshiba America Medical...
Texas hospital implements negative pressure wound therapy system
The Lyndon Baines Johnson General Hospital (LBJ Hospital) in Texas has become the first US hospital to treat patients using Smith & Nephew's pocket-sized PICO single use negative pressure...
Australian hospital opens new hyperbaric chamber
The Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, Australia, has opened a new $5.2m hyperbaric chamber, three times the size of its old one, hospital officials have...
Maryland healthcare network to implement physician charting software
Upper Chesapeake Health (UCH) in the US state of Maryland has chosen Forerun's FlexChart advanced physician documentation software for the emergency departments of Upper Chesapeake Medical...
Boston health centre unveils 79,000ft² community care facility
Whittier Street Health Center (WSHC) has opened a new six-storey community health facility in Roxbury,...
Sarasota Memorial Hospital deploys new PD diagnosis technology
Sarasota Memorial Hospital in the US state of Florida has deployed what it claims to be the first and only FDA-approved test to diagnose Parkinson's disease...
Swedish Medical Center deploys new interactive patient care solution
US-based Swedish Medical Center has deployed Aceso UpCare technology at its newly opened Issaquah...
US hospital deploys acute care electronic health record solution
NorthCrest Medical Center in Springfield, Tennessee, US, has chosen Allscripts's Sunrise Clinical Manager (SCM), an acute care electronic health record (EHR) solution, to help boost the...
CQC warns Great Western Hospital over essential standards
The UK Care Quality Commission (CQC) has reported that the Great Western Hospital in Swindon failed to meet two essential...
DM Healthcare opens new multi-speciality hospital in India
Dubai-based DM Healthcare has opened the Aster-Aadhar Hospital, a multi-speciality hospital in Kolhapur, Maharashtra,...
UK hospital installs AeroScout Asset Tracking & Management solution
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust has installed AeroScout's Asset Tracking & Management...
Nuffield Health deploys new diagnostic ultrasound system
Nuffield Health Exeter Hospital in the UK has deployed the ACUSON S2000 diagnostic ultrasound system from Siemens...
Capital Health deploys new molecular breast imaging device
US-based medical network Capital Health has deployed GE Healthcare's Discovery NM 750b, a specialised breast scanner that enables advanced functional imaging of breast cancer, at its New...
January 2012
Top
German hospital deploys IntraOp Mobetron for IOERT
Helios Berlin Buch, a German hospital, has deployed IntraOp Medical's Mobetron system for intra-operative electron radiation therapy...
KishHealth System introduces new clinical surveillance system
KishHealth System in DeKalb, Illinois, US, has been using the Pharmacy Xpert clinical surveillance and intervention system from Thomson Reuters to capture interventions and improve patient...
CQC warns Springfield Care Home over standards
The UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned Springfield Care Home in Walthamstow, east London, that it must take immediate action to improve...
Mubadala Healthcare to open new hospital in 2013
Mubadala Healthcare, a unit of Mubadala Development, will open Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD) on Sowwah Island, Abu Dhabi, in...
US hospital deploys enterprise-wide device connectivity infrastructure
Virtua Health, a comprehensive multihospital healthcare system in New Jersey, US, has deployed Nuvon's Vega system for its enterprise-wide device connectivity...
Fauquier Hospital deploys new referral management solutions
Fauquier Hospital in Warrenton, Virginia, US, has selected healthcare IT company Proficient Health to streamline its processes for physician orders and patient...
US hospital opens new heart valve clinic
Heart Hospital of Austin in Texas, US, has opened a heart valve clinic featuring trans-catheter aortic valve replacement...
UK hospital performs endovascular surgery using robotic technology
St Mary's Hospital, part of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the UK, has used Hansen Medical's Magellan robotic system for a fenestrated endograft...
Unity Health deploys new interoperability platform
The Unity Health System in New York, US, has adopted the dbMotion Solution, an interoperability platform, as part of the healthcare provider's health information exchange...
Arizona medical centre installs Toshiba breast imaging solution
Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona, has deployed the Vantage Titan 1.5T MR system from Toshiba America Medical...
Ohio Medical Center deploys new cancer technology
University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center in Ohio, US, has installed new technology at the Seidman Cancer Center to treat ovarian, endometrial and other...
UC San Diego Health System to acquire Nevada Cancer Institute
UC San Diego Health System in the US is set to acquire the Nevada Cancer Institute (NVCI) for an undisclosed...
Pennsylvania hospital acquires telemedicine solution
Meadville Medical Center in the US state of Pennslyvania has selected Authentidate's Electronic House Call (EHC) remote vital signs monitoring solution for its chronic disease management...
Omani hospital expands oncology, cardiology centres
The Royal Hospital in Muscat, Oman, is expanding its National Oncology Centre and the National Cardiology...
Bacterial infection at UK hospital linked to death of three babies
The UK's Belfast Trust has announced the death of a third baby at the Royal Maternity Hospital after an outbreak of a bacterial infection known as...
Nebraska Medical Centers to set up new cancer facility
The University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and Nebraska Medical Center in the US have unveiled plans to set up a new cancer treatment and research...
US hospital installs QuadraMed identity management solutions
Westchester Medical Center in New York has installed QuadraMed's identity management solutions as part of an enterprise-wide electronic health record (EHR)...
South Korean hospital and SK Telecom launch Health Connect JV
Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) and SK Telecom in South Korea, have formed a joint venture to connect patients, medical professionals and patients' families to medical equipment...
WVU Hospitals to construct ten-storey tower
West Virginia University (WVU) Hospitals in the US, is to build a ten-storey tower to address the increasing capacity challenges and improve the healthcare needs of patients in the...
BGS Global Hospitals installs new radiation therapy technology
Global Hospitals Group has deployed what it claims to be Asia Pacific's first advanced radiation therapy technology for cancer treatment at its BGS Global Hospitals in Bangalore and Karnataka,...
Nashville General Hospital implements integrated radiology IT solutions
Nashville General Hospital in the US state of Texas has selected Sectra's suite of web-based, integrated RIS/PACS...
Care Quality Commission issues warning to Birkdale Park Nursing Home
The UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has urged Birkdale Park Nursing Home in Southport to take measures to meet essential...
Woodland Heights Medical Center installs new robotic surgical system
Woodland Heights Medical Center in the US state of Texas has introduced the da Vinci Si surgical system to its operating...
Saudi Arabia invests in heat stroke treatment for Hajj pilgrims
The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Health has deployed ZOLL Medical's intravascular temperature management (IVTM) systems to treat pilgrims suffering from heat stroke during the annual Hajj...
Fort Irwin to construct new hospital
Fort Irwin & the National Training Center, a major training area for the US Military, is set to build a new $400m hospital to replace the 40-year-old existing...
SBH acquires two UHS hospitals
Strategic Behavioral Health (SBH) has acquired Montevista Hospital and Red Rock Behavioral Health Hospital in Las Vegas, US, from Universal Health Services...
US hospital receives transformational grant from Marcus Foundation
Boca Raton Regional Hospital, US, has received a transformational $25m grant from the Marcus Foundation to create the Marcus Neuroscience Institute on the hospital's main...
Jackson Hospital announces expansion of emergency rooms
Jackson Hospital in the US state of Alabama has added a 3,863ft² facility to its emergency room as part of the hospital's $7.5m renovation and expansion...
BryanLGH deploys Thomson Reuters clinical surveillance solution
BryanLGH Medical Center in the US has deployed the Pharmacy Xpert clinical surveillance and intervention solution from Thomson Reuters to improve medication...
Quincy Medical Center to re-establish maternity ward
Quincy Medical Center in Massachusetts, US, is re-establishing its maternity ward as part of a $30m hospital renovation...
Blackpool Victoria deploys pathology workflow system
Blackpool Victoria Hospital in the UK has deployed GHG Software's specialist pathology voice recognition (VR) workflow...
HMC selects Cerner to automate Qatar public health system
Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and Cerner have signed an agreement to automate the public health system in Qatar, including all Hamad hospitals and primary healthcare...
Silver Cross Hospital to open in Illinois
The new campus of the Silver Cross Hospital in Illinois, US, is set open next...
Oxford University Hospitals Trust to expand neonatal intensive care unit
Oxford University Hospitals Trust in the UK is planning a £5.5m expansion of a neonatal intensive care unit at Oxford's John Radcliffe...
Scottish Government invests £2bn in hospital infrastructure projects
The Scottish Government will invest £2bn in hospital infrastructure projects to deliver better facilities for the...
Mammoth Hospital deploys revenue cycle management solution
Mammoth Hospital in California, US, has selected a solution to manage the revenue cycle for 39 affiliated providers in 11 outpatient...
Rady Children's Hospital deploys device connectivity solution
Rady Children's Hospital San Diego (RCHSD) in the US has deployed Nuvon’s open architecture vectored event grid architecture (VEGA) device connectivity solution for its enterprise-wide...
Mafraq Hospital to open new hypertension clinic
Mafraq Hospital, owned by the Abu Dhabi Health Services Company PJSC (SEHA), is planning to open a new hypertension clinic in Abu Dhabi,...
US health institute wins Aetna Foundation research grant
The National Public Health and Hospital Institute, the research affiliate of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH), has received a research grant from the...
Maude L Whatley Health Center announces renovation
The Maude L Whatley Health Center in Alabama, US, has announced a $2.4m renovation and...
UTMC deploys OxyHeal multiplace hyperbaric chamber system
The University of Toledo Medical Center (UTMC) in Ohio, US, has deployed OxyHeal Medical Systems' multiplace hyperbaric chamber system at its Wound Healing & Hyperbaric Medicine...
Cincinnati Hospital set to expand
The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati, US, is set to lease a new building for non-clinical offices and support...
December 2011
Top
CTCA opens new surgical facility at Midwestern Regional Medical Center
Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) has opened new surgical facility at Midwestern Regional Medical Center in Zion,...
Season's Greetings from the editorial team
We will be taking a short break over the holiday season. Our daily news service will return in full on 3...
Hackensack University Medical Center selects SurgiCount Safety-Sponge system
Hackensack University Medical Center in the US has selected the SurgiCount Safety-Sponge system to improve patient safety and reduce error rates in its operating...
Biggs Gridley Memorial Hospital deploys Prognosis EHR solution
Biggs Gridley Memorial Hospital in US has deployed an enterprise clinical and financial system with an electronic health record (EHR) solution from Prognosis Health Information...
Tennessee health network deploys OptumInsight health information exchange technology
The East Tennessee Health Information Network has deployed OptumInsight's health information exchange technology for better patient care coordination and...
Huntsville Hospital to purchase Parkway Medical Center
Huntsville Hospital in the US has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Parkway Medical Center of Decatur from Capella...
Niles hospital to expand emergency department
The Lakeland Community Hospital in Niles, Michigan, US, is investing $7.4m to expand its emergency...
Chindex opens new Tianjin United Family Hospital in China
US healthcare company Chindex International has officially opened Tianjin United Family Hospital in Beijing,...
MIC Clinic installs new operating room management solution
The MIC Clinic in Berlin has installed a new solution manufactured by Karl Storz ORchestrion and Ekahau RTLS for the management of clinical processes around its operating...
Canadian hospital selects Cisco medical-grade network
Woodstock Hospital has selected Cisco's medical-grade network for its new facility in...
New Zealand hospital deploys Varian radiotherapy system
Wellington Hospital in New Zealand has deployed a TrueBeam device from Varian Medical Systems for radiotherapy...
German university hospital deploys new image-guided surgery system
University hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar in Germany has deployed Brainlab's Curve image-guided surgery...
UK CQC warns Alpha Hospitals over non-compliance
The UK Care Quality Commission (CQC) has warned Alpha Hospitals (NW) in Sheffield that it must take necessary measures to meet essential...
SA Health to deploy Allscripts e-health record system
The public health system of South Australia, SA Health, will deploy Allscripts' Sunrise Enterprise suite of advanced clinical, access management and financial solutions across its network...
NHS trust installs Honeywell patient monitoring technology
NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust in the UK has successfully installed Honeywell's multipatient monitoring technology in residential care homes in the region to...
Hoag Memorial Hospital opens new operating suite in California
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in California, US, has opened an advanced cardiac operating...
US Regional Medical Center deploys ultraviolet disinfection system
The Regional Medical Center of Orangeburg & Calhoun counties in US has deployed a new tool, the Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfector...
Hackensack to reopen acute care hospital
Hackensack University Medical Center is set to reopen an acute care hospital at the site of the former Pascack Valley facility in New Jersey,...
US hospitals lack prevention practices for urinary tract infections, study finds
A University of Michigan Health System and the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare Center survey has found that the majority of US hospitals lack prevention practices for...
CQC issues formal warning to New Leaf Health Care
England's Care Quality Commission has formally warned New Leaf Health Care to make urgent improvements to protect the safety and welfare of...
Genomic Oncotype breast cancer test to predict risk of recurrence
Genomic Health's Oncotype DX has met its primary endpoint in a clinical validation study investigating patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a type of breast...
DFine wins approval to launch StabiliT system in Canada and Mexico
DFine has received clearance to introduce its StabiliT RadioFrequency Targeted Vertebral Augmentation system throughout Canada and Mexico...
Perham Health to open new hospital in Minnesota
Perham Health is set to open a new hospital and clinic in the US state of Minnesota in January, the organisation has...
Hughston Clinic launches outpatient surgical centre
Hughston Clinic has announced the launch of a new outpatient surgical facility in north Columbus, Georgia,...
OrbusNeich presents safety profile of Genous stent
OrbusNeich's Genous stent was found to be safe when combined with a ten-day dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) in the multicentre...
Lehigh Valley Health selects Orion HIE solution
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN), a group of hospitals in Pennsylvania, has selected Orion Health to provide its enterprise health information exchange (HIE)...
UK Department of Health renews focus on improving patient results
The Department of Health in the UK has launched the updated National Health Service (NHS) Outcomes Framework 2012/13 which is set to deliver a true verdict on how the NHS is...
Sorin Group adult oxygenator wins European approval
Sorin Group, a global medical device company, has received European approval for its Inspire oxygenator system, designed for cardiopulmonary bypass procedures in adult...
AirXpanders treats first patient in XPAND trial
AirXpanders has treated the first mastectomy patient undergoing breast reconstruction in the AirXpanders patient activated controlled tissue expander system for breast reconstruction (XPAND)...
French Hospital delivers advanced radiotherapy treatments using TrueBeam
Centre Val d'Aurelle in France has begun the delivery of advanced radiotherapy treatments using TrueBeam...
Vibra selects multiple PatientKeeper software modules
Vibra Healthcare has selected multiple PatientKeeper software modules to enhance physicians' access to patient information and design documentation processes at its long-term acute care...
NSF funds UA researchers' development of new imaging device
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a $530,000 grant to the University of Arizona (UA) College of Engineering, US, to develop a terahertz spectral...
Canadian study finds C. difficile infections increase hospital stay
A team of researchers in Ottawa, Canada, has reported that a Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection increases a patient's hospital stay by at least six...
Thailand hospital introduces new medical surgery software
Vejthani Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, has introduced computer assisted replacement surgery for knee...
FDA clears Covidien SpiderFX embolic protection device
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Covidien's SpiderFX device, indicated for use in arteries in the lower extremities to treat severely calcified...
Researchers develop blood test for membranous nephropathy
Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center have developed a blood test to diagnose membranous nephropathy in its early...
Quanterix to develop botulinum toxin assay
Quanterix has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Botulinum Research Center to develop and validate an assay to measure low levels of the botulinum toxin within complex...
Boston gets FDA clearance for new cardiac devices
Boston Scientific has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its Incepta, Energen, and Punctua cardiac resynchronisation therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) and...
Metro Spinal Clinic deploys IBM analytics software for pain management
The Metro Spinal Clinic in Melbourne, Australia, has deployed IBM analytics software to track and record data to manage patients'...
Study criticises food in Californian children's hospitals
Food served in children's hospitals in the US state of California has been rated as largely unhealthy by a new...
Covidien Endo Stitch suturing device found effective against benign conditions
Covidien's Endo Stitch automated suturing device delivers a reduction in mean hospital costs and operating room time during total laparoscopic hysterectomies to treat benign conditions, a study...
Mountain Medical selects Medicalis radiology workflow solution
Mountain Medical has selected Medicalis's Enterprise Worklist solution to integrate workflow across its 15 reading sites and 800,000 studies throughout...
Uptake Medical treats first patient with InterVapor system
Uptake Medical has treated the first patient using its InterVapor system, designed for endoscopic lung volume reduction in patients with severe...
West Bay Orthopaedic Medical Group selects ChartLogic electronic health record suite
The West Bay Orthopaedic Medical Group based in California, US, has selected ChartLogic's electronic health record suite for its...
California Surgery Centre selects ProVation electronic health record
Wolters Kluwer Health's ProVation electronic health record software has been selected by Northern California Surgery Center in the...
Neuros gets FDA approval begin electrical nerve block technology study
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Neuros Medical investigational device exemption approval to initiate a pilot clinical trial to investigate its patented...
Philippine army hospital invests in new equipment
Army General Hospital in the Philippines has invested PHP70m ($1.6m) in new equipment to improve its medical...
UK researchers develop new blood-pressure monitor
Researchers at the University of Leicester in the UK have developed a new wristwatch device to monitor blood pressure in collaboration with HealthStats, a Singaporean biotechnology...
November 2011
Top
FDA clears Philips' whole-body PET/MR imaging system
Royal Philips Electronics' whole body PET/MR imaging system, the Ingenuity TF PET/MR, has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration...
Skanska to help build University Medical Center in the US
Skanska and its joint venture partner MAPP Construction have won a $522m contract to build the first phase of the new University Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana,...
CQC issues warning to Cygnet Health Care
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a formal warning to Cygnet Health Care to make urgent improvements to its standards of care at an independent mental health hospital in...
FirstMark PREvent blood assay could diagnose coronary artery disease
FirstMark, a diagnostic division of GenWay Biotech, has presented the study results for PREvent, a multiple biomarker test that diagnoses near term risk of myocardial infarction for suspected...
New airflow control device found to reduce asthma symptoms
According to a study published in medical journal Thorax, asthma patients can improve their quality of life and reduce persistent symptoms during the day by using a simple bedside...
US researchers develop new device for urinary problems
Case Western Reserve University in the US is developing a neurotechnology device to treat patients suffering from urinary problems due to spasms in the urethral...
Missouri hospital installs Safescan ferromagnetic detection systems
Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, US, and its sister facility in Overland Park, have deployed Mednovus' Safescan ferromagnetic detection systems to increase MRI...
CQC issues second warning to James Paget Hospital
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has urged the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston to improve its standard of care or face legal action for a second...
Philips launches Veradius Neo mobile C-arm
Royal Philips Electronics has introduced its new Philips Veradius Neo mobile C-arm to enhance patient...
Beth Israel Medical Center adopts CriticalKey's KeyEngine software
Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, US, has entered into a five-year contract to deploy CriticalKey's KeyEngine software to electronically deliver radiology results directly to...
Biotronik implants first patients with new Lumax 740 ICDs
Biotronik has implanted the first patients with its new Lumax 740 implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD), the first such device suitable for use with...
UPMC and Washington Hospital to open urgent care centres in Pennsylvania
The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and Washington Hospital have partnered to open the first of three new urgent care centres in Peters, Pennsylvania,...
Sphere Medical's Proxima blood analyser meets primary endpoint
Sphere Medical's Proxima Generation 2 has met its primary endpoint in a multicentre clinical trial conducted at two UK hospitals, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and West Suffolk...
CQC to inspect UK home care services
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said that it will carry out a themed inspection programme of home care services to ensure they are meeting essential...
FDA approves Medtronic continuous glucose monitoring system
Medtronic has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its iPro2, a next-generation continuous glucose monitoring...
US medical centre signs trial agreement with Daxor
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, US, has entered into a trial agreement to adopt Daxor's BVA-100 blood volume...
Genesis to produce Future Path urine-management bag
Genesis Plastics Welding has announced that it will manufacture Future Path Medical's iBag urine-management...
US hospital installs Tru-D disinfection system
Princeton Community Hospital in West Virginia, US, has deployed the Tru-D's SmartUVC room decontamination system, which helps to disinfect environmental surfaces in patient rooms and operating...
FDA clears Abbott Chagas disease test
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a test developed by Abbott Laboratories to detect antibodies to Trypanosoma cruzi, the cause of Chagas...
Four Irish hospitals deploy McKesson imaging solutions
Healthcare technology provider McKesson has implemented its Horizon Medical Imaging picture archiving communications system (PACS) and radiology imaging system (RIS) at four hospitals in...
Cervilenz device receives CE mark
Cervilenz Inc has received the CE mark for its CerviLenz device, designed to measure vaginal cervical...
Deep brain stimulation therapy show promise in depression treatment
The multicentre pilot study of the Libra deep brain stimulation system for major depressive disorder has demonstrated improvement in symptoms among patients who are highly treatment...
UK hospitals trial new furniture to fight HCAIs
Four new bedside furniture designs have been trialled on wards in eight hospitals across England to help tackle healthcare-associated infections...
British Columbia Cancer Agency buys RainDance ThunderStorm system
British Columbia Cancer Agency in Canada has purchased RainDance Technologies' new ThunderStorm system, which is designed to test for hereditary cancer using next-generation...
FDA clears Medtronic pain management system
The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Medtronic's AdaptiveStim with RestoreSensor neurostimulation system for the management of chronic...
Northern Ireland hospitals to receive JAC medication management software
Northern Ireland Health and Social Care (HSC) has selected JAC Computer Services to deliver a pharmacy software solution across four hospital...
Sanuwave dermaPACE found effective against diabetic foot ulcers
Sanuwave Health has presented positive data from its Phase III clinical trial of dermaPACE, used as a treatment for diabetic foot...
Ochsner Medical Center installs Toshiba vascular X-ray system
Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, has implemented Toshiba America Medical Systems' cardiovascular X-ray...
FDA clears PositiveID diabetes management system
PositiveID has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its iglucose mobile health system for diabetes...
Boston implants first patient with left atrial appendage closure device in Colombia
Boston Scientific's Watchman left atrial appendage closure device has been implanted in the first group of patients at Angiografia de Occidente in Cali,...
Saudi Arabian hospital selects Lumedx CVIS
The King Faisal Specialty Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has installed Lumedx's cardiovascular information and imaging systems (CVIS) at its Heart...
Woman's and Reach partner for emergency air medical service
The Woman's Hospital of Texas in the US has partnered with Reach Air Medical Services to provide a 24/7 emergency medical helicopter service to Houston and surrounding...
CardioDx gene-expression performs well in trial
CardioDx's Corus CAD blood-based gene expression test has demonstrated superior performance in a...
Tebow Foundation and Cure to build paediatric hospital in the Philippines
The Tim Tebow Foundation and Cure International are planning to build a $3m surgical children's hospital in Davao City, the...
X-spine spinal implant system gets FDA approval
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved X-spine's Calix PC spinal implant system, an intervertebral body fusion system designed to treat spinal...
Qatar hospital opens new patient care units
Hamad General Hospital in Qatar has opened several new patient care units to increase its bed capacity and provide quality care for...
Torax continence restoration system wins CE mark
Torax Medical has received the CE mark for its Fenix continence restoration...
MDxHealth prostate cancer assay shows efficacy
MDxHealth's Prostate ConfirmMDx test has been found to help urologists to distinguish between true negative biopsies and occult prostate cancers undetected by biopsy and histopathological...
Vibra to open long-term acute care hospital in Texas
US-based speciality hospital provider Vibra Healthcare is planning to open a long-term acute care hospital in DeSoto, Texas,...
Harrison Medical Center deploys Toshiba vascular X-ray systems
Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton, Washington, US, has implemented Toshiba America Medical Systems' three Infinix-i vascular X-ray systems to conduct interventional cardiac, peripheral...
St Mary's Hospital in London performs surgery with Hansen Magellan Robotic System
Hansen Medical's Magellan Robotic System has been used for the first time at St Mary's Hospital for the treatment of peripheral vascular...
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center adds AirLife Denver helicopter service
Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Wyoming, US, has announced that it will expand its emergency care operations with air...
Boston PolarCath dilatation system found to reduce restenosis rate
Boston Scientific's PolarCath peripheral dilatation system has demonstrated positive results from the COBRA clinical trial, which investigated post-dilation of nitinol stents using CryoPlasty...
New York university to install TeraMedica's Evercore vendor neutral architecture
State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University is set to install TeraMedica's Evercore enterprise vendor neutral architecture across two hospitals and other regional...
Private firm takes over failing NHS hospital in £1bn deal
The UK Treasury has awarded a £1bn, ten-year contract to private healthcare provider Circle to take over the management of the 'failing' Hinchingbrooke Hospital in...
Abbott new hepatitis assay gets CE mark
Abbott's Architect hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) diagnostic test has been awarded the CE...
St Jude reports positive transcatheter heart valve results
St Jude Medical has presented positive results from a feasibility study of its Portico transcatheter aortic heart valve, conducted at Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, Northern...
Indian healthcare group to set up new surgical facilities
India's Nova Medical Centers is planning to invest Rs5bn ($99m) to expand its...
New Electronic Nose could detect tuberculosis
Researchers from the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), India, and Next Dimension Technologies US, have developed a new hand-held breathalyser for...
South African hospital reports reduction in HAI with ICNet
Mediclinic Southern Africa, a South African private hospital, has demonstrated a positive reduction of hospital acquired infections (HAI) at its hospitals, following the installation of...
US health centre adopts Prognosis EHR solution
Sedgwick County Health Center has selected Prognosis Health Information Systems' electronic health record (EHR) solution to install at a 12-bed hospital in Julesburg, Colorado,...
Medtronic Aquamantys system found to lower blood loss during surgery
Medtronic has announced the results from a retrospective study of its Aquamantys system that demonstrated the efficacy in limiting blood loss and reducing transfusions during spinal...
US hospital selects ProVation solution for patient care
Wolters Kluwer Health's ProVation MD software has been selected by University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro in New Jersey, US, to provide gastroenterology procedure documentation...
FDA clears Femasys low-pressure hysterosalpingography device
Femasys has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its FemChec pressure management device, designed to deliver a low-pressure hysterosalpingography as a confirmation...
Svelte treats first patient in DIRECT study
Svelte Medical Systems has treated its first patient at Auckland City Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand, in the DIRECT...
Northridge Healthcare embraces CareSys solution
Northridge Healthcare, a UK-based provider of short break services for adults with multiple and complex health needs, has implemented Advanced Health & Care's fully integrated CareSys solution...
NIH funds Kensey Nash for tendon product research
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a two-year, $1.9m Phase II small business innovation research grant to Kensey Nash, to further evaluate the use of a bioadhesive surgical...
Lutheran General Hospital opens new cancer treatment facility
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in the US state of Illinois has opened a new $6m cancer treatment...
Medtronic direct aortic therapy system gets CE mark
Medtronic has received the CE mark for its CoreValve system, used for direct aortic and subclavian transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with severe aortic...
South Carolina hospital to deploy PatientKeeper applications
Conway Medical Center has purchased PatientKeeper's suite of clinical applications to automate physician workflow and to deploy healthcare information technology at its 210-bed hospital located...
K2M develops two new spinal fusion treatment systems
K2M, a spinal device company, has developed two new solutions for the treatment of complex spinal pathologies, the Aleutian Transforaminal-Lumbar II interbody system and...
RegionalCare Hospital acquires Essent Healthcare
US-based RegionalCare Hospital Partners has completed the acquisition of Essent...
Lompoc Valley Medical Center to deploy Allscripts electronic health record
Lompoc Valley Medical Center in the US is to install Allscripts' Sunrise Clinical Manager acute care electronic health record to support a connected community of health and improve the...
TATRC funds PhysioSonics to optimise cerebral blood-flow monitor
PhysioSonics has received a $2.5m grant from the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) to optimise its proprietary cerebral blood-flow monitor to detect...
Houston Healthcare to install ProVation order sets
Houston Healthcare in the US has chosen to deploy Wolters Kluwer Health's ProVation Order Sets at Houston Medical Center and Perry...
Asuragen pancreatic cancer assay found effective
Asuragen's microRNA-based test, miRInform Pancreas, has demonstrated improvements in the diagnosis of pancreatic ductal...
University of Michigan to open new pediatric hospital
The University of Michigan will open the $754m C S Mott Children's Hospital next month, it was announced at a ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremony last...
TriVascular abdominal stent graft gets FDA approval
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved TriVasculars' Ovation abdominal stent graft system to treat abdominal aortic...
FDA approves Edwards transcatheter aortic heart valve
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Edwards Lifesciences' Sapien transcatheter aortic heart valve, designed to treat inoperable patients with severe symptomatic aortic...
Medtronic commences transcatheter valve trial
Medtronic has implanted the first patient with its CoreValve system in a clinical trial in...
US hospital selects RelayHealth hospital readmission management system
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina, US, has chosen RelayHealth's RelayCare hospital readmission management system to help reduce readmissions, improve patient care and reduce...
Hong Kong hospital adopts Varian radiotherapy system
The Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital has begun treating cancer using Varian Medicals' TrueBeam...
UK scientists trial new brain tumour treatment
The Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust and Cancer Research UK have teamed up to begin a multicentre Phase II clinical trial for a new surgical technique to treat brain...
Kaiser Permanente opens new hospital in California
Care consortium Kaiser Permanente has opened a new medical centre in Ontario, California,...
Quest to introduce new influenza test in Europe
Quest Diagnostics is to introduce the new Simplexa Flu A/B & RSV Direct test in...
FDA approves Abbott's Xience Prime drug-eluting stent
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Abbott's next-generation Xience Prime everolimus-eluting coronary stent system, used to treat coronary artery...
Spine Wave initiates NuCore injectable nucleus device study
Spine Wave has begun a clinical study to determine the feasibility of implanting its NuCore injectable nucleus device using a proprietary percutaneous technique to treat degenerative disc...
St Cloud hospital selects Merge image sharing solutions
Centracare Health System's St Cloud Hospital in Minnesota, US, has installed the Merge Healthcare iConnect Vendor Neutral Archive(VNA) and iConnect Share image interoperability...
FDA clears new Gen-Probe HPV assay
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Gen-Probe's Aptima human papillomavirus (HPV) assay, used to diagnose cervical...
US hospital fully opens
The new 550,000ft² Swedish / Issaquah medical campus has opened in the Issaquah Highlands, in the US state of...
Sensei and Ideal Life partner for wireless health devices
Sensei has partnered with Ideal Life to integrate Ideal Life's wireless heath devices into the Sensei Connect...
Swedish university hospital to deploy Varian radiotherapy systems
Lund University Hospital in Sweden is set to install four of Varian Medical Systems' TrueBeam treatment systems in...
EarlySense to introduce new patient monitoring system at MEDICA 2011
EarlySense will unveil a new contact-free patient monitoring system at MEDICA 2011 in Düsseldorf, Germany, which will be held on 16-20...
Big Brother Watch reveals NHS patient records breach
Research conducted by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch has revealed how medical information is lost and shared on Facebook, and how NHS staff look at each other's medical...
Twin County Regional Healthcare partners with Duke LifePoint Healthcare
US-based Twin County Regional Healthcare has signed a memorandum of understanding to form a partnership to own and operate the hospital with Duke LifePoint...
FDA approves Stealth Therapeutics implantable arm port
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for Stealth Therapeutics' Invisiport implantable arm port, intended for use in patients requiring long-term intravenous...
South Dakota medical centre installs McKesson's pharmacy automation solution
Sanford USD Medical Center in South Dakota, US, has deployed McKesson's pharmacy automation solution to help optimise productivity and improve point-of-care medication safety at its...
Stellar partners with Life Diagnostics to develop ELISA test kits
Stellar Biotechnologies has entered into a manufacturing and supply agreement with Life Diagnostics to develop Stellar brand keyhole limpet haemocyanin ELISA test kits, used to detect...
October 2011
Top
Shamokin hospital deploys Wolters Kluwer coding and billing software
Wolters Kluwer Health's ProVation MD software has been selected by Shamokin Community Area Hospital in Pennsylvania, US, to provide gastroenterology procedure documentation and...
FDA clears Quidel analyser and influenza assay
Quidel, a rapid diagnostic testing solutions and cell-based virology assays provider, has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Sofia analyser and...
CQC urges UK health trust to improve standards
An investigation by the UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has revealed 16 major concerns at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust...
Medtronic enrolls first patient for Symplicity HTN-3 clinical trial
Medtronic has enrolled the first patient at the Prairie Heart Institute, St. John's Hospital in Springfield, US, in the Symplicity HTN-3 clinical trial of the Symplicity Renal Denervation...
Scripps Health selects Allscripts information connectivity solution
Scripps Health has selected Allscripts technology to connect physicians, hospitals and other healthcare providers across San Diego County,...
OrbusNeich Genous stent proven effective in study
Twelve-month follow-up data from a clinical trial of OrbusNeich's Genous stent has revealed that the device is safe and...
US surgery centre deploys BioDrain surgical fluid disposal system
Southern Florida surgery centre has installed BioDrain Medical's FDA-cleared Streamway system for automated surgical fluid...
Accuray wins FDA clearance for Dose Control System
Radiation oncology company Accuray has been granted US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the Dose Control System, a new feature for the company's TomoTherapy...
Medicis Technologies LipoSonix system gets FDA clearance
Medicis Pharmaceutical's subsidiary Medicis Technologies has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its second generation LipoSonix system, designed for non-invasive...
FDA clears Abbott AML diagnostic test
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted approval for an in vitro diagnostic test to determine the prognosis of patients with acute myeloid leukaemia...
American Hospital Dubai opens new transitional care unit
The American Hospital Dubai has opened a new transitional care unit to offer long-term care to patients who require high levels of specialist, multidisciplinary...
South Australian hospitals to deploy Telstra bedside computers
Telstra will install around 3,500 bedside computers in South Australian public hospitals to enable doctors and nurses to use clinical applications and access patient...
DeKalb hospital plans expansion project
DeKalb Memorial Hospital in Alabama, US, is planning to add a new emergency department, imaging and laboratory department and a critical care unit to its facility through an $8.7m...
NHS hospital to install TeleTracking automated portering system
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust in the UK has chosen to deploy TeleTracking Technologies' TransportTracking automated portering system to improve...
Sonitus unveils new hearing device
Sonitus Medical unveiled its SoundBite hearing system, a non-surgical and removable hearing prosthetic to treat single-sided deafness and conductive hearing...
PSA test could predict low-risk prostate cancer, says study
A study by Mayo clinic has found that the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test could be a vital tool in predicting which men should have biopsies and which are likely to be diagnosed with...
Covidien reports six-month plaque excision study results
Covidien has reported six-month results from a study assessing the effectiveness of plaque excision as a frontline therapy for the treatment of peripheral arterial...
FDA clears Canon TX-20 tonometer
Canon USA's TX-20 Full Auto Tonometer has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration...
University hospital selects RaySearch treatment planning system
RaySearch Laboratories has recieved an order to install its treatment planning systems at the University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell in New...
NVision eye centres to deploy NextGen electronic health record
NextGen Healthcare Information Systems has signed an agreement with NVision Laser Eye Centers to implement NextGen ambulatory electronic health record and practice management solutions across...
Schneck hospital to install Omnicell medication management solutions
Schneck Medical Center in Indiana, US, has chosen to implement Omnicell's G4 medication management solutions for its pharmacy, nursing and perioperative care...
Hansen Medical begins study of robotic catheter system
Hansen Medical has initiated a study to evaluate its flexible catheter Sensei X robotic system in patients with ventricular...
BioMimetic's Augment bone graft gains Australian aaproval
Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved BioMimetic Therapeutics' Augment bone graft for marketing and listing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic...
Palmetto Health trials CareView system
Healthcare IT provider CareView Communications is to install its CareView system in Palmetto Health Richland hospital in South Carolina, US, for a six month...
Dubai children's hospital begins 2nd phase of construction
The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has announced that construction of the second phase of Dh673m ($183m) Al Jalila Children's Speciality Hospital has...
HP, Lucile Packard hospital develop digital patient status system
HP Labs and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Stanford, California, have jointly developed a new real-time patient-centred dashboard to improve patient...
Spineology interbody fusion system wins FDA nod
Spineology has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA ) clearance for its new Rampart line of Interbody fusion...
First German patient completes treatment with Sapheon closure system
Sapheon has treated its first patient with bilateral saphenous reflux in Germany using its Sapheon closure...
AHS opens new visa screening centre in UAE
Ambulatory Healthcare Services (AHS), a SEHA HealthSystem Facility, has opened a new Disease Prevention and Screening Center (DPSC) in Al Marfa,...
Kindred Healthcare acquires US-based home health services provider
Kindred Healthcare's subsidiary has acquired the assets of US-based home health services provider, Synergy Home Health...
Ventus Medical sleep apnea therapy shows positive results
Ventus Medical has reported positive long-term clinical data from its proprietary Provent sleep apnea therapy, an innovative, non-invasive treatment for obstructive sleep apnea...
St. Jude Medical renal denervation technology to treat hypertension
As part of a feasibility study, Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia has performed the first procedure using St. Jude Medical's renal denervation catheter and generator system to...
Biodesix VeriStrat test could identify RCC disease characteristics
Biodesix has reported that its pretreatment blood-based test, VeriStrat, was able to stratify renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients treated with a combination of two targeted therapies,...
EMKinetics commences neuromodulation system trial
EMKinetics has begun the TranStim transdermal neuromodulation system trial in patients suffering from urge incontinence and overactive...
CHOP issues bond sale to fund ambulatory care centre development
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), US, has announced the sale of $270m fixed-rate bonds to raise money for future growth of the CHOP Care...
HCA acquires HCA-HealthONE JV
US-based private health care operator Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) has completed the purchase of The Colorado Health Foundation's 40% ownership of the HCA-HealthONE Joint Venture for...
CQC urges NHS acute hospitals to improve standards of care
The UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has called for a system-wide response to combat the failings of NHS acute hospitals and provide a good standard of care to older...
FDA approves Unisense FertiliTech EmbryoScope
Unisense FertiliTech's EmbryoScope has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for clinical use in...
US medical centre installs coding and billing software
Palestine Regional Medical Center in Texas, US, has selected Wolters Kluwer Health's ProVation MD software for gastroenterology procedure documentation and...
Isto Technologies' bone graft substitute and extender wins CE mark
Isto Technologies, an orthobiologics company, has received the Conformite Europeenne (CE) mark approval for its InQu bone graft substitute and...
BSD hyperthermia system found to benefit cancer patients
BSD Medical has reported the positive study results of its BSD-2000 hyperthermia system, which is used to treat...
Rainbow Hospital Partnership wins New Brunswick hospital contract
Rainbow Hospital Partnership, wholly-owned by SNC-Lavalin, has been awarded a public-private partnership contract for the design, construction, commissioning and financing of the new...
FDA clears CorMatrix carotid tissue repair implant
CorMatrix Cardiovascular has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its CorMatrix ECM, a device designed for pericardial closure and carotid tissue repair...
US medical centre installs radiofrequency detection technology in operating suites
Memorial University Medical Center, a two-state healthcare organisation serving southeast Georgia and southern South Carolina, has implemented RF Assure detection systems in all of its...
Chembio syphilis assay obtains CE mark
Chembio Diagnostics, which develops, manufactures, markets and licences point-of-care diagnostic tests, has received CE marking for its Dual Path Platform syphilis screen and confirm...
Cappella coronary sidebranch stent shows positive data
Cappella Medical Devices has announced the initial long term follow up data for its Sideguard coronary sidebranch stent from Manchester Royal Infirmary in the...
Texas hospital selects Alcatex as equipment provider
Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas, US, has chosen Alcatex as an equipment provider for its new Parkland Hospital Central Utility...
More than a quarter of meals served by Cornish NHS trust go uneaten
More than a quarter of meals served by Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust are not eaten, new data has...
Cardiac treats first patient in Titan II study
Cardiac Dimensions has treated the first patient in a clinical trial of its carillon mitral contour system, a novel therapy for treating heart failure patients suffering from functional...
AmeriHealth signs new hospital contract with Atlantic Health System
Health insurance provider AmeriHealth New Jersey has entered into an agreement with Atlantic Health System on a new hospital contract effective 1 November...
Japan approves Masimo pulse co-oximeter
Masimo has received Japanese Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare regulatory clearance for its Rad-87 pulse co-oximeter with rainbow acoustic monitoring...
CQC asks Hastings care home to improve standards
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has urged Mount Denys care home in Hastings to improve its services after inspections revealed serious problems at the...
UK hospital to invest in green power
Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK will receive £5m grant from the Carbon and Energy Fund to install solar panels, wind turbines and a heat-driven mini power...
Maryland deploys mobile logistics platform for emergency care
Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene has selected Upp Technology's mobile logistics platform for emergency resource management and patient...
Medtronic reports positive ablation system trial results
Medtronic has reported positive data from a trial of its Phased RF Ablation System for persistent atrial...
MagForce treats glioblastoma with NanoTherm therapy
MagForce, a medical technology company focused on nanomedicine in oncology, has announced that it has treated a recurrent glioblastoma patient using NanoTherm...
University General Health System to develop critical care hospital in Texas
University General Health System has signed an agreement with the City of Alvin in Texas, US, to develop a 27,000ft² critical care hospital in the...
GE Healthcare 3T wide-bore MR system gets FDA clearance
GE Healthcare has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Discovery MR750w wide-bore 3T system with the Geometry Embracing Method (GEM) suite of...
St Jude Medical Penta surgical lead wins Japanese regulatory approval
Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has approved St Jude Medicals' Penta surgical lead, designed for neurostimulation therapy to treat chronic...
Alabama hospital selects iSirona device integration solution
Children's of Alabama, a private not-for-profit hospital in Alabama, US, has chosen to implement iSirona's device connectivity...
Carticept's Navigator DS gets FDA clearance
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) approval for Carticept Medicals' Navigator Delivery System (Navigator DS) to treat cartilage injuries and...
Positive trial results for Brainsway deep TMS system
Brainsway has reported additional interim results of a clinical trial being conducted at the Ichilov Medical Center in Israel to evaluate the efficacy of a deep transcranial magnetic...
Carson-Tahoe hospital to install ProVation order sets
Carson-Tahoe Regional Healthcare in northern Nevada, US, has chosen to deploy Wolters Kluwer Health's ProVation Order Sets to improve patient care, patient safety and clinician...
St Joseph's Hospital and University of Arizona to establish valley fever centre
St Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center and the University of Arizona College of Medicine have signed an agreement to establish a centre for valley fever in...
Abbott enrols first patient in EXCEL trial
Abbott has enrolled its first patient in the evaluation of XIENCE PRIME/XIENCE V versus coronary artery bypass surgery for the effectiveness of left main eervascularization (EXCEL)...
CHG acquires Louisiana Medical, Heart Hospital
Cardiovascular Care Group (CCG) has completed the acquisition of Louisiana Medical Center and Heart Hospital from...
Anthelio partners with MedQuist to reduce $300bn cost burdens
Texas-based IT company, Anthelio, has entered into a strategic partnership with MedQuist Holdings, an integrated clinical documentation solutions...
FDA, European commission clears Bioness wireless hand paralysis device
Bioness has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CE mark approval for its NESS H200 wireless hand rehabilitation...
Steward acquires Morton, Quincy medical centres
Steward Health Care System said it has completed the acquisitions of the Morton Hospital and Medical Center and Quincy Medical Center in the US state of...
GI Dynamics EndoBarrier found effective against diabetes, obesity
GI Dynamics' EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner has demonstrated blood sugar control and weight loss benefits beyond the implant period in the 12-Month Diabetes and Obesity...
Siemens new mobile digital X-ray system wins FDA approval
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Siemens Healthcare's Mobilett Mira, a mobile digital X-ray system with a wireless...
NHI joins Polaris to build acute care hospital in Tennessee
National Health Investors has entered into a development and lease transaction with affiliates of the Polaris Hospital Company to grant $21.5m to develop a 60-bed general acute care hospital...
DARPA funds Aethlon to develop sepsis therapeutic device
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $6.8m contract to Aethlon Medical to develop a therapeutic device to reduce the incidence of...
Florida hospital selects RaySearch treatment planning system
Baptist Hospital of Miami, part of healthcare organisation Baptist Health South Florida, has chosen RaySearch Laboratories' RayStation treatment planning system for treatments, such...
FDA clears Nucletron new VCMC applicator for gynecologic cancers
Nucletron, an Elekta company, has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its new Vaginal CT/MR Multi Channel (VCMC) applicator, which enables very precise dose delivery...
HMA acquires Mercy Health Partners
Health Management Associates' (HMA) subsidiary has purchased the assets of Mercy Health Partners, a subsidiary of Catholic Health Partners in the...
Saint Francis Medical bags MED3000 services
Saint Francis Medical Group in Hartford, US, has executed a three-year contract with MED3OOO, a healthcare management and technology products service, to provide revenue cycle management...
Boston Scientific enrols first patient in NECTAR-HF trial
Boston Scientific has completed first patient enrolment in a prospective randomised international neural cardiac therapy for heart failure (NECTAR-HF) clinical...
Atrium Advanta stent shows superiority against PAD
Atrium Medical's covered versus balloon expandable stent trial (COBEST) demonstrated positive results of Atrium's proprietary balloon expandable covered stent technology over traditional bare...
Newark hospital breaks ground on emergency centre
Newark-Wayne Community Hospital in New York, US, has broken ground on a new emergency department...
CQC issues safety warning to Lynwood Care Home
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a formal warning to the Lynwood Residential Home in Sunninghill, Berkshire, to improve safety and welfare or face further enforcement...
Calypso receives IDE approval for lung cancer study
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) approval for Calypso Medical's clinical study evaluating Calypso systems' viability to precisely track...
Georgia hospital installs Healthland EHR solution
The Jeff Davis Hospital in the US state of Georgia has selected Healthlands' new electronic health record (EHR) solution Centriq for complete integration and web-based...
FDA clears KCHC pediatric face mask
Kimberly-Clark Health Care (KCHC) has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its pediatric face...
September 2011
Top
Boston bronchial thermoplasty system shows long-term efficacy results
Boston Scientific has reported positive clinical data from a trial, demonstrating the long-term safety of bronchial thermoplasty in patients treated with the company's Alair bronchial...
Saint Anne’s Hospital signs affiliation agreement with PrimaCARE
Saint Anne's Hospital and PrimaCARE have signed a ten-year clinical and strategic affiliation agreement to enhance healthcare quality and clinical coordination for patients in the Greater...
Medtronic commences Engager system trial
Medtronic has initiated the pivotal trial to obtain CE mark approval for its Engager transcatheter aortic valve implantation system, used to treat patients suffering from severe aortic...
Dubai healthcare group to raise funds for hospital projects in India
Dubai-based healthcare group DM Healthcare plans to raise Rs6bn ($122m) from Asia-focused private equity firm Olympus Capital and existing investor India Value Fund to expand its operations in...
Given Imaging PillCam shows sensitivity against colorectal lesions
Given Imaging has reported positive data from a prospective, blinded, multicentre study that investigated the sensitivity of PillCam Colon 2 video capsule for detecting clinically relevant...
FDA clears Zynex electrotherapy device
Electrotherapy medical device maker Zynex has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its NexWave...
Lansdale Hospital implements new Toshiba imaging system with wireless detector
Lansdale Hospital in Pennsylvania, US has installed Toshiba America Medical Systems's T.RAD Plus X-ray system with a new wireless...
VacaValley Hospital announces expansion
NorthBay Healthcare's VacaValley Hospital in California, US, is planning to double the size of its hospital in a $118m renovation...
Indian hospital to set up bone marrow transplant unit
India's Sahara Hospital, in association with an Israeli centre, is set to install a bone marrow transplant unit for stem cell transplantation and...
New Edgerton hospital to open in Wisconsin
Edgerton Hospital and Health Services is planning to open new facility next month in Wisconsin, the...
Uptake Medical's InterVapor system gets CE mark
Uptake Medical has received the CE mark for its InterVapor system, an endoscopic lung volume reduction system to treat severe...
OncoSec ElectroChemotherapy shows efficacy against cancer
OncoSec Medical has presented positive results a Phase IV head and neck cancer trial, which has demonstrated that OMS ElectroChemotherapy is safe and...
Sapheon gets CE mark for new varicose vein treatment
Sapheon has received CE Mark approval for its new approach of treating varicose veins using the Sapheon Closure...
New York hospital installs Craneware chargemaster solution
Ellenville Regional Hospital in New York has chosen Craneware's Chargemaster Toolkit - Critical Access Hospital solution to automate its chargemaster management...
FDA urges epinephrine inhaler users to switch to replacement medication
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has said that users of epinephrine inhalers containing chlorofluorocarbons should switch to a replacement product, as these inhalers will not be made...
Tunstall Healthcare to acquire telecare provider
Tunstall Healthcare Group has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire American Medical Alert, a provider of remote health monitoring and 24/7 communication...
CQC urges Birmingham mental health hospital to improve standards
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told a mental health hospital in Birmingham that it must improve standards of...
California Hospital offers 3D mammography technology
Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in California, US, is offering 3D digital breast tomosynthesis for breast cancer...
FDA clears Toshiba M-Power interface
Toshiba America Medical Systems' M-Power interface has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...
Gynesonics commences study for the VizAblate system
Gynesonics has begun a multicentre clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of the VizAblate system for the treatment of uterine fibroids associated with heavy menstrual...
Anulex fiXate Tissue Band gets FDA clearance
Anulex Technologies has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its fiXate Tissue Band, designed to secure spinal cord stimulation lead anchors to the fascia or interspinous...
Centric Health to acquire Medical Imaging Centres
Canadian healthcare company Centric Health has entered into an agreement to acquire Medical Imaging Centres and certain business assets of Rads 24/7 Teleradiology...
Fortis Healthcare India to buy Singapore arm Fortis Healthcare International
Fortis Healthcare India will acquire Singapore-based sister firm Fortis Healthcare International in an all-cash deal from its promoters, Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan...
CardioKinetix secures financing to develop ventricular partitioning device
CardioKinetix has raised $44m in Series E financing to progress the development of the Parachute ventricular partitioning...
HP secures ICT contract for Australian digital hospital
Hewlett-Packard (HP) Australia has signed a technology services agreement to design, build and maintain some of ICT systems for the South Australia Government's next-generation digital hospital...
CQC urges Stanwell Rest Home to improve standards
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a formal warning to Stanwell Rest Home in Southampton to improve safety and welfare or face further enforcement...
Covidien reports positive results of stapling system
Covidien has reported positive results from a trial of its first powered surgical stapling system, which offers deeper access, better visibility and easier placement inside the low pelvis than...
Nanosphere blood culture test demonstrates efficacy against bacterial targets
Nanosphere's Verigene Gram-positive blood culture test has demonstrated 100% sensitivity and specificity for detection of drug-resistant bacteria MRSA and VRE, and an overall sensitivity of...
Roche cobas HPV test shows promise in cervical cancer screening
Roche's ATHENA study has demonstrated that human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA tests, including the Roche cobas HPV Test, provide an additional primary screening test for cervical...
Acumentra renews contract as Medicare quality improvement body
Acumentra Health has renewed its contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to serve as Oregon's Medicare Quality Improvement...
Hiranandani Group to open new hospital in India
Hiranandani Group is planning to set up a 200-bed hospital in Thane in Maharashtra,...
Researchers develop new fluorescence-guided technology to detect tumours
Surgeons at University of Groningen in the Netherlands have successfully performed the first fluorescence-guided surgery on an ovarian cancer patient using a cancer cell 'homing device' and...
GI Dynamics' EndoBarrier shown to improve glycaemic control rate
GI Dynamics' EndoBarrier gastrointestinal liner has demonstrated improvement in glycaemic control and weight loss as part of a trial. Seventeen obese patients with type 2 diabetes were...
PediGuard shows efficacy in spine surgery
SpineGuard has reported that its PediGuard platform has demonstrated a reduced incidence of clinically relevant misplaced screws during enhanced pedicle screw placement in its latest...
UK Department of Health urges Croydon hospital to improve data system
The UK Department of Health has ordered Croydon University Hospital to improve the way it logs information about emergency patients to resolve a data entry issue that has generated...
Health Management Associates awards supply contract to RL solutions
Health Management Associates is set to deploy RL Solutions' RL6 for incident and patient feedback management. RL6 will allow hospitals to capture, manage and analyse both incidents and...
Tests prove efficiency of chlorhexidine gluconate adhesive delivery system
Avery Dennison Medical Solutions' chlorhexidine gluconate adhesive delivery system provides antimicrobial efficacy across a broad range of bacteria and yeast, according to tests conducted by...
Michigan health system selects Connexall to improve clinical communications
The University of Michigan Health System has selected Connexall to distribute critical data, improve clinical communications and enhance the patient experience at the 348-bed CS Mott...
AxoGen reports Avance Nerve Graft study results
A clinical study has demonstrated that AxoGen's Avance Nerve Graft is a safe method for reconstructing nerve discontinuities, with meaningful recovery achieved in 87.3% injuries. ...
US hospital to use Thomson Reuters clinical reference solution
Monongahela Valley Hospital in Washington County, US, has signed a multi-year agreement to use Micromedex, an evidence-based clinical reference solution developed by Thomson Reuters. ...
Find-and-treat TB service cost-effective, says study
A mobile X-ray service has proved to be a cost-effective way of treating homeless people and drug addicts with tuberculosis (TB), according to a study published in the British Medical...
Philadelphia hospital selects Amerinet to improve care quality
Roxborough Memorial Hospital in Philadelphia, US, has entered into a five-year agreement with national healthcare group Amerinet to enhance care quality and maximise supply chain efficiency. ...
Baxano enrols first patient in STRiDE trial
Baxano has completed the enrolment of the first patient in its post-market STRiDE (spondylolisthesis treated with an iO-Flex System enabled decompression) trial. The trial will enrol...
FDA clears two Circa Scientific devices
The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared Circa Scientific's Circa S-Cath and Circa Temperature Monitoring System. The S-Cath and temperature monitoring system address the...
French hospital implements Masimo remote monitoring system
Centre Hospitalier de Chaumont in France has deployed Masimo Patient SafetyNet, a remote monitoring system designed to help hospitals avoid preventable patient deaths associated with 'failure...
Texas medical facility installs Conexus asset tracking system
Brooke Army Medical Center in Houston, Texas, has deployed Conexus' Plexus Asset Tracking System to capture asset and workflow-critical data. The Plexus software, which features Ekahau wi-fi...
Cytta deploys CyttaConnect medical monitoring system
Cytta has completed the first patient implantation of its remote medical monitoring system, CyttaConnect. CyttaConnect delivers verifiable, real-time medical data transmission from...
FDA clears IsoRay radiation therapy system
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared IsoRay's GliaSite radiation therapy system, a balloon catheter device used in the treatment of brain cancer. The FDA clearance means...
ApolloMed Hospitalists to provide care services to California hospital
ApolloMed Hospitalists has signed a service agreement to provide inpatient care services at the 112-bed Tulare Regional Medical Center in California. An affiliated medical group of...
Siemens provides blood-gas analyser to GB Rowing Team
Siemens has provided the GB Rowing Team with the RapidPoint blood-gas analyser to assist in training and improve performance. The blood-gas analyser enables the team to receive performance...
HeartWare ventricular assist device completes GLP studies
HeartWare's MVAD pump has achieved the objectives for system performance, haemocompatibility and biocompatibility in good laboratory practice (GLP) animal studies. The pump, a...
Shalby Hospital acquires majority stake in Goa hospital
Shalby Hospital in Ahmedabad, India, has acquired a 55% stake in Vrindavan Hospital in Goa. The 120-bed Vrindavan Hospital will be renamed as Vrindavan-Shalby Hospital. Shalby also plans...
Fluke Biomedical's ProSim simulators get FDA nod
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance to Fluke Biomedical's ProSim vital signs simulators for patient-monitor testing. The ProSim 8 all-in-one...
Japanese hospital selects Medidata solutions
Japan's Chiba University Hospital Clinical Research Center has deployed Medidata Solutions' Rave product for electronic data capture and clinical data management. The facility chose Rave...
Jan Medical enrols first patient in cerebral vasospasm study
Jan Medical has enrolled its first patient in a clinical study of the company's portable, continuous brain-sensing system to detect cerebral vasospasm. The study, to be conducted at...
CQC urges Harrow care home to improve standards
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a formal warning to Hazelwood Care-owned St Joseph's Care Home in Harrow that it needs to improve the standard of care it offers. ...
Croma partners with Ruck Tmed to develop ophthalmic surgical systems
German-based speciality pharmaceutical and surgical company Croma Pharma and Ruck Tmed have entered into a partnership to develop and market a new generation of ophthalmology surgery...
St Jude neurostimulation device wins CE mark approval
St Jude Medical has received European CE mark approval for its Genesis neurostimulation device for peripheral nerve stimulation of the occipital nerves associated with intractable chronic...
Olive Branch Hospital officials announce contractors
Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare has announced the design and construction firms that it will contract to build the Olive Branch Hospital in Mississippi, US. Gresham, Smith and Partners,...
Cascade Healthcare to open senior care facility in China
Cascade Healthcare, a joint venture between Columbia Pacific Advisors and Emeritus, has received approval to open the first foreign-owned, for-profit senior care facility in Shanghai,...
US hospital to deploy ProVation order sets
Decatur Medical Center in Illinois, US, has chosen to install Wolters Kluwer Health's ProVation order sets to improve patient care, patient safety and clinician performance. The tool, powered...
RegionalCare to merge with Essent Healthcare
US-based RegionalCare Hospital Partners, a Warburg Pincus portfolio company, has signed a definitive agreement to merge with Essent Healthcare, a portfolio company of Vestar Capital Partners...
US and Chinese universities partner to develop colorectal cancer diagnostics
Arizona State University in the US and Sun Yat-Sen University in China are working together to develop early and predictive diagnostics to improve outcomes for patients with colorectal...
CardioFocus reports HeartLight endoscopic ablation system trial results
CardioFocus has reported one-year follow-up data from a trial of its HeartLight endoscopic ablation system as a treatment for atrial fibrillation. HeartLight consists of an...
U-Systems installs somo*v ABUS system in Canada
U-Systems has completed the first Canadian installation of its somo*v automated breast ultrasound system at VIP Breast Imaging in Toronto, Canada. The device uses proprietary technology...
Adelaide hospital installs Philips software
Women's & Children's Hospital in Adelaide, Australia, has implemented Philips' Ambient Experience solution and Ingenia digital MRI system to improve patient care. Children who undergo...
Aeris gets expanded EU approval for AeriSeal system
Aeris Therapeutics has received expanded CE Mark approval in Europe for the AeriSeal System used to treat patients with emphysema. The move follows the availability of new clinical data from...
Oklahoma hospital implements eClinicalWorks EHR
Oklahoma's Comanche County Memorial Hospital has chosen the eClinicalWorks comprehensive electronic health records (EHR) system to provide access to real-time information and clinical...
CQC warns Warrington care home to improve safety standards
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued three formal warnings to the registered provider of Hollybush Care Home in Warrington, UK, to make urgent improvements to standards of care. ...
EnteroMedics presents results of vagal blocking therapy trial
EnteroMedics has presented data from the VBLOC-DM2 Enable trial evaluating effectiveness and safety of the company's second generation Maestro rechargeable system in the treatment of...
Phase II trial of chemosaturation system shows inconclusive efficacy
Delcath Systems has reported top-line results from the metastatic colorectal (adenocarcinoma) cohort of a Phase II clinical trial of the Delcath chemosaturation system with melphalan in...
Kindred acquires Professional Healthcare
US-based Kindred Healthcare has acquired the equity of Professional HealthCare for $51m in cash. Professional Healthcare provides home health, hospice, and private duty-nursing services,...
Brainsway reports positive results from magnetic stimulation study
Brainsway has presented preliminary efficacy results of a study exploring the efficacy of deep transcranial magnetic simulation in opening the blood-brain barrier in patients with brain tumours. ...
Hillcrest acquires two Oklahoma hospitals
Oklahoma healthcare provider Hillcrest HealthCare System has purchased SouthCrest Hospital in Tulsa and Claremore Regional Hospital in Claremore. The deal includes the assets and operations...
Orthocon to develop Bezwada technology
Orthocon, a manufacturer of products that stop bone bleeding, has entered into a worldwide licence agreement to develop and commercialise Bezwada Biomedical's technology for bone...
Swedish hospital selects new MRI software
Umea University Hospital in Sweden has selected SyntheticMR's SyMRI Diagnostics software to monitor the treatment efficacy of multiple sclerosis. SyMRI Diagnostics uses a rapid MRI scan...
Hawaii hospital installs Masimo blood-monitoring technology
Shriners Hospitals for Children has become the first hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, to deploy the Masimo non-invasive and continuous haemoglobin (SpHb) monitoring technology to monitor patient...
Implantable oxygen generator developed to fight tumours
Researchers from Purdue University and the Indiana University School of Medicine have developed and tested a miniature device that can be implanted in tumours to generate oxygen and enhance...
UK researchers say simple blood test can diagnose diabetes
Researchers at Durham University and The James Cook University Hospital, both in the UK, have demonstrated that a simple finger prick test during routine eye examinations can help to...
Medfort Hospitals acquires Maxivision
Medfort Hospitals, a healthcare institution focused on eyecare and diabetes, has acquired India's Maxivision Eye Hospitals in an all-cash deal. Post-merger the Medfort-Maxivision entity...
Unilife develops new range of auto-injectors
US-based Unilife has developed a proprietary range of auto-injectors for the self-administration of injectable drugs outside of healthcare facilities. The auto-injectors are intended to be...
Fortis Healthcare to open four hospitals in India
Fortis Healthcare (India) is set to open four new hospitals in India, including a cardiac care unit, as part of plans to strengthen its presence across the country. Fortis will mark its...
South Korean hospital selects Magnetecs' Robotic CGCI system
Yonsei University Severance Hospital in Seoul, South Korea, is set to deploy Magnetecs' Robotic Catheter Guidance Control and Imaging (CGCI) system. The system creates an electromagnetic...
Mauna Kea endomicroscopy system wins FDA approval
Mauna Kea Technologies has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its endomicroscopy system Cellvizio 100 Series to visualise and detect abnormalities in the...
Apollo reports first use of OverStitch system for colonic polyp resection
Apollo Endosurgery has reported that surgeons at Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, Spain, have successfully performed a full-thickness resection of a colonic polyp using the...
US medical group deploys Phreesia patient check-in solution
Holston Medical Group in Tennessee, US, has selected a check-in solution developed by Phreesia to improve patient collections at the point of care. The wireless, touchscreen PhreesiaPad...
CoreValve system found effective for heart surgery
Medtronic has presented the positive long-term study results of its CoreValve transcatheter aortic valve replacement system. The CoreValve system is designed to provide a minimally...
China Health Labs installs total lab solutions in Jilin province
China Health Labs & Diagnostics has installed 587 BK Clinlabs, its medical diagnostics total lab solution, across rural hospitals and clinics in Jilin province. The solution includes...
August 2011
Top
Israeli scientists develop new breast cancer scanner
Israeli scientists have developed a new radiation-free scanner that can detect breast cancer more effectively than traditional X-ray mammograms. The machine detects tumours using infrared...
CQC urges UK care home to improve safety standards
The Care Quality Commission has urged St Catherine's Care Home in Bolton, UK, to improve its safety and welfare standards. A review by the England's social care regulator last month...
Lifeline Hospital Group opens new facility in Oman
Lifeline Hospital Group has opened a new 60,350ft² healthcare facility in Sohar, Oman. The 50-bed hospital features radiology facilities, inpatient and outpatient facilities...
Biotronik reports home-monitoring study results
Biotronik has reported the results of its Home Monitoring in Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy clinical study. The international, multicentre, non-randomised and prospective study was...
UK hospital to install Vergence management solution
Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust in the UK has signed an agreement with IT solutions company Kainos to deploy Microsoft's Vergence single sign-on and context management solution. Vergence...
GeNO receives grant to develop Nitrosyl system
GeNO has received a Phase I small business innovation research grant from US National Institutes of Health to develop its Nitrosyl system to treat multiple chronic pulmonary diseases. The...
Minnesota hospital opens new paediatric surgery centre
The Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota has opened a new 30,000ft² paediatric surgery centre in St Paul, US. The centre's surgical suites feature a designated work station...
ITM treats first patient in rhenium-PTA catheter trial
ITM FlowMedical has treated the first patient in a clinical trial that compares ITM rhenium-PTA to a standard PTA for the treatment of peripheral artery occlusive disease. After a...
NHGRI funds DNA sequencing technology development
National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) has granted Stratos Genomics $829,000 to develop DNA sequencing techniques using Expansion technology. Stratos will use the funds to...
Spero to open 50 hospitals in India by 2021
India-based healthcare chain Spero Hospitals Group is planning to invest Rs14bn ($305m) to set up 50 hospitals over ten years in Tier 2 and 3 cities across the country. Spero, managed by...
Gen-Probe's Panther system receives Health Canada approval
Gen-Probe has received Health Canada approval for its Panther system, an automated and integrated molecular testing system. The system will be used to run Gen-Probe's Aptima Combo 2 assay,...
UK hospital introduces new neo-restraints
The neonatal intensive care unit at Birmingham Women's Hospital in the UK has introduced new neo-restraints for the safe transfer of sick and critically-ill babies. Neo-restraints...
Surrey hospital opens neonatal unit
St Peter's Hospital in Surrey, UK, has opened a nine-bed special care unit for mothers and their babies, replacing a six-bed transitional care unit. The unit will be managed by the...
Canadian hospital deploys Toshiba ultrasound systems
Cambridge Memorial Hospital in Ontario, Canada, has deployed Toshiba America Medical Systems' CT and ultrasound systems to improve image quality and diagnostic efficiency. The hospital, which...
Abbott ophthalmic viscosurgical device wins CE mark approval
Abbott has received CE mark approval for its Healon EndoCoat ophthalmic viscosurgical device for intraocular lens lubrication and insertion. The Healon EndoCoat delivery system includes...
Delcath reports top-line results of chemosaturation system
Delcath Systems has reported encouraging top-line results from the hepatobiliary cohort of a Phase II clinical trial of its chemosaturation system with melphalan as a treatment of patients...
nContact EPi-Sense device receives CE mark
nContact has received CE mark approval for its fourth generation EPi-Sense guided-coagulation device with VisiTrax for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation. ...
US researchers receive grant to develop fall prediction and monitoring system
Researchers at Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia have received a $1.2m grant from the National Science Foundation's Smart Health and Wellbeing Program to develop a portable...
Dubai eye hospital joins MetLife Alico healthcare network
Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai is set to join MetLife Alico's preferred network of healthcare providers to offer specialist care and treatment to patients covered by the company's health...
Duke LifePoint to acquire North Carolina hospital
Duke LifePoint Healthcare has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the 110-bed Person Memorial Hospital in North Carolina, US. Duke LifePoint has also committed to invest $15m in...
Castlebeck agrees to close Arden Vale service
UK-based Castlebeck Care has agreed to close its Arden Vale service in Solihull, the West Midlands, following the receipt of a legal notice from the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In June,...
Evergreen Healthcare selects Cerner to improve patient safety
US-based Evergreen Healthcare is set to deploy the Cerner electronic health record (EHR) system to enhance patient safety and collaboration among its in and out-patient medical services providers....
BD partners Biodiversity to develop assays for BD MAX system
Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) and Biodiversity have collaborated to develop and commercialise a comprehensive molecular diagnostic menu for immunocompromised patients on the BD MAX System. ...
PositiveID completes glucose sensing microchip testing
PositiveID has successfully completed Phase II testing of its GlucoChip glucose-sensing microchip for patients with diabetes. GlucoChip is based on PositiveID's FDA cleared microchip for...
Seattle Institute receives grant for newborn respiratory device
Seattle Children's Research Institute, US, has received a two-year, $2.3m grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to complete prototype development of its new respiratory support device...
CQC urges Seafarers Walk Care Home to improve standards
The UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors have urged Community Integrated Care's (CIC) 4 Seafarers Walk Home in Hayling Island to improve its safety and welfare standards. A review...
Mercy breaks ground on new rehab hospital in Oklahoma
Mercy Health Center, in partnership with Centerre Healthcare, has broken ground on the 50,000ft² Mercy Rehabilitation Hospital in northwest Oklahoma City, US. The $14m facility will house...
U-Systems ultrasound device wins Health Canada approval
U-Systems, a provider of automated breast ultrasound technology, has received the Health Canada approval for its Somo V Automated Breast Ultrasound (ABUS) system as an adjunct to mammography...
Qiagen and Pfizer to develop companion diagnostic test for treatment of NSCLC
Qiagen has entered into a partnership with Pfizer to develop a companion molecular diagnostic test for use with an investigational Pfizer compound dacomitinib (PF-00299804), an oral inhibitor...
BT to manage hospital IT infrastructure in West Australia
Serco has selected British Telecommunications (BT) Group as its IT partner to install and manage communications infrastructure at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, Western Australia. As per...
US FDA approves intersect sinusitis implant
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Intersect ENT's pre-market approval application for the Propel mometasone furoate implant, which offers localised, controlled drug...
Norton Healthcare to establish women's and children's hospital
US-based Norton Healthcare is set to invest $120m to set up a new women's and children's hospital in its Norton Suburban facility in Kentucky. Once complete, the hospital will accommodate...
UK Hospital Installs Radvision Telemedicine Solution
The Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in the UK has installed Radvision's telemedicine solution to facilitate remote patient consultation in the field of foetal and paediatric cardiology. ...
US Hospital Selects McKesson Technology to Improve Care
A critical access hospital in Minnesota, US, has selected McKesson's Paragon technology to replace its longstanding IT system. Paragon, with its clinical and financial database, will provide...
Prometheus and Medco Partner to Evaluate Thiopurine Metabolite Testing
Prometheus Laboratories and the Medco Research Institute have announced that they will evaluate the use of Prometheus' thiopurine metabolite testing to optimise dosing of...
Medtronic InterStim Therapy Improves Bowel Control, Study Reveals
Medtronic has reported three-year safety and effectiveness data from a study of 120 patients who were given sacral nerve stimulation with implantable InterStim Therapy to treat chronic...
US Hospital Opens New Emergency Unit
The Northwest Community Hospital in Illinois, US, has unveiled its new emergency department following the completion of a $250m expansion project. The project involved the construction...
Construction Starts at California Hospital
Kaiser Permanente hospital has commenced the construction of a seven-storey complex in Redwood City, California, US. The 280,000ft² hospital, designed to meet seismic safety...
New Urine Test to Help Diagnose Prostate Cancer
Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are investigating a Gen-Probe urine test to identify two genetic markers, TMPRSS2:EG and PCA3, that are known to be present in...
FDA Clears IntriCon Cardiac Monitoring Device
IntriCon has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) marketing clearance for the Centauri Ambulatory Patient ECG, its first-generation wireless cardiac diagnostic monitoring device. ...
New Blood Test to Analyse Foetal Sex
Researchers have found that a new blood test can determine a baby's sex as early as seven weeks into pregnancy if used correctly. The non-invasive test analyses foetal DNA in the mother's...
MindFrame Reports Capture LP Device's First Implantation in Germany
MindFrame's Capture LP low-profile device has been implanted in an ischaemic stroke patient at Katherinen Hospital in Stuttgart, Germany. Due to reduced microcatheter size, the MindFrame...
NHS Waiting Times for Diagnostic Tests Soar
The UK's Department of Health has reported that the number of people waiting more than six weeks for NHS tests has almost quadrupled over the past year. In June 2011, there were 12,521...
Florida Healthcare Partnership Saves $1.76m
Mount Sinai Medical Center of Miami Beach, Florida, saved $1.76m in 2010 through its partnership with the Premier healthcare alliance, it has been announced. The 966-bed teaching hospital...
US Researchers Develop Biomarker Blood Test for Prostate Cancer
Researchers at University of Cincinnati in the US have developed a DNA-based biomarker blood test to complement the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test currently used to screen men for...
Medtronic Reports First Use of Symplicity Catheter System
Medtronic has reported the first use of its minimally invasive Symplicity Catheter System to treat a patient with resistant hypertension at Clinica Santa Maria in Santiago, Chile. ...
Sanford Health to Build New Hospital in Minnesota
US-based healthcare organisation Sanford Health plans to build a new $60m medical centre and clinic in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. The hospital will centralise a number of services under...
Fortis Healthcare to Buy Majority Stake in HMC
India's Fortis Healthcare has agreed to acquire a 65% stake in Vietnam-based Hoan My Medical Corporation (HMC) for R2.89bn ($64m). The deal provides Fortis Healthcare with access to...
FDA Clears Toshiba 3T MR Imaging System
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared Toshiba America Medical Systems' new Vantage Titan 3T open bore MR, which is designed to improve patient comfort and workflow. The...
Researchers Develop New Hormone Test to Predict Menopause
Researchers at St Andrews University, Scotland have developed a simple hormone test that could predict when a woman is likely to start the menopause. In collaboration with scientists from...
Construction of New UK Hospital Decontamination Unit Begins
The construction of a £5m hospital sterilisation and decontamination unit (HSDU), which will serve the UK's Colchester General and Essex County hospitals, has commenced. The new 1040m²...
Radysans Wins US Hospital Management Software Contract
The Tucker Psychiatric Clinic in Virginia, US, has awarded a contract to Radysans to supply a complete clinical management software solution. Radysans' SaaS-based integrated clinical...
US Hospital Selects ProVation Order Sets
Aultman Hospital in Ohio, US, has chosen to deploy Wolters Kluwer Health ProVation Order Sets to improve care, patient safety and clinician performance. The tool, powered by UpToDate...
RapidArc Radiotherapy Effectively Treats Blood Cancer: Study
Varian Medical Systems' RapidArc radiotherapy can treat patients with blood cancers quickly and accurately delivering clinically favorable total marrow irradiation (TMI), according to a study by...
FDA Approves New GE Healthcare Imaging System
GE Healthcare has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its Optima CT660, a compact computed tomography (CT) system that offers enhanced diagnostic capabilities at low...
New Lusaka General Hospital Opens in Zambia
The ZMK40bn ($7.9m) Lusaka General Hospital has opened in Great East Road, Zambia. The 7,472m² hospital was built by China Jiangsu International Economic Cooperation under a grant from...
UAE Eye Hospital Signs Medical Services Agreement with Now Health
Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai has signed a medical services provider agreement with health insurance provider Now Health International. Under the agreement, customers purchasing Now...
CQC Asks Liverpool Care Home to Improve Standards
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has ordered Voyage's 190 Townsend Avenue care home in Norris Green, Liverpool, UK, to improve its safety and welfare standards. A review by the UK's social...
NIH Funds ProTECT Trial to Study Biomarkers in TBI Patients
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a five-year, $2.2m grant to researchers to study biomarkers in the blood of traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients. The research...
Imris 3D Imaging Tool Receives Canadian Approval
Imris has received a Health Canada medical device licence for its AccuTrack 3D image guidance tool, for use in Imris neurosurgery suites. The tool will enable surgeons to localise target...
Siemens Biograph mMR Receives Canadian Approval
Siemens Canada Healthcare has received a Health Canada Medical Device Licence for its Biograph mMR. Biograph mMR offers simultaneous MR and positron emission tomography (PET) data acquisition....
Covidien Commences Patient Enrolment in Anti-Restenosis Study
Covidien has started patient enrolment in the ev3 definitive anti-restenosis study, designed to address the challenge of restenosis in patients with peripheral arterial disease. The study...
CTCA Breaks Ground on Oncology Centre
The Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) has broken ground on a new all-digital oncology hospital in Georgia, US. The 212,000ft² hospital will house 50 beds, along with...
African Hospital Treats First Patient With Varian Radiotherapy Technology
Al Kindy Hospital in Casablanca, western Morocco, has announced that a prostate cancer patient has become the first person in North Africa to be treated with Varian Medical Systems'...
US Hospital Installs New Robotic Patient Positioning System
Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Florida, US has installed the Civco Protura 6D robotic couch patient positioning system at its Lynn Cancer Institute to increase efficiency in radiation...
WAHA Opens Fistula Treatment Centre in Ethiopia
Women and Health Alliance International (WAHA) has opened a 72-bed fistula treatment centre at Gondar University Hospital in northern Ethiopia. The centre will increase fistula care services...
Becton Dickinson and Lab21 Partner to Develop Aspergillus Assay
US-based Becton Dickinson Diagnostics has collaborated with Lab21 to develop a molecular diagnostic assay to detect the life-threatening Aspergillus fungus using its fully automated BD...
IMDx C. Difficile Assay Awarded CE Mark
UK-based Intelligent Medical Devices (IMDx) has received CE mark approval for a high-throughput automated assay for the detection of C. difficile, including the A-B+ 1470 variant and the...
UAE Hospital Installs Airfree Air Sterilisers
Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah, UAE, has installed Airfree air sterilisers to reduce airborne bacteria as part of an infection control programme. Airfree's air sterilisation technology...
Intuity Medical Secures Financing For Glucose Monitoring System
Intuity Medical has raised $76m in Series D Financing to obtain FDA clearance and to prepare for the US commercialisation and distribution of the Pogo All-in-One glucose monitoring system. ...
US Health System Installs iMDsoft Critical Care Solution
Centegra Health System in Illinois, US, has installed iMDsoft's MetaVision critical care solution in 113 beds across its intensive care units in Centegra Hospital-Woodstock and...
US Researchers Develop New High-Speed 3D Imaging System
Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US have developed an imaging system that enables high-speed, 3D imaging of microscopic pre-cancerous changes in the oesophagus or colon....
FDA Approves Medtronic Advisa MRI System Trial
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Medtronic's investigational device exemption (IDE) application to start the advisa DR MRI surescan pacing system clinical trial. ...
Serco Wins Australian Hospital Service Contract
The UK-based Serco Group has signed a $1.4bn contract with the Western Australian Department of Health to provide non-clinical support services at the new Fiona Stanley Hospital near...
Pathwork Tissue of Origin Test Detects Metastatic Cancers
Pathwork Diagnostics' tissue of origin test has demonstrated its capability to diagnose cancers such as those that are metastatic or that have a complex clinical history. The test measures...
Indian Healthcare Network to Set Up Six New Hospitals
India's Fortis Healthcare plans to set up six new hospitals in southern and western India with an investment of up to INR10.5bn ($237m). The hospitals will be set up in Bangalore,...
Infectious Disease Blood Test Shows Promise
Researchers have tested a new portable blood test to detect HIV, syphilis and other infectious diseases. The new device – mChip –is about the size of a credit card and can diagnose...
Indian Healthcare Firm to Open Four Hospitals
India-based Max Healthcare will invest Rs5bn ($113m) in four new super speciality hospitals in Delhi, Dehradun, Bhatinda and Mohali. The hospitals at Bhatinda and Mohali will open this...
Prosthetic Knee System Offered to US Patients
Prosthetic Orthotic Solutions International is offering Otto Bock Healthcare's Genium Bionic Prosthetic System to patients in Marlton, New Jersey, and Horsham, Pennsylvania. The Genium system,...
US Hospital to Open New Paediatric Intensive Care Unit
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota is set to open a new paediatric intensive care unit in St Paul in August. The 17,000ft² unit features 12 private patient rooms, four...
European Hospital Installs Ziosoft Image Analysis Solution
University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland has deployed the Ziostation supercomputing functional analytics system to improve its imaging equipment. The system, designed by Ziosoft, will provide...
Roche xCELLigence System to Quantify Cell Proliferation
Researchers at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg have used Roche's xCELLigence instrument to quantify human kinome RNAi in order to assay the effects of large numbers of...
Chinese Hospital Installs Medical Waste Disposal System
Guang'anmen Hospital in Beijing, China, has installed Ekahau's WiFi-based real-time location systems to monitor hazardous medical waste disposal. Jie Wang, head of disposal control...
HIV Combo Test Proven Effective
Abbott's Architect HIV Ag/Ab combo assay, a combination antigen-antibody test, has been found to detect HIV infections earlier than antibody-only tests. The HIV Ag/Ab combo assay, the...
Rheonix Device Could Diagnose Septicaemia
Rheonix has announced the results of a study of SeptiCARD, a device to detect septicaemia in the blood. SeptiCARD uses a whole-blood sample for an accurate detection of bacteria in the blood. ...
Covidien Embolisation Device Could Treat Uncoilable or Failed Aneurysms
Covidien has announced that its Pipeline embolisation device has met the safety and efficacy endpoints of a study to assess its use in the treatment of uncoiled or failed aneurysms. The...
Drake & Scull International Wins MEP Contract for Abu Dhabi Hospital
Drake & Scull International Abu Dhabi has won an AED170m ($46.2m) contract to carry out MEP works for the Danat Al Emarat Women & Children's Hospital in Abu Dhabi. The 11-storey,...
UK Hospital Installs New CT Scanner
The Ulster Hospital in Dundonald, Northern Ireland, has become the first in the UK to introduce new CT imaging technology that reduces the amount of radiation patients are exposed to. ...
July 2011
Top
ArthroCare Suture System Receives FDA Clearance
ArthroCare has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its SpeedFix Suture System. SpeedFix, a push-in anchor made of polyether-etherketone, is designed for the repair...
Micell Completes Patient Enrolment in Coronary Stent Study
Micell Technologies has completed patient enrolment for the DESSOLVE II clinical study of its MiStent drug-eluting coronary stent system. MiStent is ultra-thin and is designed to...
Kenyan Hospital Opens Heart and Cancer Centre
Aga Khan University Hospital in Narobi, Kenya, has opened a KES4.52bn ($50m) heart and cancer centre. The facility is part of the Aga Khan University's long-term development plans which...
Chicago Hospital Set for January Opening
The $654m Rush University Medical Center hospital in Chicago, US, is set to open in January 2012, it has been announced. The 14-floor hospital building, called 'the Tower', will contain...
Lutonix Enrols First Patient in Levant 2 Study
Lutonix has completed the enrolment of the first patient in the Levant 2 clinical trial, which will evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Moxy drug-coated balloon compared to a...
India Apollo Hospitals Enterprise to Expand
India-based Apollo Hospitals Enterprise is planning to invest INR16bn ($359m) to add 3,000 beds to ten hospitals by 2013-14. The proposed investment also involves the purchase of...
Chicago Children's Hospital Selects Merge Imaging Solution
Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, US, has installed the Merge Healthcare iConnect image interoperability solution suite at its 270-bed facility to access images from multiple...
US Researchers Develop Artificial Lung
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University, US, have developed an artificial lung that uses air as a ventilating gas instead of pure oxygen. The artificial lung was developed by...
Christie Radiotherapy Centre Installs Novalis System to Treat Cancer
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust in England has installed the Novalis system, jointly developed by Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab, at its radiotherapy centre to treat cancer using...
US Medical Centre Installs Open MRI
The Beaumont Medical Center in Macomb Township, Michigan, US has become the first Beaumont facility to feature an open MRI. The new system is three times larger than a traditional MRI and...
Medtronic Drug-Eluting Stent Proven Effective in Clinical Trial
Medtronic's Resolute drug-eluting stent has been proven superior to Boston Scientific's Taxus drug-eluting stent in a clinical study in patients with coronary artery disease. The study...
UAE Hospital Offers New Vocal Cord Surgery
Surgeons at Al Baraha Hospital in Dubai have started offering a vocal cord surgery treatment using a new artificial respiration device. According to Emirates News Agency, the UAE Ministry...
New Trial for Throat Cancer Test
Cancer Research UK has initiated a large multicentre trial to determine whether a new device, the cytosponge, is effective at detecting Barrett's oesophagus, a precursor to throat cancer. ...
UK Releases Mixed-Sex Hospital Accommodation Data
The UK Department of Health has released June 2011 data on all breaches of the mixed-sex accommodation guidance relating to English NHS-funded patients. NHS-funded healthcare providers...
Canadian Heritage Fund Awards Grant for Cancer Research
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund has granted $100,000 to Canada-based RNA Diagnostics to conduct further research into the development of a medical tool that assesses the effectiveness...
US Hospital to Install Merge Healthcare Imaging Solution
Porter Hospital in Colorado, US, will install the Merge Healthcare iConnect image interoperability solution suite at its 300-bed facility to simplify image viewing its electronic medical record. ...
UEMedical and Parkway Partner to Open Women's Health Facility
United Eastern Medical (UEMedical) has signed a letter of intent with Singapore's Parkway to bring a Luxe Wellness Centre for Women to Abu Dhabi. The medical and health screening facility...
US Hospital Offers New Osteoarthritis Treatment
Health Link Medical Center in San Diego, US, is offering has begun offering platelet-rich plasma injection therapy to help patients suffering from osteoarthritis and joint injuries. Health...
Malvern and Paraytec to Develop Imaging Technology
UK-based Malvern Instruments has signed a development and licensing agreement with Paraytec, under which Paraytec will add its ActiPix technology to Malvern's materials characterisation portfolio....
Cutera Laser System Receives Canadian Approval
US-based Cutera has received Health Canada approval for its GenesisPlus laser system as a treatment for onychomycosis (nail fungus), warts and scars. The laser system uses Cutera's...
nanoMR Completes Financing for Pathogen Capture System
nanoMR has raised $13m in equity financing to develop commercial instruments for the clinical microbiology market, perform clinical studies and prepare for product launch. The proceeds...
ImaCor's ClariTEE Probe and Zura System Receive CE Mark
ImaCor has received CE mark approval for its ClariTEE probe and Zura system. ClariTEE, a miniaturised TEE probe, is designed for haemodynamic assessment of high-acuity patients that can...
Texas Hospital Adopts MRI-Guided Laser Surgery
Texas Children's Hospital has started treating patients using real-time MRI-guided thermal imaging and laser technology to destroy lesions in the brain that cause epilepsy and...
Care Quality Commission Orders Hampshire Care Home to Improve Standards
The Care Quality Commission has ordered Royal Mencap Society-owned Dolphin Court Care Home in Havant to improve its services. A review by England's social care regulator in June 2011...
Care Quality Commission Takes Enforcement Action Against Castlebeck Care
England's Care Quality Commission has taken enforcement action against Castlebeck Care (Teesdale) for failing to meet ten of the essential standards concerning the safety and welfare of patients...
Alphatec Receives Japanese Approval for Illico System
Alphatec Spine has received Japanese regulatory Shonin approval for its Illico SE posterior fixation percutaneous screw system, for use in minimally invasive surgery. The Illico SE...
OrbusNeich Presents Results of Genous Stent Study
OrbusNeich's single-centre study of Genous endothelial progenitor cell-capture stent in patients with a high angiographic risk demonstrated good clinical and safety outcomes. The stent has...
Valley Laser Eye Centre Installs LipiFlow Treatment
Valley Laser Eye Centre in western Canada has started treating evaporative dry eye disease patients with TearScience's LipiFlow device. LipiFlow facilitates the release of lipids from...
Australian Hospital Opens New Emergency Department
Townsville Hospital in Queensland, Australia, has opened a new emergency department as part of the $94m North Block, the first stage of the hospital's four-stage $437m redevelopment. The...
LHSC and St Joseph's Sign Renovation Contract with EllisDon
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and St Joseph's Health Care have signed a fixed-price contract with Canadian contractor EllisDon for the final phase of renovations at the two hospitals. ...
BioTime Receives Grant to Develop HyStem Microcarriers
BioTime has been awarded a $335,900 small business innovation research grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop and test HyStem microcarriers in disease-relevant...
Ellipse Presents Clinical Data of Scoliosis Device
Ellipse Technologies has presented the preliminary clinical data of its non-invasive remote-controlled MAGEC system as a treatment for early-onset scoliosis in children. Ellipse claims...
ActiViews CT-Guide System Approved in US
The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared ActiViews' CT-Guide needle guidance system, which was developed to assist physicians during CT-guided interventional procedures. The system,...
Non-Invasive Breath Test Could Diagnose H1N1 Strain
Researchers from Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, US, and New Zealand-based Syft Technologies have investigated an easy, non-invasive breath test to identify people infected with the H1N1 flu...
New University Hospital Opens in UAE
The University Hospital Sharjah in the UAE has opened to patients. The facility offers outpatient and inpatient facilities, pathology and laboratory medicine, a radiology and imaging...
NHS Waiting Times on the Rise
The NHS has been warned that almost a third more patients are waiting too long to be treated in hospital. UK Department of Health statistics showed that in May 2011 a total of 27,834...
Vapotherm's Heliox Device Receives Canadian Approval
Vapotherm has received approval for its Precision Flow Heliox device from the Medical Device Bureau of Health Canada. The device, part of Vapotherm's High Flow Specialty Gas Program, will...
US Hospital Deploys Toshiba Imaging Equipment
Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Florida, US, has installed Toshiba America Medical Systems' Infinix CF-i bi-plane system for its new dedicated hybrid suite. The system allows...
US Researchers Begin CoreValve Device Study
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US have treated two Maryland patients with a new CoreValve device as part of a nationwide study. The CoreValve device...
UK Funds Stem Cell Services
The UK Government will invest £4m in a collaborative project between UK blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan and NHS Blood and Transplant. The funding will enable both the entities to...
US Hospital Installs Smart-Pump Drug Library Software
US-based Yale New Haven Health System has installed Zynx Health Device Network's web-based knowledge resource and collaboration tool, Prime-A-Pump, to improve the safety, quality and efficiency...
UK Parliamentary Group Urges NHS to Improve Dementia Services
The UK's All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia has urged the NHS to cut at least a tenth of its hospital beds to allow it to spend £1bn ($1.3bn) on improving community-based dementia services....
Sanuwave Announces 24-Week Data from Diabetic Foot Ulcers Trialto Treat Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Sanuwave Health has presented positive results from a Phase III clinical trial designed to quantify the safety and efficacy of four 20-minute, non-invasive procedures with dermaPACE as a...
Exact Sciences Initiates Patient Enrolment in Colorectal Cancer Screening Trial
Exact Sciences has initiated patient enrolment for the pivotal trial of its multi-marker molecular diagnostic screening test for the early detection of colorectal cancer. The multicentre...
US Surgery Centre to Improve Ambulatory Services
US-based Surgical Care Affiliates has entered into an agreement with Suburban Outpatient Surgery Center, a subsidiary of Suburban Hospital Healthcare System, to improve ambulatory surgical...
IlluminOss Bone Stabilisation System to Treat Osteoporotic Fracture
IlluminOss Medical has announced the first implant of its photodynamic bone stabilisation system to repair and stabilise a fibula fracture in an 80-year-old woman at the Paracelsus Klinik...
Indian Hospitals Warned Over Waste Disposal
The Punjab Pollution Control Board in India has issued notices to 54 public and private hospitals for improper disposal of biomedical waste. The Punjab Pollution Control Board came to know...
US Approves St Jude Deep Brain Stimulation Study Expansion
St Jude Medical has received US Food and Drug Administration approval to expand the BROADEN study of the Libra deep brain stimulation system for depression. With this approval, St.Jude can...
Japan Approves Cardiac Science's Powerheart G3 Automated External Defibrillator
Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has approved Cardiac Science's new model of Powerheart G3 automated external defibrillator. The company is partnering with Japan-based...
Myanmar to Build Liver Transplant Hospital
Myanmar has broken ground on its first liver transplant hospital, local newspaper The Voice Weekly has reported. The $40m hospital will also provide services to heart and kidney...
US Researchers Develop High-Resolution Imaging Technology
Researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US have developed an optical coherence tomography with a 1µm-resolution that can reveal...
Boston Medical Opens Male Sexual Health Clinic in Arizona
Boston Medical Group has opened a sexual health clinic for men in Scottsdale, Arizona, US. The facility, the 22nd of its kind in US, will offer sexual therapy treatments from a team of...
NHS Waiting Times on the Rise
NHS waiting times for X-rays, cardiology tests and ultrasound scans are on the rise, according to the latest data released by the UK's Department of Health. The number of patients waiting...
New Assay to Detect Lung Cancer
Researchers at the University of Chile's Center for Cancer Technologies have found that Radient Pharmaceuticals' Onko-Sure DR70 assay can effectively detect early lung cancer. In a...
Pennsylvania Hospital to Expand Emergency Department and Trauma Centre
St Mary Medical Center in Pennsylvania, US, is set to expand and redesign its emergency department and trauma centre as part of a $70m capital expansion project. The hospital will invest...
ThromboView Found to be Well-Tolerated by Patients
Agenix has reported the results of a study that evaluated the safety and efficacy of its ThromboView diagnostic test in patients with suspected acute pulmonary embolism. The 52...
Canadian Firm Awards Construction Contract for Three Hospitals
Alberta Infrastructure in Canada has selected Stuart Olson Dominion Construction, Churchill's general contracting segment, to manage the building of three new hospitals valued at...
Independence Blue Cross and Abington Health Join Forces to Improve Patient Care
US-based Abington Health and Independence Blue Cross have signed a three-year contract agreement to improve quality of care and lower costs for healthcare consumers. Independence Blue...
Radiofrequency Augmentation Therapy Treats Vertebral Compression Fractures
DFINE has announced beneficial results from a study demonstrating the ability of radiofrequency-targeted vertebral augmentation (RF-TVA) with the StabiliT system in the treatment of...
Laser Raman Spectroscopy System Detects Lung Cancer
Verisante Technology has announced positive results from a pilot study of a laser Raman spectroscopy prototype to detect lung cancer. The Verisante Core system reduced lung cancer...
US Fines Brooklyn Hospital for Hazards
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration has fined Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, $48,000 after it discovered 14 violations. Inspectors also found that...
Indian State Orders Hospital Closure
The Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has ordered the closure of New City Hospital after noticing several deficiencies in its functioning. During a visit by the Health and Family...
Researchers Develop Robotic Endoscopy Surgery to Treat Gastric Tumours
Researchers at Nanyang Technological University and National University Hospital in Singapore have developed a new technology to treat gastric tumours. The master and slave...
US Researchers Say PACE Technology is Effective for Ischaemia
Researchers at Cleveland Clinic in the US have presented positive results from a study of Pulsed Acoustic Cellular Expression (PACE) technology, used for the treatment of ischaemic tissues. ...
MedMira to Develop Rapid Hepatitis B Test
MedMira has been awarded a $2.3m contract by the US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity to develop and commercialise a multi-marker rapid test for the detection of the Hepatitis B core...
Pocket Ultrasound Could Reduce Costs and Improve Care
Research conducted by the Scripps Translational Science Institute and Scripps Health has proved that General Electric's Vscan pocket ultrasound device, used for point-of-care assessment of...
Orthopaedic Hospital in Bahrain to Deploy Blood-Cleaning Device
Bahrain-based German Orthopaedic Hospital is set to install a device that collects, cleans and returns blood lost in surgery to the patient. German Orthopaedic Hospital founder Heinz...
UAE Hospital to Open New Facility in 2012
The Oasis Hospital in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, UAE, will open its new building to patients in the first half of 2012. The 45,000m² facility will have the capacity to treat 18,000 outpatients...
Ansell Acquires Sandel Medical Industries
Ansell has acquired Sandel Medical Industries, an innovator in surgical safety solutions, for $13.5m. The purchase agreement includes sales and growth-based earn-outs over the next five years. ...
Health Management Associates to Acquire Seven Tennessee Hospitals
US-based Health Management Associates has signed a definitive agreement to acquire seven hospitals in Tennessee for around $525m. The hospitals are owned by Mercy Health Partners, a...
Sonitus SoundBite Hearing System Wins Additional FDA Clearance
Sonitus Medical has received the second US Food and Administration (FDA) approval for its SoundBite hearing system. The hearing system is a non-surgical and removable hearing solution...
India to Construct New Hospital in Sri Lanka
Indian High Commissioner Ashok Kantha and Sri Lankan health department officials have broken ground on a 150-bed hospital at Dickoya in Central Province, Sri Lanka. According to The Hindu,...
Chinese Hospital Installs Image-Guided Radiotherapy System
The Affiliated Cancer Hosptial of Shantou University Medical College in China has installed Varian Medical's TrueBeam system, which provides image-guided radiotherapy. TrueBeam is designed...
US Medical Facility Conducts Study of New Technology for Insomnia
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in the US is conducting the first randomised and controlled clinical study using Brainwave Optimisation to treat insomnia, a sleep disorder. ...
US Children's Hospital Set for Expansion
Sweden-based Skanska has been awarded a Skr1.3bn ($206m) contract to expand the Nemours/Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware, US. The project will see a five-storey,...
US Surgeon Implants Pacemaker-Like Device for Bowel Incontinence
A surgeon at the University of Rochester Medical Center in the US has become the first in the country to implant a pacemaker-like device that could help people with faecal incontinence regain...
NEC Medical Diagnostic Monitor Receives FDA Clearance
US monitor designer NEC Display Solutions has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its 30in MultiSync MD301C4 medical diagnostic display, used for displaying and...
US Students Invent Device to Reduce Dialysis Risks
Graduate students at Johns Hopkins University in the US have designed a device to reduce the risks of infection, clotting and narrowing of the blood vessels in kidney failure patients who...
USO Breaks Ground on Facility for Wounded Soldiers
The United Service Organization (USO) has broken ground on the construction of the new Wounded Warrior and Family Center in Virginia, US. The centre will be the first stateside USO centre...
Golden Meditech to Acquire General Hospital in Beijing
China's Golden Meditech will acquire a general hospital in Beijing's Haidian district for HK$600m ($77m). Upon completion of the transaction, Golden Meditech will effectively own 57.91% of...
UK Watchdog Demands Improvements at Somerset Care Home
The Care Quality Commission has told the Voyage care group to improve services at its care home in Somerset, UK. The regulator's inspectors found that the care home, located in Bridgwater,...
Hillcrest to Acquire Two Oklahoma Hospitals
Hillcrest HealthCare System has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the assets and operations of two hospitals in Oklahoma, US — the SouthCrest Hospital in Tulsa and Claremore...
UK Researchers Identify E Coli Proteome Using Orbitrap Technology
Researchers at the UK's Health Protection Agency have identified the proteome of the organism responsible for the recent E. coli outbreak in Europe using Thermo Scientific LTQ Orbitrap...
New Hybrid Procedure to Treat Atrial Fibrillation
Doctors at Washington University School of Medicine in Missouri, US, are performing a new hybrid procedure using minimally invasive surgical techniques and catheter ablation to treat...
June 2011
Top
US Hospital to Perform New Obesity Surgery
The Davis Clinic in Houston, Texas, US, has said that it will offer weight-loss surgery using Allergan's Lap-Band system to patients with a body mass index between 30 and 35 next month. ...
US University Develops New Software for Brain Scan Research
Researchers at University of Colorado Boulder in the US have developed software that will allow neuroscientists to archive and retrieve brain images from hundreds of individual studies. ...
Arch Biopartners and Canadian Research Council to Develop BTIC Diagnostic Imaging Agents
Arch Biopartners and its subsidiary Arch Cancer Therapeutics have entered into an agreement with the National Research Council of Canada to develop prototype brain tumour initiating cell...
Watchdog Warns East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust Over Poor Patient Care
The Care Quality Commission has critisised East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK for allegedly failing to ensure the safety and welfare of its patients. In a report published in May,...
Faulty Surgical Tools Put UK Patients at Risk
Substandard surgical instruments are putting UK patients at risk of possible injury and infection, according to a report by BBC Panorama. The faults include rough edges, steel burrs that...
Space Research Could Lead to New Cancer Treatment
Astronomers at Ohio State University in the US are working with medical physicists and radiation oncologists to develop a new radiation treatment for cancer. They discovered that heavy...
Wisconsin Healthcare Provider to Build New Emergency Facility
US-based Mercy Health System plans to build a $6m emergency department and clinic in Janesville, Wisconsin, US. The new 20,000ft² facility will include a 24-hour emergency department,...
Non-Invasive Ultrasound Treatment Could Heal Broken Bones
A non-invasive treatment option is available to heal bone fractures without the need for surgery. The battery-powered Exogen Ultrasound Bone Healing System emits low-intensity soundwaves...
Researchers Say Proton Beam Therapy Can Control Breast Cancer
Researchers at Loma Linda University Medical Center in the US have reported successful Phase II clinical trial results of proton beam therapy, used to control breast cancer with minimal...
GE Healthcare Mobile X-Ray Systems Receive FDA Clearance
GE Healthcare has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for three mobile X-ray systems. The Optima XR220amx, Optima XR200amx and Brivo XR285amx have touchscreens and...
Australian University Plans New Oral Health Facility
The University of Queensland in Australia has awarded a construction contract to Lend Lease to construct a A$120m oral health facility at its Herston campus. The Oral Health Center will...
Medical Mutual and Health4 Form Partnership to Improve Patient Care
US-based health insurer Medical Mutual and Health4 have developed an innovative programme to control healthcare costs by improving coordination and quality of care. Under the agreement,...
US Firm Develops New Fluid Evacuation Pad
US-based O R Innovation has developed a pad to absorb fluids that flow off of operating room tables. The Remora fluid evacuation pad can absorb 3.7l of a minute, helping to speed...
US Health Department Grants $500m to Improve Patient Care
The US Department of Health and Human Services has announced that up to $500m in Partnership for Patients funding will be available to help hospitals and healthcare providers improve care...
MiMedx Ortho Shield Device Receives FDA Clearance
MiMedx Group has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its HydroFix Ortho Shield device, used for the management and protection of tendon injuries. The HydroFix...
China to Staff Clinics with Qualified General Practitioners
China has announced that it will recruit qualified general practitioners at all hospitals in urban communities and rural townships by 2012 in an effort to improve the quality of the...
Cardinal Health Foundation Awards Funds to US Hospitals
US-based Cardinal Health Foundation has awarded $1.2m of funding to help hospitals, health systems and community health organisations improve patient care. Cardinal Health E3 Grant...
Polk Medical Center Adopts Non-Invasive Heart Test
Polk Medical Center in Georgia, US, has added ECGs to its list of services. The non-invasive heart test can detect a number of heart conditions. It is performed by a registered...
Researchers Reveal Spinal Proteins That Could Predict Alzheimer's
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich in Germany have trialled a spinal fluid test in patients with mild cognitive impairment. The study involved analysis of a number of spinal...
Japanese Researchers Develop Remote-Control Endoscope
Japanese researchers have developed a self-propelled and remote-controlled capsule endoscope to image the stomach and colon. The tadpole-shaped capsule of the Mermaid endoscope is about 1cm...
US University to Develop 3D Neural Probe for Tinnitus
National Science Foundation has awarded $330,000 to Wayne State University in Michigan, US, to develop a 3D neural probe to suppress tinnitus, a hearing disorder. Researchers aim to...
MedShape Develops New Versions of its Interference Fixation Device
MedShape Solutions has developed several larger versions of it ExoShape CL, a two-part PEEK Altera interference fixation device. The device simplifies and improves soft tissue graft...
English Care Regulator Demands Improvements at Nursing Home
The Care Quality Commission has told a nursing home in Somerset, UK, that it needs to improve its standards of care. The health and social care regulator for England said that Ruishton...
US Hospital Installs Disease Registry Software
The Children's National Medical Center in Washington, US, has installed RemedyMD's registry software to help improve the care of obese patients. The software aggregates, harmonises, and...
Optical Microchip Technology Detects Foot and Mouth Disease
Stratophase has demonstrated the feasibility of a transportable foot and mouth disease detection unit that uses company's proprietary optical microchip technology. The sample is mixed with...
New Brain Implant Shown to Improve Memory in Rats
Scientists at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, US, have designed a brain implant shown to restore lost memory function and strengthen new information recall in laboratory rats. ...
China Funds Kenyan Hospital Expansion
The Chinese government has provided a loan of KES9.85bn ($109m) to Kenya to fund the expansion of the Kenyatta University Teaching and Referral Hospital. Kenyan finance minister Uhuru...
Surgeons Perform First US Surgery Using New Heart Valve Repair Ring
Surgeons have completed the first surgery in the US using the Contour 3D annuloplasty ring following its approval by the US Food and Drug Administration. The device, used to treat...
Cerbomed Vagus Nerve Stimulation Device Shows Promise for Epilepsy
Cerbomed transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation device NEMOS could be used to treat epilepsy, a study conducted in Germany has revealed. The device achieved decrease in the frequency...
Ohio Hospital to Offer $99 Lung Cancer Screening Test
University Hospitals in Ohio, US, will offer $99 lung cancer screening tests at its Seidman Cancer Center using spiral CT. The scan, a rapid and non-invasive test uses low doses of radiation...
Foetal ECG Detects Acidosis
Researchers at the University of Granada in Spain have reported that foetal ECG is more effective than pulse oximetry for detecting acidosis. The finding is based on a prospective...
US Surgeons Implant Artificial Lung in Toddler
Physicians and surgeons at Washington University in the US have successfully implanted an artificial lung in a toddler. The artificial lung, made by Novalung in Germany, is a small box that...
UK MoD Subsidiary Files Lawsuit Against 3M Over MRSA Test
A subsidiary of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has filed a lawsuit against US firm 3M, claiming that it failed to properly market innovative MRSA diagnostic test BacLite. The...
JICA Cancels Grant to Philippine Hospital
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has cancelled a $10m grant that would have helped pay for the construction of a new hospital in Cebu, the Philippines. JICA said the cancellation...
Neogenix and Cambridge Biomedical to Develop ELISA Assay
Neogenix Oncology has entered into an agreement with Cambridge Biomedical to develop its pancreatic and colorectal cancer diagnostic serum ELISA assay. The ELISA assay will use the...
Abu Dhabi Hospital Introduces Newborn Tagging System
Corniche Hospital in Abu Dhabi has become the first medical centre in the UAE to introduce the 'Hugs and Kisses' infant-tagging system to ensure the safety of babies born at the maternity...
Non-Invasive Liver Tests Could Predict Survival in Hepatitis C Patients
A study has revealed that non-invasive tests for liver fibrosis could predict the survival of patients with chronic hepatitis C. The research, published in medical journal...
UK Hospitals Fined for Paramedic Delays
Hospitals in the south of the UK have been charged nearly £1.5m by an ambulance service for delaying paramedics during the 2010/11 financial year. They were charged with £2.44 for...
Tissue of Origin Test Given Medicare Coverage
Pathwork Diagnostics has announced that its Tissue of Origin Test, which helps identify the primary tumour in difficult-to-diagnose cancer cases, is now covered by Medicare. The test has...
UK Hospital Reduces Inventory Wastage by More Than 40%
Glenfield Hospital, part of University Hospitals of Leicester in the UK, has reduced inventory wastage by 43% after investing in web-based supply management software for its...
Trial of Health Monitoring Device for Heart Disease Continues
HP, SingTel, HealthSTATS and Frontier Healthcare are collaborating on an eight-week clinical trial of a mobile health monitoring solution for heart disease. The solution wirelessly...
Saliva Test Developed for Scoliosis Diagnosis
Axial Biotech has developed a simple saliva test to diagnose mild adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in Caucasian children between the ages of nine and 13. The Scoliscore test test, the...
Dorset Hospital Given Approval for £35m Overhaul
The local council of Poole in Dorset, UK, has approved plans to extend the nearby St Ann's Hospital. The £35m project will be delivered by Integrated Health Projects, and will include...
Missouri Hospital Plans Emergency Department Expansion
North Kansas City Hospital in Missouri, US, is planning a $16m expansion of its emergency department. The new project will expand the department by 13,000ft² to almost, reports Kansas...
New Closed-Loop Artificial Pancreas Developed
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US have developed a closed-loop artificial pancreas to for use in patients with type 1 diabetes. The device consists of an insulin...
US Researchers Develop Pulseless Heart
Researchers at Texas Heart Institute in Texas, US, have developed a ventricular assist device that doesn't produce a heartbeat. A device uses a rotor of blades to push blood forward in...
Rehabilitation Hospital Opens in New Hampshire
Northeast Rehabilitation Network has opened a hospital in Pease, New Hampshire, US, to provide services for injured and disabled individuals in the Seacoast area. The facility includes...
US Introduces Training Simulation to Prevent Healthcare-Acquired Infections
The US Department of Health and Human Services has unveiled an interactive, computer-based, video-simulation training programme to fight against healthcare-acquired infections. The...
Sunshine Completes Initial Study of Heart Assist System
Sunshine Heart has completed an initial animal study of the transcutaneous C-Pulse heart assist system, used to relieve the symptoms of heart failure. The study, conducted at Texas...
Sweden Awards Construction Contract for New Radiotherapy Clinic
NCC Construction Sweden has been awarded the contract to construct the Nordic region's first clinic for advanced radiotherapy using proton treatment in Uppsala. The contract is valued...
New Imaging Method Developed for Cardiovascular Disease Diagnosis
Researchers from Indiana University School of Medicine and Purdue University have developed a new type of imaging technology to diagnose cardiovascular disease. The technique uses...
World Bank Finances Kyrgyz Health Project
The World Bank's board of directors have approved the $24m in additional financing to support the Kyrgyz Republic's ongoing Health and Social Protection Project. Around $13.2m of the funding...
Tempasure Cardiac Ablation Catheter Receives CE Mark
Advanced Cardiac Therapeutics has received the CE mark for its Tempasure cardiac ablation catheter, used for treating atrial arrhythmias. The catheter system, based on sensing...
PhotoMedex Develops Laser to Treat Psoriasis in Children
PhotoMedex has developed a laser treatment for psoriasis in children. The Xtrac Excimer Laser can be used to focus a beam of UVB light on the affected area without exposing healthy skin. ...
Florida Hospital Announces Plan to Cut Emergency Waiting Times
Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Florida, US, is planning a $7m expansion to improve emergency department waiting times. Chief nursing officer Jennifer Shull said that, on average, it takes...
US Issues Funds to Prevent Chronic Diseases
The US Department of Health and Human Services has allocated approximately $40m in funds to health departments across the country to prevent chronic diseases and promote health. The...
Arteriocyte and US Army to Develop Cellular Therapies for Orthopaedic Trauma
Arteriocyte has entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the US Army Institute of Surgical Research. The colloboration involves the investigation of new stem...
Palo Alto Council Approves Stanford Hospital Expansion Project
The city council of Palo Alto, California, US, has approved a $5bn hospital expansion project at Stanford University. The project will rebuild Stanford Hospital and expand Packard...
US Hospital Installs Healthcare Connection Solution
Nashville General Hospital in Tennessee, US, has installed the MyHealthDIRECT web-based software application to connect patients to appropriate healthcare providers. The solution...
UK Hospital Performs Pioneering Asthma Treatment
Doctors at the University Hospital of South Manchester in the UK have carried out the first endoscopic procedure using radio waves to help asthma patients breathe easier. The new...
European E. Coli Crisis Prompts Increase in Screening Plate Production
Thermo Fisher Scientific has increased production and distribution of its Brilliance ESBL Agar plate in the wake of the European E. coli crisis. The product is a chromogenic screening plate...
Provista Develops New Blood Test to Detect Breast Cancer
Provista has developed a simple blood test to detect breast cancer. The BT test measures five specific blood-based proteins known to have an association with the immune system's response...
New Hampshire Hospitals Face Budget Cuts
Hospitals in the US state of New Hampshire will lose more than $250m in Medicaid reimbursement, as well as funds generated through the state's hospital provider tax, due to new budget provisions. ...
Seidman Cancer Hospital Opens in Ohio
The University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Ohio, US, has opened to patients. The $260m, ten-storey, 150-bed facility is one of 12 freestanding cancer hospitals in the US. It...
US Hospitals Urged to Improve Patient Care
The US Department of Health and Human Services has urged all of the country's hospitals to work towards improving treatment and cutting costs, as part of the government's Partnership for...
New Adelaide Hospital to Cost Over A$2.1bn
The new Royal Adelaide Hospital in South Australia, Australia, is expected to cost over A$2.1bn, more than was originally forecast. The state government insists that the price represents...
Scientists Develop Digital Stethoscope to Aid Heart Disease Diagnosis
A team from Queen Mary's School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science in London, UK, has helped to develop a digital stethoscope that allows doctors who are not cardiac experts to spot...
Halo Ablation Catheter Used to Treat Barett's Oesophagus
Researchers in the UK are using the new Halo 360 ablation catheter with an electrode-covered balloon to treat Barrett's oesophagus, a cancerous throat condition. Halo 360 ablation catheter...
Saliva Test Used to Detect Cytomegalovirus Infections in Newborns
Researchers from the University of Alabama, US, and other academic medical centres successfully used a polymerase chain-reaction-based saliva test to identify cytomegalovirus infections...
California Hospital Fined for Endangering Patients
Dominican Hospital in California, US, has been fined $50,000 by the state's department of public health for failing to monitor a patient on a ventilator. State investigators reported there...
DNA Sequencing Used to Detect Pathogenic E. Coli
Life Technologies, in cooperation with University Hospital Munster in Germany, has performed DNA sequencing using its Ion Personal Genome Machine to diagnose the presence of pathogenic E. coli. ...
US Hospital Introduces New Hormone Replacement Therapy
Pain specialists at Health Link Medical Center in southern California, US, are offering the new SottoPelle bioidentical hormone replacement therapy to combat the symptoms of ageing. The...
Canadian Hospital Introduces New C. Difficile Test
The Ottawa Hospital in Canada is using a new polymerase chain reaction test to detect C. difficile infections. The diagnostic test analyses stool samples for the presence of the toxin...
New Onyx Glue to Treat Aneurysms
Doctors at Brooke Army Medical Center in the US have developed a new glue to treat aneurysms. Brooke Army Medical Center endovascular neurosurgeon Christopher Koebbe said the glue, known...
US Hospitals to Screen Patients for HIV
The University of Alabama Hospital and 25 other metropolitan hospitals in the US have announced that they plan to screen every patient treated in their emergency departments for HIV. ...
ConforMIS Completes First Surgeries Using iTotal CR Knee Resurfacing System
ConforMIS has completed the first surgeries using the iTotal CR knee resurfacing system in the US states of Massachusetts, California and Texas. The system is made to fit into an...
US Hospital Installs System to Prevent Retained Surgical Items
Prince George's Hospital Center in the US has installed a radio-frequency detection system to prevent surgical items from being left inside a patient following surgery. When activated, the...
UK Hospital Opens New Infusion Suite
Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, UK, has opened a new suite for outpatients who need intravenous infusions. The suite allows patients with gastro, neurological and rheumatoid...
Engineers Develop New Silicon Biosensor for DNA Sequencing
Engineers at Vanderbilt University in the US have developed a spongy silicon biosensor that can detect the particular DNA sequences that indicate heart disease or certain kinds of cancer. ...
Gene Test Can Predict Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia Survival
Scientists at the UK's Institute of Cancer Research have discovered that a genetic test can predict which patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia will not respond well to treatment. ...
Spectroscopy Device Could Provide Non-Invasive Bladder Dysfunction Diagnosis
Researchers from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver Coastal Health and the Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI) have developed a wireless near-infrared spectroscopy device...
Indian Institutions to Develop Diabetes Test Kit
A diagnostic test kit to detect diabetes cheaply is being developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Indian Institutes of...
Canadian Hospital Opens New Outpatient Facility
Surrey Memorial Hospital in British Columbia, Canada, has opened the $237m Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Center at Surrey-Green Timbers. The 188,000ft² facility will...
Australia Hospital to Receive Web-Based Patient Admin System
Fremantle Hospital will become the first hospital in Western Australia to receive a web-based patient administration system, under the state's eHealth reform programme. The Western...
Emit Corporation Blood and Fluid Warmer Receives US Approval
Emit Corporation has received US Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance for its HypothermX HX100 device. HX100 is designed to warm intravenous fluids, blood or blood products to...
Boston Scientific Recalls iCross Coronary Imaging Catheter
Boston Scientific has voluntarily recalled its iCross coronary imaging catheters following eight confirmed occurrences of catheter tip detachment due to embrittlement between 1 April 2010 and...
Ohio Hospital to Open New Centre for Emergency Medicine
A new 60,000ft² centre for emergency medicine is to be opened at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Ohio, US, in July. The $40m facility will provide expanded laboratory...
India and Tanzania Sign Agreement to Construct Heart Hospital
Tanzania and India have signed an agreement to build a 300-bed heart hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The joint venture agreement was undertaken by Apollo Hospitals of India and...
May 2011
Top
Scripps Health Breaks Ground for Radiation Therapy Centre
Scripps Health has broken ground on a $43.9m radiation therapy centre in La Jolla, San Deigo, US. The 41,000ft² facility will be equipped with one TrueBeam STx linear accelerator,...
New Blood Test to Detect MRSA Infections
Scientists have developed a new blood culture test that uses paper strips to detect MRSA infections. The new test only takes five hours to produce a result. Kent Voorhees, a member of...
Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Asked to Improve Standards of Care
England's Care Quality Commission has asked Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to improve its services to comply with essential standards of care for patients. A review...
Blue Light Tool Can Detect Oral Cancer Cells
Canadian researchers have reported that a device that emits blue light can help to save the lives of patients suffering from oral cancer. The handheld fluorescence visualisation tool...
Blood Test to Diagnose Depression Unveiled
Researchers at Keio University in Tokyo, Japan, have developed a blood test to diagnose depression. A study conducted by the medical research group Human Metabolome Technologies, involving...
Ohio Hospital Opens New Emergency Department
A $2.4m emergency department has been opened at University Hospitals Twinsburg Health Center in Ohio, US. The 3,400ft² facility, which is integrated with the University Hospitals...
Construction of Oman's Sultan Qaboos Hospital to Begin Next Year
The Directorate-General of Health Services at Dhofar Governorate, Oman, has announced that the construction of the 700-bed Sultan Qaboos Hospital will begin in early 2012. The...
New Breath Test to Diagnose Chronic Pancreatitis
Exalenz Bioscience has announced positive trial data that reveals its BreathID breath test system and 13C-di-peptide substrate could be used to diagnose chronic pancreatitis. The study,...
New Heart Monitoring Device Detects Arrhythmia
Cinterion and TZ Medical have announced that Aera-CT, a lightweight and cost-effective heart arrhythmia monitoring device, improves the condition of patients with arrhythmia disorders. ...
Study Says Vectra DA Blood Test Effective for Rheumatoid Arthritis
Crescendo Bioscience has announced that Vectra DA, a first-in-class multi-biomarker blood test, can track rheumatoid arthritis activity and provide physicians with a measure to determine...
US Hospital Uses PED to Treat Brain Aneurysm
Officials at St Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Texas, US, have announced that one of its doctors has treated brain aneurysms using the new pipeline embolisation device (PED). The PED, which...
Florida Hospital Adopts Automated Laboratory Solution
Florida Hospital has become the first US hospital to implement Roche Diagnostics' automated solution to help laboratories increase their testing capacity and deliver reliable results with...
Scientists Develop New Test for IVF Embryos
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the US have developed a new technique to help couples that are affected by or carry a genetic disease have IVF babies free of...
Morris Hospital Adopts Ultimax X-Ray System
US-based Morris Hospital has installed Toshiba's Ultimax X-ray system to improve its diagnostic imaging capabilities. Ultimax features three filters that decrease hard and soft X-ray...
New Nanoscale Imaging Technology Could Aid Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis
Researchers at the University of California Santa Barbara in the US have developed a new method of nanoscopic imaging for use in the early detection and diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and...
New York Hospital Breaks Ground on Patient Pavilion
Albany Medical Center in New York, US, has broken ground on a new six-storey patient pavilion. The $360m facility will contain of 20 additional operating room suites, 60 medical beds,...
CT Scan Could Predict Early Death in Diabetic Patients
Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in the US have revealed that a common test could predict early death in individuals with diabetes. A high coronary artery calcium score...
New Hospital Opens in Iowa
A new $42m hospital has been opened in Madison County in Iowa, US. The 113,000ft² Madison River Oaks Medical Center will offer 24-hour emergency care, orthopaedics, general surgery...
Neonatal Heart Defect Test Could Become Compulsory
St Joseph's Regional Medical Center in the US is performing a test in newborns to detect heart disease that could be made compulsory should New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sign a new law...
Denver Hospital to Build New Facility
Exempla St Joseph Hospital in Denver, US, has announced plans to build a $623m facility in the city. The new 826,000ft², 348-bed hospital is scheduled to be operational by December...
GTx Unveils Positive Results from Ostarine Trial
GTx has announced positive results from a phase IIb clinical trial evaluating Ostarine, a selective androgen receptor modulator that could be used to treat muscle wasting in cancer patients. ...
Ohio Plans First Proton Therapy Centre
The University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center in Ohio, US, is to set up a $30m proton therapy centre. Proton therapy is an advanced type of radiation treatment that uses a powerful beam...
Bangladesh to Build New Low-Cost Hospital
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital in Bangladesh is to build a new facility to provide quality healthcare for middle and lower-income groups. The multistorey facility, to...
Abbott HCV Test Receives FDA Approval
Abbott has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market its real-time polymerase chain reaction test, which is used to measure the viral load of hepatitis C (HCV), the...
LifeCare to Acquire Six Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals
US-based HealthSouth has said that it will sell its six long-term acute care hospitals to Texas-based LifeCare Holdings for about $120m. The firm will sell its hospitals in Las Vegas,...
Oraya Completes Enrolment for Radiotherapy System Study
Oraya Therapeutics has completed patient enrolment for its INTREPID clinical trial of the IRay stereotactic radiotherapy system in Europe. The study is the first sham-controlled,...
Maquet Receives CE Mark for Cardioroot Aortic Graft
Maquet Cardiovascular has received European CE mark approval for its Cardioroot aortic graft, which is used to repair or replace diseased and damaged aortas. The graft allows easy sewing...
Ohio Children's Hospital Opens New Therapy Centre
Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio, US, has opened a new 3,000ft² expressive therapy centre. The $1.8m facility Emily Cooper Welty Expressive Therapy Center will help children to use...
US Infusion Therapy Device Market to Exceed $6.6bn by 2017
The value of the US infusion therapy device market is forecast to exceed $6.6bn by 2017, according to iData Research. The report revealed that market growth will be driven by the increasing...
Californian Community Hospital to Build New Cancer Facility
San Joaquin Community Hospital in California, US, is to construct a new cancer facility. The $36.2m cancer centre will provide radiation oncology and medical oncology, and contain an...
CryoLife Acquires Cardiogenesis Corporation
CryoLife has acquired Cardiogenesis Corporation, thereby strengthening its position in surgical products used to treat patients with severe angina, and expanding its portfolio in cardiac...
Chinese Hospital to Offer NeoStem Arthroscopic Orthopaedic Treatment
Nankai Hospital in Tianjin, China, is to offer NeoStem's adult stem cell treatment to patients suffering from arthritis and orthopaedic conditions. "Offering NeoStem's licensed technology...
New Hereditary Breast Cancer Test Can Cut Costs
UK-based NewGene has developed a test for hereditary breast cancer that is more time and cost-effective than conventional methods. NewGene uses the Roche 454 GS-FLX next-generation...
Masimo SpHb Monitoring Accurately Measures Haemoglobin and Haemorrhage
Researchers at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, US, have reported the accuracy and reliability of Masimo non-invasive and continuous haemoglobin (SpHb) monitoring for...
NephroLife Opens Dialysis Unit at Bangalore Hospital
India-based NephroLife Care has opened its new dialysis unit at Excelcare Hospital in Bangalore. The centre consists of eight dialysis stations, an individual suite for VIP...
Australia Announces Funds for Hospitals in Victoria
The Australian Federal Government has announced that it will provide A$440m ($465m) in funding to increase the number of beds at public hospitals in the state of Victoria. Regional...
NeuroStar TMS Therapy Effective Against Major Depressive Disorder
NeuroStar transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy has showed effective outcome and adherence rates in patients with major depressive disorder. The open-label study, conducted at...
Waiting Times at Queen's Medical Centre in UK Reach All-Time High
Waiting times at the Queen's Medical Centre in the UK have increased 438% since 2010, figures released by trade union UNISON have revealed. According to data, more than 1,500 people had to...
MDxHealth Methylation Test Detects Prostate Cancer
MDxHealth has reported results from a study demonstrating that changes in DNA methylation patterns in benign tissue could predict an adjacent prostate cancer. The test delivers a...
Saudi Arabia Needs 40,000 More Hospital Beds
More than $18bn has been allotted to Saudi Arabian healthcare construction over the next five years to cope with rising demand. The commitment includes the construction and equipping of...
Given Imaging's PillCam Able to Detect Colorectal Polyps
Given Imaging has announced positive results from the European multicentre study of PillCam Colon 2, a video capsule used to detect colorectal polyps. The device is equipped with two...
OVA1 Ovarian Cancer Blood Test Proven Accurate
Quest Diagnostics has reported that the OVA1 blood test has been found to be a more accurate detector of ovarian cancer than the medically accepted CA 125 blood test in a clinical study. ...
Canada Funds Ottawa Hospitals to Cut Emergency Department Waiting Times
The Ottawa Hospital in Ontario, Canada, has received $3.9m in provincial funding to reduce emergency department waiting times. The funds have been used to introduce 19 new short-stay beds,...
Hawaii Health Providers Join Forces to Cut Healthcare Costs
The Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) has partnered with Hawaii hospitals and the Premier healthcare alliance to launch the Advanced Hospital Care programme in the state, in a bid...
University of Colorado Hospital to Expand Anschutz Medical Campus
University of Colorado Hospital in the US will begin the expansion of its Anschutz Medical Campus at the end of this month, it has been announced. The $400m expansion will consist of a...
Netherlands Hospital Installs Clinical Information System for Training Institute
Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis Hospital in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has installed iMDsoft's MetaVision clinical information system to provide 24 / 7 tele-intensivist monitoring for intensive...
New Non-Invasive Test Could Improve Pancreatic Cancer Detection
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have reported positive results of a non-invasive DNA test to detect pancreatic cancer from a stool sample. The study was aimed at detecting methylations in...
NovaVision VRT Found to Improve Visual Function in Stroke Victims
NovaVision has announced the benefits of its clinically supported, light-stimulation-based vision restoration therapy (VRT), designed to diagnose and improve visual function in patients who...
Sugar Land Surgical to Build New Hospital Campus
Sugar Land Physician Partners has selected Mission Constructors to build the new 42,022ft² Sugar Land Surgical Hospital in Sugar Land, Texas, US. The hospital will contain four...
Huntsville Installs New Surgical Solution
Huntsville Memorial Hospital in Texas, US, has installed Surgical Information Systems' solution to automate its perioperative department. The solution is expected to help the hospital...
US Scientists Develop New Imaging Method
Researchers at Columbia Engineering School in the US have developed a new electromechanical wave-imaging method, the first non-invasive, direct technique to map the electrical activation in...
Cellular-Level Visualisation with Cellvizio Effective for Detecting Bilio-Pancreatic Cancer
Mauna Kea has announced that the cellular-level visualisation of the lining of the bile and pancreatic ducts with its Cellvizio probe-based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) system...
New Zealand Emergency Department Urged to Turn Away People with Minor Ailments
Doctors in New Zealand have urged the emergency department of Dunedin Hospital in Otago to turn away patients if they only have minor ailments. Dr Branko Sijnia urged Southern District...
Solari to Open New Inpatient Hospice Home
Solari Hospice Care has announced that it will open its new inpatient hospice home in Houston, Texas, US, later this month. The new 8,000ft² hospice home contains private rooms...
Covidien Completes Patient Enrolment for Hernia Mesh Study
Covidien has completed the enrolment of 600 patients for a clinical study of Parietex ProGrip self-fixating mesh, which could be used to repair inguinal hernias. Parietex ProGrip...
Bravo Wireless pH Monitoring System Manages GERD
Given Imaging has announced the benefits of using the Bravo wireless pH monitoring system to analyse pH levels in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). The system uses a...
Hannibal Selects Allscripts Electronic Health Record
Hannibal Regional Healthcare System in Missouri, US, has implemented the Sunrise Enterprise suite of solutions from Allscripts to support a connected community of health and improve...
Impella Improves Blood Circulation
The Protect II study has reported positive results of the Impella 2.5 device, designed to enhance blood circulation and support blood pressure in high-risk patients undergoing percutaneous...
Boston Scientific Reports First Cardiac Defibrillator Implantation
Boston Scientific has announced the first implants of its Energen and Punctua cardiac resynchronisation therapy defibrillators (CRT-Ds) and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs)...
Thailand to Open New Hospital by End of May
A new hospital in Phuket, Thailand, is expected to open on 31 May. The hospital — Phuket's seventh — consists of 129 beds, five operating rooms, a CAT scanner and 14 stations...
Boston Scientific Reports New Catheter Implantation
Boston Scientific has announced the first launch of its Blazer open-irrigated catheter at the Cardiologique du Haut–Leveque Hospital in Bordeaux–Pessac, France. The catheter is attached to...
HealthSouth to Acquire Drake's Healthcare Services
US-based HealthSouth has entered into an agreement to purchase all assets of Drake Center's inpatient rehabilitation services and sub-lease space for the operation of a 38-bed...
Caldera Desara Mini Receives CE Mark
Caldera Medical has announced that it has received CE mark approval for its Desara Mini implant, used in the treatment of stress urinary incontinence. The implant, combined with Desara...
Tennessee Medical Facility Installs ProVation Software
Maury Regional Medical Center in Tennessee, US, has installed ProVation Order Sets software to improve care, patient safety and clinician performance. The software, developed by Wolters...
Essent Finalises Sale of Two US Hospitals
US-based Essent Healthcare has completed the sale of its two Massachusetts hospitals to Steward Health Care System of Boston. The sale was finalised after the Massachusetts Department of...
St Joseph Health System Adopts RF Detection Technology
US-based St Joseph Health System has partnered with RF Surgical Systems to minimise risk and improve patient safety by using its RF Assure detection technology in operating rooms. The...
Cameron Enrols Patients for Clinical Study of S-ICD
Cameron Health has announced that it has completed enrolment in its clinical study of the Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator (S-ICD) system. The S-ICD system detects highly accelerated...
MicroPulse Treatment Effective Against Diabetic Macular Oedema
Iridex Corporation has announced the benefits of MicroPulse photocoagulation technology over the standard-of-care treatment for diabetic macular oedema retinal damage caused by...
Electrical Stimulation Therapy Proven Effective for Retinitis Pigmentosa
Okuvision has announced that its electrical stimulation therapy has proven effective in early-stage retinitis pigmentosa patients during a sham-controlled pilot study. The study involved...
Lymphoseek Detects Lymph Nodes
Neoprobe has announced results from its Lymphoseek (tilmanocept) NEO3-09 study. The Phase III clinical study enrolled 150 subjects with either breast cancer or melanoma within...
Australian Hospital Opens Short-Stay Unit
Werribee Mercy Hospital in Australia has opened a new $1.2m short-stay unit. The 10-bed suite is expected to cut waiting times for emergency department patients by delivering...
German Eye Surgery Centre Acquires Keratoconus Treatment Technology
The Paulig Eye Surgery Centre in Germany has acquired advanced technology for performing Keraflex KXL, a non-invasive and non-surgical treatment for keratoconus, from Avedro. Using the...
Idaho Technology Receives FDA Approval for Respiratory Panel
Idaho Technology has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance for its FilmArray instrument and FilmArray respiratory panel, a nucleic acid test to detect viral nucleic...
Medtronic Completes First Patient Procedure for Diagnostic Catheter
Medtronic has completed the first patient procedure using its Achieve Mapping Catheter, an intra-cardiac electrophysiology diagnostic catheter. The catheter can assess pulmonary vein...
Transoral Robotic Surgery Effective For Throat Cancer Surgery
Surgeons at Mayo Clinic found that robotic surgery can treat cancer in the narrow, hard-to-reach area beyond the tongue at the top of the larynx, known as the voice box. Transoral...
IASIS Acquires St Joseph Medical Center
IASIS Healthcare, an operator of medium-sized acute care hospitals, has acquired a 79% ownership interest in St Joseph Medical Center in Texas, US. St Joseph provides general, acute care...
D Medical Subsidiary Receives FDA Approval to Market its Insulin Pump
D Medical Industries subsidiary Spring-Set Health Solutions has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Spring Universal Infusion Sets in the...
Hospital Purchasing Programme to Improve US Patient Care
The US Department of Health and Human Services will implement a new initiative to improve the quality of care hospitals provide and help reduce healthcare costs. The Partnership for...
Defibtech Recalls DDU-100 Series AEDs
Defibtech has initiated a voluntary Class I recall of DDU-100 series semi-automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) sold under the Lifeline AED and ReviveR AED brand names, including 65,885...
Taiwan to Fund Hospitals to Help Recruit Medical Staff
The Department of Health of Taiwan announced a plan to spend NT$1bn ($34.8m) to help hospitals recruit and retain nurses and medical care staff. A recent survey showed that hospitals have...
April 2011
Top
Amerinet and Teleflex Sign Agreement for Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters
Teleflex said it signed a new three-year multisource agreement effective from 1 May 2011 to 30 April 2014 with Amerinet, a national healthcare group purchasing organisation. Amerinet chose...
UNC Break Ground Hospital Campus
UNC Hospitals has broken ground on a hospital campus in North Carolina, US. The $200m project will be completed in two phases, which are set for completion in 2013 and 2015 respectively. ...
SpinalMotion Begins Patient Enrolment for Kineflex Cervical Disc Trial
SpinalMotion, developer of the innovative technology for the treatment of patients suffering from degenerative disc disease, announced that it has started enrolling patients for a clinical study...
Web-Based Programme Aids Physicians in Patient Care
Office Ally has introduced a new automated eligibility checking service that is designed to save time, money and resources for participating physicians and their office staff. Office...
Blood-Activated Sensor Could Detect Pancreatitis
Scientists at the University of Texas in the US have developed a low-cost sensor to detect acute pancreatitis quickly and easily. The sensor, which is about the size of a matchbox and...
Half of NHS Trusts Breaching Mixed-Sex Ward Rules, Says Survey
Half of the NHS trusts are breaking government rules by placing patients in mixed-sex wards, according to a new survey. An estimated 48% of 146 NHS trusts breached the single-sex...
SI-Bone Receives FDA Approval for Modified iFuse Implant System
SI-BONE has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for a major modification to its existing iFuse Implant System product, which is used to treat conditions such as sacroiliac...
Mississippi Hospital to Open Next Month
US-based Health Management Associates expects the construction of its 67-bed, $42m Madison River Oaks hospital in Canton, Mississippi, to be completed this week, and hopes to begin operations...
UK Cancer Hospitals Offer Poor Patient Support, Study Warns
The UK's top hospitals for treating cancer have been found to be among the poorest performers in terms of how patients are treated, according to a study conducted by Macmillan Cancer Support. ...
US Medical Providers Support Patient Care Initiative
Medical providers in the US will take part in the $1bn nationwide Partnership for Patients initiative launched by the federal government, which will focus on patient safety. The programme...
NHS Trusts Install Bedside Point of Care Units
Four major NHS Trusts have signed up for Lincor Solutions' MEDIvista point of care units, which will help improve patient experience, clinical care, safety standards and create new avenues...
FDA Recalls iCAD Breast Cancer Device
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recalled Axxent FlexiShield Mini silicone pads, used to shield internal tissue during interoperative radiation therapy. The FDA discovered that...
NHS to Close Hospital Wards as Waiting Times Reach Three-Year High
The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is planning to close hospital wards and prescribe fewer drugs in bid to save money. NHS Confederation acting chief executive Nigel Edwards told...
UK To Build New Cancer Centre
The Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) is planning to establish a £20m cancer research centre in Manchester, UK. The centre, which will house 150 researchers, will be funded by...
Breath Test Could Detect Cancer
A breath test that can help detect cancer is one step closer to reality, according to a preliminary study published by researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology. The research...
Eye Specialists Discover Chronic Diseases First
Eye exams are generally the first to detect chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, a study by the Human Capital Management Services Group (HCMS) has revealed. The study, which...
Medtronic and US Hospital Begin Patient Enrolment for Heart Valve Trial
Medtronic and Loyola University Hospital in Illinois, US, have begun patient enrolment for a clinical trial of a non-surgical heart valve replacement. Loyola is among the 40...
Canadian Scientists Discover New Way to Encourage Blood Vessel Formation
Researchers at The University of Western Ontario in Canada have discovered a method to stimulate the formation of new blood vessels in tissues that are starved of oxygen. Dr Geoffrey...
Qatar Rehabilitation Hospital to be Ready by 2014
The physical medicine and rehabilitation hospital in Hamad Medical City in Qatar will be ready within the next three years. The 12-storey hospital will have three speciality units....
New Screening Method to Help Diagnose Lipid Storage Disorders in Children
Researchers of Columbia University have discovered a yeast-based screening 'exacerbate-reverse' method to diagnose treatment for fatal childhood disease Niemann-Pick C, an autosomal recessive...
New Test to Identify Cancer Patients Who Could Benefit From Diabetes Drug
Scientists from the University of Manchester in the UK and Thomas Jefferson University in the US have developed a test to identify breast cancer patients who would benefit from treatment...
FDA Approves Device to Treat Glioblastoma Multiforme
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the NovoTTF-100A System, a portable device to treat adults with glioblastoma multiforme that recurs or progresses after chemotherapy...
CDC Launches Initiative to Address Healthcare-Acquired Conditions
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has initiated a national programme to address healthcare-acquired conditions in the US. 'Partnership for Patients: Better Care, Lower...
Patients with Alcohol-Use Disorders More Likely to Acquire Hospital Infections
Hospital patients with alcohol-use disorders have higher risk of developing healthcare-associated infections, according to a study conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University in the...
Many UK Hospitals Use Unproven Medical Bags, Research Reveals
Many hospitals in the UK may not be using proven medical bags, an analysis of market data by Versapak group has revealed. This may be because the hospitals are unaware of the...
US Hospital Opens $49m Expansion
Northwestern Lake Forest Hospital in Illinois, US, has opened a $49m expansion, which includes an outpatient surgery centre, on its Grayslake campus. Nearly 80,000ft² has been added to...
Researchers to Evaluate Urine Tests for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the US have initiated a study to evaluate whether new urine-based tests that identify genetic abnormalities present in prostate cancer...
Artificial Pancreas May Improve Diabetes Control in Adults
An artificial pancreas may improve overnight blood-glucose control and reduce the risk of nocturnal hypoglycaemia in adults with type 1 diabetes, according to new studies. The...
New Mental Health Hospital to be Built in Ontario
St Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton has started construction work on C$1.3bn ($1.3bn) mental health hospital in Ontario, Canada. The hospital will provide larger, modern facilities to...
Increased Infection Prevention Efforts Proved Ineffective
The expanded use of active surveillance and greater use of barrier precautions has not reduced the transmission of two important antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospital settings, a US study...
Pico-Tesla Device Reduces Fibromyalgia Symptoms in Study
Pico-Tesla has reported that the therapy delivered by its Resonator system improved pain and sleep symptoms in patients with fibromyalgia in a pilot study. The randomised,...
Brain Scans Could Predict Alzheimer's Risk
Brain scans could be used to predict the development of Alzheimer's disease up to a decade before symptoms develop, according to a study published in Neurology. Researchers at Rush...
Researchers Discover Biomarkers to Predict Multiple Sclerosis Progression
Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in the US have discovered two biomarkers that can predict the rate of progression in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis. For the study,...
Most NHS Trusts Lack Plan to Tackle Staff Obesity, Report Warns
Only 15% of NHS trusts in England have a policy or plan to help combat staff obesity, according to a report by the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) and the Faculty of Occupational...
US to Curb Preventable Complications in Hospitals
The US Department of Health and Human Services has announced a new initiative to end preventable injuries and complications in patient care, which could save thousands of lives and billions...
Blood-Flow Boosting Skin Patch Could Treat Alzheimer's
Researchers at US firm Clarimedix have developed a skin patch that can treat Alzheimer's disease by boosting blood flow to the brain. The patch, about the size of a matchbox, is designed to...
US Researchers Develop Prediction Model for Kidney Disease
Researchers at Tufts Medical Center in the US have developed a model that can accurately predict the short-term risk of kidney failure in patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease. ...
Cerapedics Reports Positive Results from Bone Graft Study
Cerapedics has reported positive results from the trial of its i-Factor biologic bone graft for patients undergoing posterior lumbar interbody fusion spine procedures. At six and 12...
Malaysia to Build New Polyclinic
The Malaysian Government has announced an allocation of MYR200m ($66m) for the construction of a new hospital to replace the existing Sri Aman Hospital in Sarawak, East Malaysia. ...
New Programme to Improve EHR Transition in US
The Georgia Health Information Technology Extension Center and HomeTown Health have entered into an agreement to improve the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) across 56 critical...
Thoughts Used to Move Computer Cursor
Researchers at Washington University in St Louis, US, have shown that electrocorticography can allow people to control a cursor on a computer screen through thoughts about vowel sounds...
Vigilair Study Reports Benefits of Air-Cleaning Technology
A study conducted by Vigilair Systems has found that the use of its air-cleaning technology led to a dramatic reduction in patient hospital-acquired infections. The research was carried out...
NHS Planning Major Cuts in Frontline Clinical Posts
NHS trusts in England are set to cut thousands of frontline posts as they aim to save £20bn by 2015, a plan which may lead to fewer services, fewer nurses and a worse NHS, according to The...
New Smartphone Application Could Diagnose Malaria
A research team from University of Central Florida, US, has developed a new smartphone application that can help in rapid diagnosis of malaria. The team's prototype is a Windows...
US Surgeons Perform Breakthrough Kidney Cancer Surgery
Surgeons at University of Rochester Medical Center in New York state, US, have become the first in the country to use a new infrared imaging technique combined with robot-assisted surgery to...
Deep Brain Stimulation Could Treat Tremors
Deep brain stimulation could allow patients to stop using medications to treat their essential tremors within a year after surgery, a study carried out at the University of South Florida, US,...
Spectranetics to Initiate In-Stent Restenosis Device Trial
Spectranetics Corporation is planning to conduct a study to evaluate excimer laser atherectomy using its Turbo-Tandem and Turbo Elite products in patients with femoropopliteal in-stent restenosis....
India's Apollo Hospitals Announces Expansion Plans
Apollo Hospitals Enterprise is planning to invest around INR9bn-INR10bn ($201.4m-$223.7m) to add 2,500 hospital beds across India. The beds will be added through the construction of 20...
Neuros Pain-Reduction Technology Tests Well
Neuros Medical has reported positive results from a study evaluating its high-frequency electrical nerve-block technology in patients with chronic amputation pain. In the study, four out...
Bed Shortages Increase Waiting Times in Australia
Public hospital patients in the state of Victoria, Australia, are waiting hours to be moved from ambulance stretchers into emergency wards because of bed shortages, according to figures released...
LHC and Helen Keller Hospital Announce Joint Venture in Alabama
Louisiana-based LHC Group has entered into a joint venture with Helen Keller Hospital to provide home health and hospice services in the state of Alabama, US. The primary service area of...
UK Researchers Develop Stroke Rehabilitation Devices
Researchers at the University of Southampton in the UK have developed devices that could be used to rehabilitate the arms and hands of people who have had a stroke. The three devices —...
Canadian Hospitals Need to Improve Pain Management Documentation, Study Reveals
More than two-thirds of Canadian hospitals do not document pain management interventions performed on children, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association...
Researchers Identify Genes to Predict Alzheimer's Risk
A consortium of investigators from 44 US universities and research institutions has identified four genes that can increase a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease later in life. ...
New Test Could Detect Asbestos-Related Cancer
A study conducted at New York University's Langone Medical Center has shown that the novel Multiplex SOMAmer Assay can accurately detect early-stage, asbestos-related pulmonary cancer, also...
Hospitals in England Failing Underage Drinkers, Report Reveals
NHS Hospitals in England are failing underage drinkers by not giving them enough support to tackle their problems, according to a report by charity Alcohol Concern. Every year, an...
New Test Could Identify Lung Cancer in Non-Smokers
Researchers at Celera Corporation have developed a biomarker-based serum test to identify lung cancer in people who have never smoked. To establish the biomarkers, researchers examined...
Dubai Opens First Occupational Healthcare Facility
Gulf Healthcare International, in collaboration with US-based Occucare International, has opened the first dedicated occupational healthcare facility in Dubai, UAE. Occupational...
Canada Breaks Ground at New Children's Hospital
Canada has started construction work on the first building project on the site of the new BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. The 2,346m² clinical support building...
Breast Milk Could be Used to Assess Breast Cancer Risk
Examining the epithelial cells present in breast milk may help to evaluate a woman's breast cancer risk, according to a study conducted at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the...
Los Angeles Hospital Unveils Expansion Plan
The Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, US, has unveiled a $100m expansion and enhancement plan, which includes the redesign of key healthcare service areas and the upgrade of...
Researchers Discover New Way to Predict Breast Cancer Survival
A team of researchers at the University of California San Francisco has discovered that an immune profile based on relative levels of three types of immune cells within a tumour can...
Cardiac Biomarker Could Predict Heart Failure Risk
T2, a cardiac biomarker, can help physicians to better predict the prognosis and development of cardiovascular complications such as heart failure, according to three new studies. In the...
Plymouth NHS Trust Improves Safety Standards
Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors have reported that Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust has made improvements, following original finding that it failed to meet essential standards. The...
Non-Tumour Tissue Analysis May Help to Diagnose Prostate Cancer
Non-tumour tissue could be used to diagnose prostate cancer, a study published by the American Association for Cancer Research has reported. Researchers at University of California,...
Malaysian Researchers Develop Sick Leave Verification Device
Malaysian researchers have developed SickVerify, a new medical device that can determine if someone is actually sick when they claim sick leave. The device, which looks similar to a USB...
Atlantic Health and Newton Memorial Hospital Merger Approved
The merger agreement between the Morristown-based Atlantic Health and the Sussex County Newton Memorial Hospital New Jersey, both in the US, has officially been approved. With the...
Diabetes Medication Errors Common in England, Report Reveals
More than one third (37.1%) of diabetes patients in NHS hospitals across England experienced at least one medication error made by staff, according to a new audit published by NHS Diabetes. ...
Work Begins on North Carolina Hospital Expansion
The Moses H Cone Memorial Hospital in North Carolina, US, has broken ground the largest expansion in its history. The $200m, six-storey North Tower will add 96 private patient rooms, which...
US Researchers Develop Non-Invasive Blood-Glucose Detector
Researchers at University of Missouri–St Louis in the US have developed a portable, inexpensive and non-invasive blood glucose detector. The device works by shining a near-infrared...
CT Scans for Testicular Cancer Linked to Secondary Malignancies
Researchers at University of California, Davis have found that older men with early-stage testicular cancer who opt for surveillance with regular CT scans are at high risk of developing...
Obesity and Excessive Drinking Cost Welsh NHS £140m a Year
Obesity and alcohol misuse are costing the NHS in Wales more than £140m each year, according to research conducted by Swansea University. The research, commissioned by the Welsh...
March 2011
Top
Biotronik Completes Patient Enrolment in Cardiac System Trial
Biotronik has completed patient enrolment for a clinical trial evaluating the Biotronik Home Monitoring system for patients with chronic heart failure. Biotronik Home Monitoring is...
New Device Could Capture Cancer Cells
A Harvard bioengineer and an MIT aeronautical engineer have developed a device that can detect individual cancer cells in blood sample, enabling doctors to identify if the cancer has spread...
Indonesia to Improve Health Services for Poor
Indonesia has invited the private sector to build more hospitals and reserve 25% of the available beds for the poor in an attempt to address a rise in chronic diseases in the nation. ...
US Hospital Performs Hand Transplant
Surgeons at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, US, have successfully performed a hand transplant on a 21-year-old female patient. The 19-hour surgery involved several teams...
US Provides Additional Funding for Public Health Improvement Programmes
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced more than $34m in additional Affordable Care Act funding for public health improvement programmes in the country. ...
Non-Invasive Haemoglobin Sensor Useful During Surgery
A spectrophotometric haemoglobin (SpHb) sensor may be an effective way to non-invasively monitor blood haemoglobin levels during surgery, according to a study published in Anesthesia...
Chembio Develops Assays for Rapid Disease Diagnosis
Chembio has developed a testing approach known as Dual Path Platform technology, which can help in the rapid diagnosis of HIV, influenza A and B, and hepatitis B and C. The point-of-care...
Alzheimer's Society: NHS Needs to Improve Dementia Screening
The Alzheimer's Society has called for the NHS to routinely screen all individuals over 75 years old for signs of dementia, as it estimates that thousands miss out on treatment that slows...
Spinal Neuromodulation Device Could Reduce Back Pain
A novel spinal neuromodulation device known as the Nevro system can relieve back pain in patients who have not found relief through conventional spinal cord stimulation, according to a...
Connecticut Hospitals to Explore Merger
Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) and the Hospital of Saint Raphael (HSR) in Connecticut, US, have signed a letter of intent to explore the potential integration of the two hospitals. Under...
UK Patients Delay Dental Treatment Due to Cost, Survey Reveals
One in five patients in the UK has put off dental treatment because of the cost, according to a survey by the Office for National Statistics. The survey revealed that only 58% tried to book...
US Researchers Identify New Colon Cancer Marker
Researchers at the University of Colorado Cancer Center in the US have identified an enzyme that could be used for the early diagnosis of colon cancer. For the study, researchers studied...
London Hospital to Perform UK's First Face and Hand Transplant
A team of surgeons at the Royal Free Hospital in London has announced that they will begin to assess patients for the UK's first face and hand transplant, a procedure that has been performed...
Canada to Upgrade Grace General Hospital
The provincial government of Manitoba, Canada, is to invest more than $20m to expand, renovate and modernise the emergency department of Grace General Hospital in Winnipeg. The expansion...
Magnetic Therapy May Not Improve Tinnitus
Magnetic therapy may not improve tinnitus, a condition characterised by constant ringing in the ears, according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in the...
Brain Stimulation Could Improve Swallowing Ability in Stroke Patients
Non-invasive brain stimulation can improve swallowing ability in ischaemic stroke patients, according to a study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. The...
Welsh Hospitals Need to Improve Nutritional Care, Report Reveals
Hospital catering services have improved in Wales, UK, but more needs to be done to make sure that patients get the nutritional care they need, according to a new report by the Auditor General...
Sensitive New Test Effective for Identifying Heart Attacks
A highly sensitive blood test is more effective at identifying heart attacks in patients than other available tests, according to a new study by researchers at Edinburgh University in the...
Australia Boosts GP Training Figures
A record 900 GPs have begun training in Australia in 2011, as a result of the government's national health reforms. The Australian General Practice Training programme will support 900 GPs...
Cardiac Pacemaker Could Prevent Epileptic Falls
Mayo Clinic researchers in the US have found that cardiac pacing may help epilepsy patients with seizure-related falls caused due to ictal asystole, a condition in which the heart stops...
Saint Mary's and LHP Hospital Group Announce JV Plans
Saint Mary's Hospital has announced plans to form a joint venture (JV) with LHP Hospital Group (LHP) in the US. The agreement calls for an equally shared governance structure, while LHP...
Canadian Doctors Use Xbox Kinect for Surgery
Doctors at the Sunnybrook Hospital in Canada are using the Xbox Kinect system for hands-free manipulation of images during surgery. With the Xbox Kinect, doctors are using hand gestures to...
Freshmedx Reports Positive Results from Lung Cancer Test Study
Freshmedx has reported positive results from a clinical trial of computerised bioconductance test (CB test), a lung cancer test which is used to distinguish between benign and...
New Nanomodified Surfaces Could Seal Leg Implants
Researchers at Brown University, US, have developed two nanomodified surfaces for titanium leg implants, which promote skin cell growth and seal implants to prevent bacterial infection. ...
US Hospital Performs Nation's First Full Face Transplant
Doctors at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston have performed the first full face transplant in the US. A team of more than 30 physicians, nurses, anaesthesiologists and residents worked...
Hospital Expansion Project Launches in British Columbia, Canada
The provincial government of British Columbia, Canada, has launched a C$512m ($522m) expansion of a local hospital. The project to upgrade Surrey Memorial Hospital will include an...
Positive Results from Covidien Inguinal Hernia Mesh Study
Covidien has reported positive interim results from a study comparing the use of its Parietex ProGrip self-fixating mesh for inguinal hernia repair to the traditional Lichtenstein repair. ...
Global Cardiac Pacemakers Market to Reach $5.1bn by 2015
The global cardiac pacemakers market is expected to reach $5.1bn by 2015, according to a report by Research and Markets. The market is likely to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)...
Ethiopia to Build 600 Hospitals in Five Years
The Ethiopian Ministry of Health has announced that it will build around 600 hospitals in the next five years in an effort to improve the access to healthcare and to meet the health...
US Researchers Develop Blood Test to Predict Diabetes Risk
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US have developed a blood test which can predict an individual's risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The test measures the levels of...
NHS Hospitals Asked to Publish Surgery Results
All NHS hospitals could be required to publish the results of operations carried out by individual surgeons, under reforms planned by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. Trusts would be...
Quincy Medical Starts Colon Cancer Device Trial
Quincy Medical Center in the US has started a clinical trial to evaluate the Third Eye Retroscope, a device designed to detect colon cancer during colonoscopies. The Third Eye, developed...
Light Therapy May Improve Cognitive Function in Brain Injury Patients
The application of light therapy via LEDs on the forehead and scalp can improve cognitive function and post-traumatic stress disorder in patients with a traumatic brain injury, a study published...
Elkhart General and Memorial Plan New Regional Healthcare System
Elkhart General Healthcare System and Memorial Hospital and Health System have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a new regional healthcare system in the US. The agreement will set...
Computer Software Could Help Diagnose Skin Infections
Technology can help prevent misdiagnoses of skin infections, according to a study published in Dermatology Online Journal. In the study, a piece of software — VisualDx — designed...
Australian Government Funds Queensland Hospital Upgrade
The Australian Government has announced A$175m ($171.1m) for the redevelopment of Logan Hospital in Meadowbrook, Queensland. The money will fund a new emergency department building, 50...
European Bone Marrow Centres Put on Alert in Wake of Japan Crisis
The European Group for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT) has alerted 500 bone marrow transplant centres and 3,000 medics to be ready to treat Japanese radiation victims if such a...
Nursing Shortage Increases Risk of Hospital Patient Mortality
A study conducted at three US institutions has revealed that a patient's mortality risk rises as their exposure to understaffed nursing shifts increases. The research — carried out at...
Researchers Develop Blood Analysis Chip
Researchers at the University of California in the US, Dublin City University in Ireland and Universidad de Valparaíso in Chile have developed a blood analysis chip that could help to...
Photodynamic Device Developed to Treat Precancerous Cervical Lesions
Researchers at Photocure and Sagentia are developing non-surgical, tissue-preserving device which uses photodynamic therapy to treat human papillomavirus and the precursors of cervical...
Chindex Launches Two Hospital Projects in China
American healthcare company Chindex International has initiated two new hospital construction projects in China. The two new projects, the Tianjin United Family Hospital in Tianjin and...
Elana Receives FDA Clearance for Anastomosis Device
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the excimer laser assisted non-occlusive anastamosis (ELANA) surgical kit, which allows neurosurgeons to re-route blood flow around...
CQC Demands Improvement from Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust to improve its services to comply with essential quality and safety standards. The trust declared that...
New Blood-Glucose Testing Device Could Help Diabetics
Engineers at Arizona State University and clinicians at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, US, have developed a painless self-monitoring blood-glucose sensor for patients with diabetes. The sensor...
SEHA to Build Hospital in Abu Dhabi
The Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA) has started construction work on the emirate's 598m Mafraq Hospital. The hospital will be built adjacent to the existing Mafraq facility,...
Emory and Saint Joseph's Announce Merger
Emory Healthcare and Saint Joseph's Hospital in Georgia, US, have entered a formal partnership, forming the largest health system in the state. The partnership aims to enhance and improve...
Low-Radiation Scan Proven Effective in Ruling Out Heart Problems
Prospectively gated CT scans are as effective as standard tests when it comes to ruling out heart problems, a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has reported. ...
Japanese Quake Could Disrupt Medical Device Sales
US medical device makers could face disruptions to their sales following the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan last week, Deutsche Bank has warned. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation,...
TDM Berhad to Build Private Hospital in Malaysia
Terengganu Development Management (TDM) Berhad has plans to build a MYR120m ($39.5m) private hospital in Kuantan, Malaysia. The seven-storey hospital will be equipped with the latest...
Report Reveals Inadequate Care of Older Patients in Welsh Hospitals
The treatment of some older people in hospitals in Wales is "shamefully inadequate", according to a report by Ruth Marks, the country's older people's commissioner. The review was carried...
American Medical Reports Positive Prolapse Repair Study Results
American Medical Systems has reported positive results from a six-month, prospective and multi-centre study of the Elevate Anterior and Apical Prolapse Repair System. The study was...
US Researchers Develop Early Emphysema Blood Test
Researchers at New York-Presbyterian Hospital's Weill Cornell Medical Center, US, have developed a blood test which can detect emphysema well before symptoms occur. The test measures the...
Blood Test Could Predict Inherited Ovarian Cancer Risk
Researchers at University of Washington in the US are developing a new gene-based blood test which can determine a woman's risk of inheriting ovarian cancer. The test looks at 22 genes...
New Technology Could Non-Invasively Monitor Glucose Levels
Researchers at Freedom Meditech are developing devices that can non-invasively scan the eye to monitor glucose levels in people with diabetes. The devices are based optical polarimetry,...
VHA Initiative Led to Significant Hospital Savings in US
VHA, a national healthcare network in the US, has announced that 54 hospitals have reduced their costs by more than $35m following an initiative to reduce the incidence of...
Australian Government Funds Hospital Upgrade in New South Wales
The Australian Government has committed A$96m ($96m) to the upgrade of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. The funding will provide a new 30-bed...
New Test Effective in Identifying Common STI
A new assay could provide an effective way of identifying Trichamonos vaginalis, a common sexually transmitted infection, a study carried out at Rhode Island Hospital in the US has...
US Researchers Develop Device to Capture Cancer Cells
Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US have developed a device based on Velcro-like nanoscale technology to identify and capture tumour cells circulating in...
Israel Opens Bomb-Proof Emergency Facility
Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Israel, has opened the largest bomb-proof emergency facility in the country, which includes a four-storey structure embedded underground. The...
Trauma Patients at Higher Risk of Death After Hospital Discharge
Trauma patients are at higher risk of death after being discharged from hospital, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has revealed. Researchers discovered...
Homeless Patients Cost More, Study Reveals
Homeless patients in Canada cost about C$2,599 ($2,671) more per hospital stay than the average patient, according to a study conducted at St Michael's Hospital, Toronto. The study...
Toenail Test Could Predict Lung Cancer Risk
A nicotine toenail test can determine the individual's risk of lung cancer, a study carried out at the University of California, San Diego has suggested. Researchers at the US university...
English NHS Trusts Cut Back on Surgical Procedures
A study by healthcare charity the Patients Association has revealed that the number of elective procedures conducted by NHS trusts across England dropped drastically in 2010. The study...
MEMS Sensor Could Detect Early-Stage Atherosclerosis
Researchers at the University of Southern California in the US have developed a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) thermal sensor that can identify atherosclerosis in its early stages. ...
NASA Technology Used to Reduce Chemotherapy Side Effects
A NASA technology has successfully reduced painful side-effects resulting from chemotherapy and radiation treatment in bone marrow and stem cell transplant patients. The technology, known...
Post-Discharge Calls Reduce Hospital Readmission Rates, Study Reveals
Post-discharge calls to patients help to reduce 30-day readmissions and improve patient satisfaction, according to a one-year study conducted by patient experience services company Beryl. ...
Multifunctional Catheter Could Simplify Heart Surgery
An interdisciplinary team including researchers from Northwestern University in the US has developed a multifunctional catheter that can simplify treatment for arrhythmia and other heart diseases....
New Children's Hospital Opens in Texas, US
Texas Children's Hospital in the US has opened Texas Children's Hospital West, a suburban hospital designed, equipped and staffed exclusively for children. The $220m facility in Houston...
Loyola University Chicago and Trinity Health Discuss Merger
Loyola University Chicago and Trinity Health have signed a letter of intent that could lead to the consolidation of Trinity Health and the Loyola University Health System, a wholly owned...
UK Allocates £775m for Health Research
UK Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley has announced £775m in funding over five years for translational research to deliver benefits to NHS patients. The funding is aimed at...
US Researchers Develop Breast Cancer Detection Device
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the US have developed a device that can identify breast cancer and accurately differentiate between benign and malignant tumours. The...
UK Scientists Announce Breakthrough in Early Bowel Cancer Detection
Scientists at Cancer Research UK have found that DNA methylation patterns, a key process in cell development, could accurately detect early bowel cancer. It is hoped that the discovery...
New CPR System Improves Survival Rates
A new cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) method can improve long-term survival rates with good brain function by 50%, according to a five-year clinical trial led by researchers at University...
NHS Patient Safety Incidents Rise
There were 547,879 safety incidents in NHS trusts across England between 1 April 2010 and 30 September 2010, a 4% rise from the previous six months, the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA)...
Ventus Receives CE Mark for Sleep Apnoea Device
Ventus Medical has received European CE mark approval for its Provent sleep apnoea therapy. The nasal device fits over both nostrils and uses a proprietary MicroValve design to create...
Ohio Hospital Begins Work on New Outpatient Centre
Christ Hospital in Ohio, US, has broken ground on a new outpatient centre. The 68,000ft², three-storey facility will contain a full-service imaging centre, a wound-healing centre and...
West Virginia United Health System to Merge Two Hospitals
St Joseph's Hospital and Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, US, are to officially merge this month. West Virginia Health Care Authority has approved...
CQC Asks Lincolnshire NHS Trust to Improve Care
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has asked Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to take action to improve the care of those who access its specialist mental health and...
Heart Device Studies Exclude Women, Research Reveals
Many heart device studies conducted to gain approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) do not include enough women, research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality...
Scientists Develop Test to Predict Neuropathy Risk from Bone Cancer Treatment
Scientists at the Institute of Cancer Research in the UK have developed a genetic test that can predict whether bone cancer treatments are likely to cause neuropathy, a dangerous nerve disorder. ...
UK Scientists Develop Prostate Cancer Test
Scientists at the University of Surrey in the UK have developed a test that can diagnose prostate cancer from a urine sample. The test detects Engrailed-2 (EN2), a protein made by...
Increased Hospital Spending May Not Improve Sepsis Survival
Increased hospital spending at high-cost hospitals is not associated with better survival rates for sepsis patients, according to a report published in the Archives of Internal...
IBM to Provide Australia's E-Health Records
Australia's National E-Health Transition Authority has selected IBM to design and build the National Authentication Service for Health (NASH), a key building block in developing...
Blood Test Could Identify Heart Failure Relapse Risk
A routine blood test could predict the likelihood of congestive heart failure in patients who have a high risk of relapse and readmission after being discharged from hospital, according to a...
Medtronic Reports Positive Results from Heart Valve Study
Medtronic has reported that its Mosaic bioprosthetic heart valve has demonstrated positive performance results after 12 years in a study published in The Journal of Thoracic and...
New Children's Hospital Opens in Minnesota, US
The University of Minnesota, US, has opened its new $275m Amplatz Children's Hospital. The 96-bed hospital has been designed with families in mind and has been tailored so environments...
NHS Reforms May Endanger Patient Confidentiality, BMA Warns
Urgent action is needed to prevent patient confidentiality from being endangered by NHS reforms, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned. The BMA has expressed its concern over...
Biotronik Begins Intraoperative Defibrillator Testing Study
Biotronik has initiated patient enrolment in a trial to investigate the use of intraoperative defibrillation testing during implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation. ...
UAE Hospitals to be Linked with New Electronic System
The UAE Ministry of Health, in partnership with Microsoft, has launched a new electronic system that will eventually link all hospitals across the country. The system was launched at...
Portable Device Could Help Detect Cancer
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, US, have developed a portable device analyse tissue samples to determine if a cancer is malignant. The $200 device is designed to connect to...
NewCardio Reports Positive Cardiac Monitoring Device Study
NewCardio has reported positive results from a clinical study evaluating CardioBip, a handheld device that provides ECG telemonitoring. The CardioBip can be carried by the patients and...
E.ON Helps UK Hospital to Reduce Energy Costs
E.ON has begun work on a project with Newham University Hospital in London, UK, to improve the hospital's energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The project is amongst the first of...
February 2011
Top
FDA Permits Marketing of First Preliminary Norovirus Test
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has permitted the marketing of the Ridascreen norovirus 3rd generation EIA assay, the first test for the preliminary identification of norovirus. ...
Fortis Global Acquires Singapore Hospital
Fortis Global Healthcare has acquired an under-construction specialised cancer hospital in Singapore for SGD$33m ($25.8m). The group, which has a 50 hospital network in India, expects...
HbA1c Test Not Effective for Diabetes Diagnosis in Children
The haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) test is not effective when it comes to diagnosing diabetes in children, according to a study by University of Michigan's CS Mott Children's Hospital in the US. ...
UK Hospitals to Lose Funding for Committing Preventable Errors
The UK's Department of Health has released a list of 25 unacceptable errors in the NHS, and warned that hospitals will be stripped of funding if they are found to be at fault. After...
European Minimally Invasive Spinal Implant Market to Exceed €90m by 2017
The European market for minimally invasive spinal (MIS) implants is estimated to exceed €90m by 2017, according to a new report by Research and Markets. Rapid growth of MIS interbody...
US Hospital Penalised for Privacy Violation
The US Department of Health and Human Services has imposed a civil money penalty of $4.3m on Cignet Health for breaking a privacy law by denying patients access to their records. ...
New Test Could Predict Infant Autism Risk
Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston in the US are developing a non-invasive test that analyses electrical activity in the brain to evaluate an infant's risk of developing autism. The...
NICE Warns Against the Use of Alternative Food Allergy Tests
GPs, practice nurses and health visitors should only use skin prick or IgE antibody blood tests to diagnose food allergies, the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE)...
Balloon Kyphoplasty Improves Survival Rates in Spinal Fracture Patients
Patients over 65 who have had spinal fractures treated with minimally invasive surgery have higher survival rates up to four years after treatment than patients who are not operated on,...
Australia Begins Work on New Hospital
Construction work has started on the new Royal Adelaide Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia, on the site of the city's rail yard. South Australian Health Minister John Hill said the...
UK Doctors Warned Over Immunisation Mistakes
GPs and nurses in the UK have been warned to take more care in immunisations after it was reported that 108 patients had been treated incorrectly in the past five years. A survey by the...
Researchers Identify New Marker for Heart Disease
Researchers at the University of Calgary in Canada have identified a new marker that could predict an individual's risk of developing coronary heart disease. The research found that...
New Device Looks Under Skin to Detect Cancer
Researchers at the University of Rochester in the US have developed an optical technology that can image under the skin's surface, enabling the doctors to determine if skin lesions are benign...
Australian State to Fund Hospital Redevelopment Project
The state government of New South Wales in Australia has announced that it will provide $245m in funding for redevelopment projects at Blacktown Hospital and Mount Druitt Hospital, both in Sydney....
New Device Can Accurately Measure Aortic Blood Pressure
Researchers at University of Leicester in the UK have developed a new device to accurately measure blood pressure. Unlike the traditional methods, the new device measures blood pressure in...
Malaysia to Upgrade Digital Medical Records
Twenty government hospitals in Malaysia are set to upgrade their digital medical records by 2015. The project will make it easier for the hospitals to access patient information and...
Hospital Staff Shortages Could Cause Perinatal Deaths
Overstretched and understaffed services in maternity units could lead to perinatal deaths, according a new study by researchers at The West Midlands Perinatal Institute (WMPI) in the UK. ...
Malaysian Hospital Opens Cardiac Centre
Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia has opened its new cardiac centre. The centre will provide treatments for all forms of heart disease in adults and children, and will also offer...
Integra and Stout Medical to Develop Expandable Interbody Device
Integra LifeSciences Holdings has entered into an exclusive worldwide licence and development agreement with Stout Medical Group to develop and commercialise an expandable interbody device. ...
Study Shows Long-Term Benefit of Total Knee Replacement
Total knee replacement can help patients to maintain remarkable functional capacity and activity levels even after 20 years, according to a study conducted at the Center for Hip and Knee Surgery...
Quality Improvement Initiative Reduces Pneumonia in US Hospitals
Intensive care unit hospital staff in Michigan, US, have reduced the rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia more than 70% by using a targeted quality improvement initiative. The...
NHS Hospitals to Lay Off Staff
Two London NHS hospitals are planning to cut almost 1,000 jobs, including hundreds of nursing posts. St George's Hospital in south London has announced that it would be losing 500...
Xbox Robots to Diagnose Mental Disorders In Children
Researchers at the University of Minnesota, US, are developing robotic devices and computer vision algorithms that will help identify children at risk of developing mental disorders. ...
Ultrasound Fusion Imaging Helps Tumour Biopsy
Biopsies using ultrasound fusion imaging to identify bone and soft tissue cancers are safe, effective and as accurate as conventional biopsy methods, according to a new study from Henry...
Czech Doctors Accept Pay Increase Proposal
Thousands of doctors in the Czech Republic have retracted their resignations after the Health Ministry promised to raise their salaries. A union of about 3,800 hospital doctors, representing...
Doctors Trained Abroad More Likely to be Suspended from NHS
Statistics released by National Clinical Assessment Service (NCAS) reveal that NHS doctors who obtained their qualifications outside of the UK are more likely to be excluded or suspended from...
Yale University Researchers Develop Turner Syndrome Test
Researchers at Yale University in the US have developed an accurate diagnostic test for Turner syndrome, a genetic defect that obstructs normal growth and leads to cardiac and renal...
Hip and Thigh Implants Increase Fracture Risk in Children
Children with hip and thigh implants designed to help heal a broken bone or correct other bone conditions are at high risk of subsequent fractures, according to research from Johns...
Hospital Readmissions Higher for African Americans
African Americans are more likely to be readmitted after initial hospitalisations for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia, according to a study conducted at Harvard School of Public Health. ...
Nfocus Receives CE Mark for Brain Aneurysm Device
Nfocus Neuromedical has received the European CE mark for its Luna aneurysm embolisation system, which is indicated for the treatment of patients with brain aneurysms. The Luna...
Hawaiian Hospitals to be Paid for Quality, Not Quantity
The Hawaii Medical Service Association (HMSA) and the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation (HHSC) have announced a new contract to improve healthcare delivery in the US state. Under the...
FDA Reclassifies Medical Device Data Systems
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced a final rule offering a less-burdensome path for market certain hardware and software products used in conjunction with medical...
NHS Failing on Elderly Care
The NHS is failing to treat older people with care, compassion, dignity and respect, according to a report by England's Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham. The report is based on...
US Hospital to Develop New Medical Centre
Franciscan St Francis Health is developing a short-stay medical centre in Indiana, US, to provide a range of inpatient and outpatient services to the patients. Hospital officials have...
BioSurface Initiates Bone Graft Substitute Study
BioSurface Engineering Technologies has initiated a pilot clinical study in Canada to evaluate the effectiveness of Amplex, a bone graft substitute for foot and ankle fusion surgery. ...
FDA 510(k) Process Linked to High-Risk Device Recalls
Most medical devices that have been recently recalled by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were initially approved through the expedited 510(k) process, according to a study published...
CQC Asks Wiltshire NHS Trust to Improve Care
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has asked Wiltshire Primary Care Trust in England to improve standards of care at the Chippenham Community Hospital. The regulator noted that the hospital...
Scientists Discover Gene Behind Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome Variant
Scientists at Newcastle University in the UK have identified a gene that could improve the diagnosis of a variation of congenital myasthenic syndrome, an inherited neuromuscular disorder. ...
Work Begins on Australian Cancer Centre
The Government of Australia has broken ground on a A$56.5m cancer centre in Ballarat, in the state of Victoria. The Ballarat Regional Integrated Cancer Centre will be built at Ballarat...
FDA Clears First 3D Mammography Imaging System
Hologic has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for the Selenia Dimensions System, the first X-ray mammography device to provide 3D images of the breast. The...
Researchers Develop Device to Simplify Cardiac Surgery
Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology in the US have developed a system to simplify the technique of opening and closing a beating heart during cardiac surgery. The system is...
Managing Sick Leave Could Save NHS £290m
The NHS could save £290m if it improves efficiency and manages levels of sickness absence, according to a report by the Audit Commission. According to the report, trusts in North of England...
Long and Short-Sleeve Shirts Show Similar Contamination
Long and short-sleeved shirts worn by doctors show similar contamination levels after an eight-hour day, a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine has found. Researchers from...
MRI Helpful in Deciding Therapy for Stroke Patients, Study Suggests
MRI scans can help to identify stroke patients who will benefit from clot-busting drugs, a study conducted at the University of Ulsan College of Medicine in South Korea has found. ...
Rhode Island Hospital Breaks Ground on Construction Project
Kent Hospital in Rhode Island, US, has broken ground on a $15m, 60,000ft² ambulatory surgery and medical office building. The ambulatory surgery centre will be attached to the hospital...
NHS to Cut Infection Rates Through Infrared Technology
The National Institute for Health Research has awarded Irisys a two-year contract to develop a system to improve compliance with handwashing regulations in NHS hospitals. Irisys will...
FDA Unveils Medical Device Innovation Initiative
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a new innovation pathway to serve as a priority review programme to speed up the adoption of breakthrough medical devices. The...
Wireless Device Could Reduce Heart Failure Hospitalisations
An implantable device that monitors fluid build up in the lungs of heart failure patients and alerts doctors when intervention is needed can significantly reduce hospitalisations, according to...
US Hospital to Begin Construction Project
Jupiter Medical Center in Florida, US, has launched a $44.2m construction and expansion project. The project includes construction of the Florence A De George Pavilion, a three-storey...
Woman Receives UK's First Totally Implanted Hearing Aid
A 49-year-old woman has received the UK's first totally implanted hearing aid, Otologics Carina, in a procedure performed at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth. The device, designed by...
Researchers Develop Device to Limit Chemotherapy Side Effects
Researchers have developed a device that can limit the side effects of chemotherapy. The device uses tiny amounts of palladium to trigger reactions in cells, allowing the cancer drugs to...
Gene Test Could Predict Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness
Researchers are developing a genetic test to predict prostate cancer aggressiveness, which could save men with low-risk tumours from unnecessary surgery. Researchers at Queen Mary,...
Up to 75% of Hospital Tests Not Followed Up After Discharge
Up to 75% of hospital tests are not being followed up, a new study published in BMJ Quality and Safety has revealed. Researchers reviewed international evidence published in English...
New Hospital Planned in New York
Saratoga Hospital and Albany Medical Center in the US are planning to build a high-end urgent, primary and outpatient centre in the state of New York. The centre will be built on a...
MHRA Warns of Roche Blood Glucose Meter Risk
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued a warning over professional blood-glucose meters manufactured by Roche Diagnostics, saying that the meters may give...
Study Shows Women Benefit More from CRT-D Device
Women given cardiac resynchronisation therapy with a defibrillator (CRT-D) are less likely to suffer heart failure than men, a study published in the Journal of the American College of...
Stem Cell Spray Could Help Burn Victims Regrow Skin
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh in the US have developed a device which sprays stem cells on to burned skin, allowing the healthy skin to grow again. In the procedure, the...
Staffing Levels Cause Concern Among NHS Nurses
NHS nurses are concerned over poor staffing levels, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned. An RCN online survey of nearly 2,000 nurses indicated that NHS frontline staff are...
FDA Approves First Mobile Radiology Application
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a mobile radiology application that allows physicians to view medical images on Apple's iPhone and iPad devices. This application,...
Turkey Breaks Ground on Sudan Hospital
Turkish State Minister Faruk Çelik has broken ground on a new 150-bed hospital in Nyala, capital of the state of South Darfur in Sudan. The $30m hospital will replace the existing...
NHS Trust Told to Make Improvements
The UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has told Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to improve the quality of care at a mental health unit in Taunton. The CQC noted that improvements...
Illinois Health Systems Consider Merger
Two health systems in the US state of Illinois have signed a letter of intent to explore a potential merger. The merger of Provena Health and Resurrection Health Care would create one of...
Scientists to Develop Non-Invasive Acetone Test for Diabetes
Scientists at Oxford Medical Diagnostics are developing a device that allows people with diabetes to monitor their condition without finger-prick testing. The device will measure the levels...
Cepheid and FIND Collaborate to Develop HIV Test
Cepheid and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) have entered into a partnership to accelerate the development of a rapid molecular test to measure HIV viral load. The Xpert...
Illinois Launches Initiative to Reduce Hospital Readmissions
An initiative to reduce the rate of hospital readmissions in Illinois, US, by 2014 has been launched. Measures to achieve this include redesigning the hospital discharge processes,...
Molecular Markers Could Predict Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness
Researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the US have identified a signature of four molecular markers that can be used to predict if an existing prostate cancer is likely to remain dormant...
UK Scientists Develop Blood Test for vCJD
Scientists in the UK have developed a prototype blood test for variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (vCJD), the human form of mad cow disease, which is 100,000 times more sensitive than any...
New South Wales Hospital to Undergo Expansion
The Government of New South Wales, Australia, has allocated A$194.3m ($196.2m) to expand and upgrade Campbelltown Hospital. The funding, announced by New South Wales Premier Kristina...
US Researchers Develop Tumour-Tracking Technique
Researchers at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center in the US have developed a robotic tumour-tracking technique that could improve cancer treatment. The 4D...
NHS Paying Too Much for Basic Supplies
The NHS could save at least £500m a year if it bought basic supplies in a more collaborative way, the UK's National Audit Office has said. It's published a report that examined how...
New Laser Technology Could Lead to Pain-Free Cancer Biopsies
New laser technology that could take the pain out of cancer biopsies has been developed by researchers at Michigan State University, US. The technology uses laser microscopes that...
Technology Companies Help Fund US Hospital Construction
Six Silicon Valley technology companies have announced that they will provide $150m towards the construction of a new $2bn hospital at Stanford Medical Center, US. Apple, eBay, HP,...
US Hospital Opens Patient Tower
Phoenix Children's Hospital in Arizona, US, has opened the first two floors of its new $538m patient tower. The two floors feature several specialised clinics, including...
Safety Checklist Reduces Mortality Rates in Michigan Hospitals
A checklist programme that virtually eliminated bloodstream infections in intensive care units throughout Michigan, US, has also reduced deaths by 10%, a study has found. For the study,...
3D X-Rays in Orthodontic Diagnosis Increase Radiation Exposure
The use of 3D X-rays in orthodontic cases may expose patients to unnecessary radiation that could be avoided by using 2D X-rays, a study published in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology has...
New Optical Device Could Help in Tumour Resection
A newly developed optical touch pointer can be used to differentiate healthy tissues from tumours and help surgeons during the resection of malignant brain tumours, a study published in the...
Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Could Improve Paediatric Diagnosis
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound can safely improve the diagnosis of a variety of medical conditions in children, according to a study by researchers at Jena University Hospital, Germany. In...
Artificial Pancreas Could Help Pregnant Diabetics
A wearable artificial pancreas could control type 1 diabetes during pregnancy, according to a study conducted by researchers at Cambridge University in the UK. Researchers tested the...
UK NHS Trust Asked to Improve Staffing Levels
England's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has asked Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust to improve staffing levels at its three main hospitals. The CQC conducted the review at the John...
US Hospital to Initiate Expansion Project
Danbury Hospital in Connecticut, US, is planning to begin a $150m expansion project that will add 300,000ft² to its existing campus. The contemporary North Tower building will feature...
January 2011
Top
Sonitus Receives FDA Clearance for Hearing Aid
Sonitus Medical has received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the SoundBite Hearing System, a non-surgical hearing prosthetic to treat single-sided...
New Filtration System Could Help to Capture Cancer Cells
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the US are developing a filtration system that uses magnetic nanoparticles to capture cancer cells. The procedure requires fluids to...
US Hospital Opens Family Tower
Riley Hospital for Children in Indiana, US, has opened the first three floors of the $475m Simon Family Tower. Each floor of the ten-storey building will have a different theme, and...
NICE Releases Draft Guidance to Improve NHS Autism Services
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published draft guidance to improve NHS autism services for children and teenagers. The guidance recommends that...
Researchers Develop Paper Strips for Rapid Medical Diagnosis
Researchers at Purdue University in the US have developed paper strips that can be used with electronic readers to diagnose diseases. The modified surface of the paper, which contains...
Elective Births Scheduled Too Early in US Hospitals, Study Warns
Thousands of babies are electively born too early in US hospitals, hospital quality watchdog The Leapfrog Group has warned in its 2010 annual survey. Leapfrog asked 773 hospitals to...
FDA Warns of Breast Implant Cancer Link
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reported a possible link between saline and silicone gel-filled breast implants and anaplastic large cell lymphoma, a rare type of cancer. ...
Japan to Fund Philippine Hospital Improvements
The Japan International Cooperation Agency, the aid-granting arm of the Japanese Government, is to fund an upgrade of Aurora Memorial Hospital in Barangay Reserva, the Philippines. The...
Taiwanese University Develops Prototype Cancer Treatment System
Researchers at National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan have developed a prototype system to treat cancer without chemotherapy or laser surgery. The prototype includes a...
New Instrument Provides Force Feedback in Keyhole Surgery
A keyhole surgery instrument that gives physical feedback based on the amount of grasp force being applied has been developed at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. ...
Stroke Centres Improve Survival Rates, Study Finds
Patients treated for stroke at designated stroke centres survive for longer than those treated at other hospitals, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has found. ...
Abu Dhabi Launches New Standards for Healthcare Facility Design
The Health Authority – Abu Dhabi (HAAD) has published a set of design standards for healthcare facilities in the emirate. The standards outline the requirements for health facility design...
US Universities to Conduct Study on Heart Device Implantation
The University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center and the University of Pittsburgh have announced that they will conduct a study to evaluate the benefits of earlier implantation of left...
Rwanda Unveils New Hospital
Rwandan President Paul Kagame has opened a new hospital in Burera District in the country's northern province. The hospital, constructed at a cost of RWF3.35bn ($5.5m), features modern...
DNA Methylation Test Can Help in Earlier Melanoma Diagnosis
A test for DNA methylation could allow doctors to diagnose melanoma earlier and more precisely, according to a study conducted at the University of North Carolina, US. Researchers...
NHS Not Routinely Screening for Inherited Heart Condition
The NHS is not routinely screening for a heart condition known as familial hypercholesterolaemia, a report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has warned. The audit, funded by the...
Ireland to Introduce Cystic Fibrosis Screening for Newborns
Babies born in Ireland will receive a test for cystic fibrosis along with the heel prick test used to determine other disorders in infants, the Health Service Executive (HSE) has announced. ...
US Hospital to Complete Expansion Project by December 2011
MidMichigan Medical Center in Michigan, US, is on course to complete a $115m expansion project by December 2011. The 280,000ft² expansion will create an atrium-style entrance and lobby,...
Everist Reports Results of Colorectal Cancer Recurrence Test Study
Everist Genomics has reported positive results from the external validation study of OncoDefender-CRC, its colorectal cancer recurrence test. The study, conducted by Mayo Validation...
CT Scanning Improves Abdominal Pain Diagnosis, Study Finds
Using CT scanning to assess abdominal pain in the emergency departments can help physicians arrive at a diagnosis quickly and decisively, according to a study conducted at Massachusetts...
Quality Improvement Interventions Improve ICU Care, Says Study
Quality improvement interventions such as education, reminders and feedback can improve the adoption of evidence-based practices in intensive care units (ICUs) in community hospitals, according...
Genetic Test and fMRI May Predict Cognitive Decline
Combining the APOE e4 allele genetic blood test with functional MRI (fMRI) can successfully predict cognitive decline in healthy adults, according to a study conducted at Wayne State...
FDA to Improve 510(k) Approval Process
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a plan containing 25 actions intended to improve the 510(k) process – the most common review path for medical devices – by 2011. ...
UK Launches Initiative to Improve NHS Trauma Care
The UK Department of Health has announced significant investment for trauma and microbiology research. The Department of Health, the Ministry of Defence, University Hospitals Birmingham...
UAE Launches Nationwide Immunisation Programme
The UAE Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide immunisation programme to protect infants from six diseases. A single injection will be administered at two months of age and...
Researchers Develop Imaging Procedure to Diagnose Alzheimer's
A new type of molecular imaging procedure may be capable of detecting the presence of beta-amyloid, a protein linked to Alzheimer's disease, according to preliminary research conducted by...
Most A&E Attendances in England do Not Require Treatment
Almost 40% of people visiting emergency departments and minor injury units in England leave without requiring any treatment, according to report from the NHS Information Centre. The...
PositiveID Develops Temperature Sensing Microchip
PositiveID Corporation, in collaboration with RFID Solutions, has developed a temperature sensing microchip for use in humans. The microchip, which uses radio frequency...
US Orthopaedic Extremity Device Market to Reach $4.6bn by 2015
The US orthopaedic extremity device market is estimated to generate over $4.6bn in revenues by 2015, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10%, according to a report by Millennium...
Scientists Develop Technique to Examine Deep Brain Neurons
Scientists at Stanford University have developed a technique that allows researchers to examine the neurons of the deep brain for months at a time. The method involves tiny glass tubes,...
NHS Short of 4,500 Midwives
NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has warned that the NHS needs 4,500 more midwives. Nicholson told a committee of MPs that government planning of midwifery services has not...
Michigan Hospital Expansion Project Approved
The Chelsea Planning Commission has approved a 110,000ft² expansion and renovation of Chelsea Community Hospital in Michigan, US. The $60m project includes the construction of a...
Cook Peripheral Stent Shows Sustained Primary Patency in Study
Cook Medical has reported positive follow-up study results of its investigational drug-eluting stent, indicated for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease in the superficial femoral artery. ...
Lost Ambulance Hours Cost NHS Wales £6m
The ambulance service in Wales has wasted a total of 80,404 hours in the past two years while waiting to discharge patients, figures obtained by the Welsh Liberal Democrats have...
Ultrasound Helps to Treat Pulmonary Embolisms, Study Finds
A tiny ultrasound device may be helpful in the treatment of pulmonary embolisms – blockages of blood vessels in the lungs – according to a study conducted at East Jefferson General Hospital...
Legislation Over Physician-Owned Hospitals Affecting US Economy, PHA Warns
The Physician Hospitals of America (PHA) has said that it is deeply concerned about the negative economic impact of Section 6001 of the Healthcare Reform, which prohibits the construction...
Blood-Sugar Meters Found to be Inaccurate When Used During Pregnancy
Readings from blood-sugar meters can vary by as much as 16% when used by pregnant women, a study has found. In the study, conducted by Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Australia,...
Singapore Hospital Launches New Emergency Centre
The emergency department of Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, has opened a new centre that offers focused treatment for 18 conditions such as asthma, appendicitis and pneumonia. The...
Henry Ford Health System Launches Study to Develop Pancreatic Cancer Test
The Henry Ford Health System and the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute have launched a clinical research study to develop a rapid and inexpensive blood test for the early diagnosis...
US Hospital to Break Ground on Expansion Project in April
The Memorial Hospital in Tennessee, US, will break ground on a $380m three-phase expansion project in April 2011. The project will begin with the construction of a new central utility...
NHS Trust Asked to Make Improvements
The UK Care Quality Commission (CQC) has asked Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to make improvements in several areas to meet essential standards of quality and safety. CQC...
European Abdominal Aortic Stent Graft Market to Reach $300m by 2015
The abdominal aortic stent graft market in Europe is estimated to reach $300m by 2015, according to a report by the Millennium Research Group. The report says that the market will be driven...
Zoll Completes Cardiac Life-Support Pump Trial
Zoll Medical Corporation has reported the successful completion of a trial evaluating AutoPulse, its non-invasive cardiac life-support pump. The trial's data safety monitoring board...
Spectrum Health Opens $286m Children's Hospital in US
Spectrum Health has opened the $286m Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Michigan, US. The 206-bed, 14-storey hospital is designed to provide dedicated care to infants, children and...
Nurses Association Reopens Hospital Beds in New South Wales
The New South Wales Nurses Association (NSWNA) in Australia has re-opened nearly 600 hospital beds that were closed as a part of a campaign to introduce a 1:4 nurse-to-patient ratio. ...
IntraPace Receives CE Mark Approval for Obesity Device
IntraPace has received European CE mark approval for its abiliti system as a treatment for obesity. The implantable device looks similar to a pacemaker and is implanted in a simple...
Armenia Introduces New Programme to Improve Healthcare for Children
Armenia has announced a programme that will pump more than $8.6m into the healthcare sector to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare for children. The Child Health...
OrbusNeich Stent Demonstrates Good Clinical Outcomes
High-risk patients who cannot be treated with drug eluting stents and accompanying dual antiplatelet therapy can be treated with OrbusNeich's Genous stent, according to a study published...
Nine Russian Hospitals Digitise Medical Information
Nine hospitals in Russia have switched from paper-based medical systems to a digital solution developed by IBM and Complex Medical Information Systems (C-MIS). The solution provides...
Chronic Pain Services in UK Need Improvement, Charity Warns
The Government must establish a clear care pathway for chronic pain services in the NHS, according to a report from the Patients Association. The charity conducted a survey involving more...
New Scanner Can Detect Live Cellular Processes
Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) in Spain have designed and developed a biomedical scanner that can determine if a body organ is malfunctioning before an anatomical...
Takeda and Zinfandel to Develop Test to Identify Alzheimer's Risk
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and Zinfandel Pharmaceuticals have entered into a worldwide licensing agreement to develop the Zinfandel TOMM40 assay, a biomarker in development to detect the risk...
Private ICU Rooms Associated with Low Infection Risk
Intensive care unit (ICU) patients placed in private rooms are at a lower risk of hospital-acquired infections than those placed in rooms with multiple beds, a study published in Archives...
Canadian Red Cross to Strengthen Healthcare in Haiti
The Canadian Red Cross has announced a five-year integrated programme to strengthen the healthcare system in Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake last year. The programme, which...
Scientists to Develop Device to Prevent Radiotherapy Errors
A device to reduce the risk of radiotherapy mistreatment is being developed by scientists at the University of Bristol, Swansea University and the Bristol Haematology and Oncology Centre. ...
Global Endoscopy Devices Market to Exceed $6.5bn by 2016
The global market for endoscopy devices is estimated to exceed $6.5bn by 2016, according to a report by Research and Markets. The market, forecast to have a compound annual growth rate of...
FDA Approves Automated Cardiovascular Test
diaDexus has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for automated version of its proprietary PLAC Test. The cardiovascular test is used to evaluate a patient's risk...
Kaiser Permanente Hospital Begins Solar Power Use
Kaiser Permanente's Santa Clara Medical Center in US has begun using solar power, becoming one of the first major medical facilities in the country to do so. The solar panels installed at...
Ireland to Restrict Doctors' Private Patient Quotas
The Health Service Executive (HSE) in the Ireland is to cut funding from hospitals that fail to recoup earnings from doctors who exceed private patient quotas. HSE director of operations...
US Researchers Develop Lab-on-a-Chip Blood Test
Researchers at the University of Rhode Island, US, have developed a lab-on-a-chip blood-testing device that can provide results in less than 30 minutes. A drop of blood is placed on a...
Gynesonics Receives CE Mark for Uterine Fibroids Device
Gynesonics has received the CE mark for its VizAblate system, a transcervical device for the treatment of uterine fibroids. The VizAblate system combines ultrasound image guidance...
Haemoglobin A1c Test Can Identify Pre-Diabetes
A common blood test known as haemoglobin A1c can accurately identify whether an individual is predisposed to diabetes, a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine has found. ...
UK Sees Rise in Seasonal Flu Levels
Seasonal flu levels in England, Wales and Scotland are on the rise, according to latest figures from the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA). However, the agency said that these figures...
US Hospital to Begin $42m Construction Project
Cameron Memorial Community Hospital in Indiana, US, will begin the construction of a new hospital in April 2011. The $42m project, which includes the renovation of the existing hospital,...
New Test Could Predict Efficiency of Hepatitis C Infection Treatment
A prognostic test that can predict the efficacy of hepatitis C treatments has been developed by scientists at Inserm and Institut Pasteur. The test, which is based on plasma levels of...
Global Market for ECG Telemetry Devices to Reach $1.1bn by 2015
The global market for ECG telemetry devices is estimated to reach $1.1bn by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts. The market will be driven by increasing cases...
Ohio University Receives $100m for Medical Centre Construction Project
Ohio State University (OSU) in the US has received $100m for a construction project at OSU Medical Center. The funding will support ProjectONE, which includes the expansion of OSU...
Medtronic Provides Funding to Improve Healthcare in Haiti
Medtronic has announced funding of $750,000 to support healthcare infrastructure development in Haiti. About $500,000 will be provided to Partners in Health to facilitate the completion...
ReSound Develops Technology to Improve Hearing Aid Performance
A remote microphone technology that can improve the natural directivity, spatial awareness and wind-noise performance of hearing aids has been developed by ReSound. The technology uses a...
US Researchers Develop Glaucoma Detector
Researchers at the University of Arizona in the US have developed an instrument for detecting glaucoma, a disease caused by increased fluid pressure inside the eye. The device is designed...
US Hospital to Initiate Expansion Project
Anna Jaques Hospital in Massachusetts, US, has announced that it will initiate a $15m upgrade and expansion project. The work will include the renovation and expansion of an existing...
Overpaying for Health Supplies Costs NHS £1bn a Year
Health service managers in the NHS are wasting more than £1bn a year by overpaying for supplies such as stationery and surgical instruments, an NHS efficiency drive has revealed. Eight...
Most Patients Given ICDs Fail to Meet Criteria for Use
Most patients who receive implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) do not meet evidence-based guidelines to receive the devices, according to a study published in the Journal of the...
Imaging Procedures Often Expose Children to Radiation
Children are frequently exposed to imaging procedures that use radiation, according to a study conducted by researchers at University of Michigan in the US. Researchers identified...
New South Wales Nurses Association to Close One in Four Hospital Beds
The New South Wales Nurses Association (NSWNA) in Australia has reported that its public hospitals and community health services members will close one in four beds as a part of their campaign...
Clostridium Difficile Infections Among US Hospitalised Children on Rise
The number of hospitalised children in the US infected with Clostridium difficile is on the rise, according to a new study by the US Department of Health and Human Services. Researchers...
US Researchers Develop Blood Test to Detect Cancer
A test that can capture cancer cells from a blood sample has been developed by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, US. The test uses a microchip which consists of 78,000 tiny...
Vanguard Health to Acquire Detroit Medical Center
Vanguard Health Systems has agreed to takeover the Detroit Medical Center, an eight-hospital system located in Detroit, US, for $365m. The takeover by Vanguard Health Systems will transform...
Researchers Develop Test to Predict Lung Transplant Rejection
Researchers at University of Michigan in the US have developed a test that can predict bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS), a leading cause of death in lung transplant recipients who...
UK to Provide Extra Funding for Frontline NHS services
The UK Department of Health will provide an extra £162m for frontline services such as reducing hospital stays in the NHS, following a successful savings drive. The funding, which was...
December 2010
Top
Season's Greetings
hospitalmanagement.net will be taking a short break over the holiday season. Our full daily news service will return on 4 January. Thank you for your support in 2010, and we wish you a happy...
UK Hospital to Trial Retinal Implant
King's College Hospital in the UK has reported that it will initiate clinical trials of a retinal implant for people with retinitis pigmentosa, one of the most common forms of inherited...
Australian State to Fund Hospital Expansion
The South Australian Government is providing A$30m ($29m) towards a new 120-bed teaching, aged care and rehabilitation facility at Repatriation General Hospital in Adelaide. The...
MRI and Cerebrospinal Fluid Testing May Predict Alzheimer's Risk
A research team at University College London has discovered that combining spinal fluid testing with MRI scans could provide an early indication if an individual is at risk of...
New Teaching Hospital Planned in Montréal
A new C$2.089bn ($2.05bn) teaching hospital is to be built in Montréal, Canada, under a public-private partnership. The Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal...
Researchers to Develop Electronic Nose to Detect Ovarian Cancer
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, University of Gävle and KTH Royal Institute of Technology are developing an electronic nose that can screen blood samples to detect ovarian...
Biomet Completes Patient Enrolment for Tennis Elbow Treatment Study
Biomet subsidiary Biomet Biologics has completed the required patient enrolment of 230 subjects for a clinical trial to evaluate the use of the Recover Kit for the treatment of chronic...
World Bank Grants $80m to Improve Healthcare in Congo
The World Bank has approved an additional grant of $80m for the Health Sector Rehabilitation Support Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project aims to improving access...
Healthcare Trust of America Acquires Four Hospitals
The Healthcare Trust of America has completed the acquisition of four long-term acute care hospitals, one in Georgia, one in Texas and two in Florida. The combined purchase of the hospitals...
Anger Over Delayed UK Blood Disaster Review
The UK's Haemophilia Society has voiced its disappointment over the Department of Health's decision to postpone the publication of a review of the support made available haemophiliacs infected...
Heavy Snowfall Puts NHS Under Pressure
Snow and icy conditions are putting pressure on the NHS, resulting in staff shortages, dwindling blood supplies and record number of calls to ambulance services. The Royal College of...
Advanced MRI Could be Used to Detect Prostate Cancer Progression
An advanced type of MRI could be used instead of invasive biopsy to determine whether cancer patients under active surveillance require treatment, according to a study published in The...
Brain Imaging Could Predict Reading Improvement in Dyslexics
Sophisticated brain imaging can be used to identify if teenagers with dyslexia can improve their reading skills over time with 90% accuracy, according to a study conducted by researchers at...
England to Pilot New Dentistry System
A new dentistry system, designed to reward quality of care and patient list size, will be piloted in England next year, in an effort to improve access to NHS services. The system will take...
LHP and Seton to Build $100m Hospital in US
LHP Hospital Group and the Seton Family of Hospitals have entered into a joint venture to construct Seton Medical Center Harker Heights in Texas, US. The $100m, 180,400ft², 83-bed...
St Jude Medical to Take Defibrillator Cables off the Market
St Jude Medical is taking a group of older defibrillator cables off the market as the insulating material used in them could cause a malfunction. The company has issued a letter to...
Cystatin C Test Can Predict Kidney Disease Complications
A blood test based on Cystatin C levels can effectively identify individuals with chronic kidney disease who have a high risk of complications, according to a study published in the Journal of...
New Genetic Markers Could Improve Accuracy of Prostate Cancer Treatment
Scientists from deCODE genetics have discovered genetic markers that improve the accuracy of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing for detecting prostate cancer. The scientists discovered...
MHRA Issues Warning Over Surgical Instrument Problems
The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), UK, has issued a warning regarding possible problems associated with surgical instruments. According to MHRA, it has received...
English and Welsh Hospitals Falling Short on Dementia Care
About 95% of the hospitals in England and Wales do not provide mandatory training in dementia awareness for the staff, according to National Audit of Dementia Interim Report. The report,...
Australia Funds Indigenous Health Services
The Australian Government has granted A$1.7m (US$1.6m) to upgrade and extend the Galiwin'ku Aged Care Service on Elcho Island in the Northern Territory. The funding will also be used to...
Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Opens in US
Kindred Healthcare has opened a long-term acute care hospital in Illinois, US. Kindred Hospital Springfield is designed to provide aggressive interdisciplinary care to medically...
UK Clamps Down on Mixed Sex Wards
All NHS hospitals in the UK will be required to treat patients in single sex wards from April 2011, and those who do not comply will be fined. Emergency and intensive care departments...
European Commission to Develop Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Devices
The European Commission will develop less invasive, less expensive, and safer devices to treat conditions such as varicose veins and abdominal aortic aneurysms under the Heart-e-Gel...
SINTEF Scientists Develop Sensor Belt to Monitor Patients
Scientists at SINTEF ICT have developed a sensor belt that monitors chronically ill patients and communicates the results via a mobile phone. The belt, which can be easily fitted, is...
US Hospital Breaks Ground on Army Medical Centre
The Balfour Beatty and McCarthy joint venture has broken ground on a new $534m Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Fort Hood, Texas, US. The 947,000ft² project will replace the...
Scotland's Largest Hospital Project Given Go Ahead
The Scottish Government has given final approval for the country's largest hospital project in Glasgow. The new £842m South Glasgow Hospital complex will be an integrated children's and...
Swedish Scientists Use PET Scans to Track Alzheimer's
Scientists at Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have used a PET scanner to track the course of Alzheimer's disease in an individual patient from early development to death. ...
Insight Genetics and St Jude's to Develop Diagnostic Test for Cancer
Insight Genetics has entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with St Jude Children's Research Hospital to develop a new diagnostic test, which will enable the physicians to...
Australian Scientists Develop Pain Management Implant
Australian scientists are developing a tiny device that treats chronic pain by blocking the pain signals sent to the brain. The INS2 device, which consists of smart chips and a power...
Ultrasound Shows Promise in Endometrial Cancer Detection
An ultrasound scan can be used to detect endometrial (womb) cancer before any symptoms occur, according to study conducted at University College London. The researchers analysed the...
Northern Ireland Issues Swine Flu Warning to Pregnant Women
The Public Health Agency (PHA) for Northern Ireland has issued a swine flu warning and has asked all pregnant women to be vaccinated for swine flu, regardless of the stage of their...
Australian State to Establish Three Local Hospital Networks
The Austrailian state of Tasmania is planning to establish three local hospital networks (LHNs) under the federal government's health reforms. The LHNs will appoint their own CEOs, have...
IFC-Structured Public-Private Partnership to Establish Hospital in Mexico
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has signed a public-private partnership between the Social Security Institute of the State of Mexico and privately...
FDA to Review Mercury Use in Dental Fillings
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is to review scientific evidence that claims that mercury in dental amalgam does not cause harm to patients. In July 2009, FDA had classified...
Developing Countries Have Higher Hospital Infection Rates
Developing countries have much higher hospital infection rates than the developed world, a study led by World Health Organization researchers has found. The team reviewed 220 previous...
UK Scientists to Develop Rapid STI Test
Scientists at the University of Southampton in the UK are developing system that can detect sexually transmitted infections (STIs) within 15 minutes. The system will use short,...
Ultraviolet Device Effective in Reducing Pathogens in Hospital Rooms
Automated ultraviolet devices can significantly reduce pathogens in hospital patient rooms, according study conducted at the University of North Carolina Health Care, US. Researchers used...
Chinese Scientists Develop Prenatal Genetic Disease Blood Test
Scientists at the Chinese University of Hong Kong have developed a test that can identify the traits of genetic diseases in unborn children from a sample of the mother's blood. The...
RCP Census Reveals NHS is Under Severe Stress
Increasing numbers of hospital admissions, fewer new consultant posts and a European law restricting the maximum hours junior doctors can work are adding stress to the NHS, according to...
South African Government Halts Launch of Circumcision Device
The South African government has halted the launch of a controversial male circumcision device known as Tara Klamps. Health department spokesman Fidel Hadebe said more research into the...
WHO Endorses Rapid Tuberculosis Test
The World Health Organization (WHO) has endorsed a novel rapid test for tuberculosis. The fully automated nucleic acid amplification test incorporates modern DNA technology and can be...
Scientists Identify Mechanism of Catheter-Related Bacterial Infection
Scientists from the US National Institutes of Health have identified the mechanism through which catheter-related bacterial infections develop into a life-threatening condition. ...
Australian Hospital Receives Go Ahead for Redevelopment Plans
The redevelopment project at Riverland Regional Hospital in South Australia has moved ahead with the approval of the concept plans. The redeveloped hospital will include two fully...
World Bank Funds Nicaragua Healthcare Project
The World Bank has approved funds of $21m to improve family and community healthcare in rural areas of Nicaragua. The funding will expand the Health Ministry's health service...
Nigerian State Unveils Edo Hospital Project
The state government of Edo, Nigeria, has unveiled plans to construct an ultra-modern hospital ward on the premises Edo State Specialist Hospital. Authroities have signed a contract with...
PET/CT Scans Could Predict Local Recurrence of Lung Cancer
PET/CT scans can be used to predict local recurrence in lung cancer in patients treated with radiofrequency ablation, according to a study published in The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. ...
UCLA to Conduct Study of Heart Preservation Device
The heart transplantation team at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in the US is conducting a Phase II clinical study of an experimental organ-preservation system, which allows donor hearts...
Cuba to Charge for Healthcare Service Exports
The Cuban Government is planning to charge for some of the medical services it provides abroad in an effort to improve its healthcare system. Only countries that can afford to will have to...
Pantai Holdings to Build Healthcare Complex in Malaysia
Pantai Holdings has announced plans to build a healthcare complex in Iskandar, Malaysia, and has purchased six hectares of land for this purpose. An agreement to construct the hospital has...
New Bio-Coating Could Improve Implant Performance
Researchers at the University of Alabama (UAB) have developed a bio-coating technology that can improve the long-term performance of implantable medical devices such as heart valves and...
European Investment Bank Loans Syria €130m to Improve Healthcare Services
The European Investment Bank has provided the Syrian health sector with a €130m loan to fund new investments aimed at improving healthcare access and services across the country. ...
Researchers Develop Implantable Artificial Kidney
Researchers at the University of California, US, have developed the world's first implantable artificial kidney, which is capable of mimicking the kidney's most important functions such...
Rcadia Reports Positive Study Results of Coronary CT Analyser System
Rcadia has reported positive study results of its COR Analyzer System, which is designed to perform fully automatic analyses of coronary CT angiography studies to identify the presence of...
NHS Maternity Services Show Improvement
NHS maternity services have improved since 2009, but further progress is still needed, a survey conducted by the Care Quality Commission has found. The survey involved 25,000 women who...
bioLytical Receives FDA Approval for HIV Test
bioLytical Laboratories has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Insti, its rapid HIV antibody test. The FDA has approved Insti for the detection of...
Czech Government Plans Closure of Redundant Hospital Wards
The Czech Government is considering plans to close redundant hospital wards, transform acute care hospitals into long-term facilities and fuse small hospitals. Prime Minister Petr Necas...
Medical Device Registries Could Improve Patient Outcomes
A standardised national registry of commonly used joint-replacement devices would improve patient outcomes, according to a research study conducted by health group Kaiser Permanente. The...
CT Scans Show Significantly Low Cancer Risk
The risk of developing radiation-induced cancer from CT is significantly low, according to a study conducted at Stanford University Medical Center in the US. The researchers conducted...
UK Hospital Wins Awards for Innovation in Treating Brain Injuries
The Royal Hospital for Neurodisability (RHN) in the UK has won two of the five awards from the United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF) for its innovation in the field of acquired...
IBD Patients with Hospital-Acquired Infections Have High Risk of Death, Says Study
Hospitalised patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who develop hospital-acquired infections have high mortality rates and spend longer in hospital, according to a US study published...
Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Could Help to Diagnose Brain Trauma
Magnetic resonance spectroscopy can be used to diagnose chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a disorder caused by repetitive head trauma, a study conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital in...
UK Women Unaware of Heart Risks, Charity Warns
Only one in ten women in the UK aged 50 and above discuss their risk of heart disease when they visit their GP, according to a survey conducted by the British Heart Foundation. The...
US Children's Hospital Breaks Ground on Expansion
Children's Hospital Boston in the US has broken ground on a ten-storey building that is being built to accommodate growing numbers of patients. The new building, estimated to cost $169m,...
US Patients Prefer Home Medical Devices, Survey Finds
The majority of US patients are interested in using home medical devices to manage and improve their chronic conditions, according to a survey conducted by GfK Roper for San Francisco-based...
Researchers Develop Plug-In Interface for Microfluidic Chips
A new plug-in interface for microfluidic chips that can be used in the development of compact medical devices has been unveiled by biomedical engineers from the University of California in the US....
Death Rates 'Higher Than Expected' in 19 NHS Trusts
Death rates in 19 NHS trusts have been found to be higher than expected in the past year, according to a report by Dr Foster Intelligence. The report looked at 147 trusts and analysed...
Blood Test Could Predict Cognitive Decline in Parkinson's Patients
A blood test that can predict cognitive impairment in Parkinson's disease sufferers has been developed by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the US. The...
Ghanaian Hospital Breaks Ground on Sickle Cell Centre
The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana, has broken ground on a new blood and sickle cell centre. The centre will include a sickle cell clinic, a blood transfusion unit and...
UK Heart Surgery Named Best in Europe
Heart surgery in England and Wales has been named as the best in Europe, with 25% fewer deaths after operations, according to a report from Manchester University in the UK. Researchers...
Micell Initiates Patient Enrolment for Coronary Stent Study
Micell Technologies has initiated patient enrolment for a clinical trial of MiStent DES, its investigational drug-eluting stent for the treatment of coronary artery disease. The...
CT Use in US Emergency Departments Rises
The use of CT in US hospital emergency departments is on the rise, according to a study published in Radiology. Researchers evaluated data collected by the National Hospital Ambulatory...
UK Scientists Use Laser to Unblock Clogged Arteries
A high-powered laser that can unblock arteries clogged with cholesterol in a matter of minutes has been developed by UK scientists. The device consists of a catheter called Turbo Elite,...
November 2010
Top
Autonomy Corporation Diagnosis Tool Wins Technology Award
Autonomy Corporation's Autonomy Auminence, a point-of-care analysis dashboard, has won the 2010 Healthcare IT Summit innovation award for Best New Technology. Autonomy Auminence enables...
North Carolina Hospitals Err Despite Safety Initiatives
Despite the efforts to improve patient safety, medical errors and unavoidable mistakes in US hospitals have not improved over time, according to a six-year study involving ten North...
Global Dental Implants Market to Reach $4.2bn in 2015
Dental implants are estimated to have one of the highest growth rates amongst all dental device submarkets, according to a report by Sandler Research. The global dental implants market,...
Health Board to Spend £64m to Improve Three Welsh Hospitals
The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has announced plans to spend £64m to improve three hospitals in north Wales. The board will spend £16m to update facilities and reduce waiting...
Asian Development Bank to Strengthen Disease Monitoring in Three Mekong Countries
The Asian Development Bank will provide $49m to strengthen surveillance response systems to prevent the spread of communicable and tropical diseases in Cambodia, the Lao People's...
New Disposal Device Reduces Needlestick Injuries by 81%
A safety-enhanced disposal device could avert more than 19,000 accidental needlestick and sharps injuries to healthcare workers a year, according to a study published in the American Journal...
Catheter Ablation Can Reduce Atrial Fibrillation Symptoms
Atrial fibrillation patients treated with Biosense Webster's NaviStar ThermoCool catheter have reduced symptoms and improved the quality of life compared to patients treated with...
True Whole-Body Field View PET/CT Better at Staging Cancer
Using true whole-body field view during PET/CT scanning can result in more accurate cancer staging than using a limited whole-body field of view, a study published in the American Journal...
Ultrasound Could Help to Evaluate Focal Breast Abnormalities
Targeted breast ultrasound should be the primary imaging technique to evaluate focal breast signs and symptoms in women younger than 30, according to a study published in the American Journal...
Governments are Struggling to Pay for Healthcare, Says WHO
Governments across the world are struggling to pay for healthcare due to their ageing populations, the development of expensive new treatments and an increase in the number of people with...
Implanted Heart Devices Pass Real-World Test
Implantable devices to treat cardiac dysfunction in heart failure patients are as effective in the real world as in clinical trial settings, a study published in the Journal of the American...
Dressing Packaging Instructions Found to Improve Nurse Accuracy
Educational instructions on wound-dressing packages can improve nurses' accuracy in applying them, a study published in the Journal of Wound Ostomy and Continence Nursing has found. ...
Researchers Develop Device to Strengthen Swallowing Muscles in Parkinson's Patients
Researchers at the University of Florida have developed a device to help people with Parkinson's disease keep the ability to swallow. The device strengthens the muscles, which...
Spinal Implant Allows Paraplegics to Exercise
A spinal implant to help paraplegic patients exercise their paralysed leg muscles has been created. The device, a microchip the size of a child's fingernail, is works by stimulating the...
Malaysian Government to Expand Neurological Services
The Malaysian Government is planning to expand neurological services across all state hospitals by employing at least two neurosurgeons in each. In addition, at least four neurosurgeons...
GP Training in UK Should be Extended to Cover Paediatrics, Says Report
GP training in the UK should be extended from three years to five years to enable junior doctors to learn more about healthcare and management, especially in paediatrics, according to a report...
World's Largest Early Clinical Trials Unit Opens in UK
The world's largest early clinical trials unit has been opened at The Christie Hospital in Manchester, UK. The £35m centre, which also includes the biggest chemotherapy facility in the UK,...
NHS Provides Best Access to Healthcare, Says Survey
The UK is the only country in 11 industrialised nations where wealth does not influence access to healthcare, according to a survey by The Commonwealth Fund. The survey involved 19,700...
Taiwanese Blood-Glucose Devices Market to Reach $86m by 2016
The self-monitoring blood-glucose devices and strips market in Taiwan is estimated to be worth $86m by 2016, according to an analysis from Frost & Sullivan. The reports says that...
Study Recommends Shockwaves to Treat Small Kidney Stones
A study by surgeons at University Federico II in Italy has recommended that extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy (ESWL) is used to remove smaller kidney stones trapped in the distal ureter. ...
Researchers Develop Mobile-Phone Based Blood Pressure Monitor
Researchers at the University of Toronto, Canada, have developed a mobile-phone based system to monitor blood pressure. The monitoring system automatically picks up the patient's home...
Cleveland Hospitals Launch Patient Outcome Improvement Campaign
Eleven hospitals in Cleveland, US, are working together to improve patient outcomes across the country. The initiative aims to reduce the number of patients returning to hospital...
China Renews Focus on Hospital Bribery
China's Ministry of Health has begun a crackdown on bribery in hospitals, following news of corruption among doctors in the east of the country. Doctors that are found to have received...
Retailer Fined for Selling Non-Compliant Medical Devices in UK
Poundworld Retail has been fined £5,000 and ordered to pay costs of £9,000 for selling defective and non-compliant medical devices in the UK. An investigation by the Medicines and...
U-Systems Initiates Study of Breast Ultrasound System
U-Systems has initiated patient enrolment for a study to evaluate the somov automated breast ultrasound, its 3D ultrasound imaging system, in women with dense breast tissue. The clinical...
Researchers Develop Neurostimulation System for Stroke Treatment
Researchers at Israel-based Brainsgate have developed a system that uses electrical stimulation to treat ischemic stroke. The system consists of miniature neurostimulator, a...
Adverse Events Contribute to 15,000 Deaths of Every Month in US
About 15,000 Medicare patients in the US die due to adverse hospital events each month, according to an analysis by the Department of Health and Human Services. Adverse events are considered...
iPhone App Allows Patients to Rate NHS Services
The NHS has launched an iPhone application that will enable patients to keep track of their appointments and rate NHS services. The Wellnote app enables users to enter their medical history...
Edwards Transcatheter Valve Improves Quality of Life, Study Finds
Edwards Lifesciences Corporation has reported that its Sapien transcatheter heart valve substantially improved the quality of life in patients with inoperable aortic stenosis in a clinical trial. ...
UK Hospital Uses Robotic Arm to Perform Heart Procedure
The world's first remote heart procedure has taken place at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, UK. Consultant cardiologist Dr Andre Nag used the Amigo robotic arm and the CARTO-3 3D...
US Handheld Ultrasound Market Forecast to Exceed $1.2bn by 2016
The US handheld ultrasound imaging market is forecast to surpass $1.2bn by 2016, according to a report by iData Research. Market growth is expected to be driven by the increased adoption of...
C. Difficile Infection Rates on Rise in Europe
Drug-resistant infections involving Clostridium difficile are on the rise in Europe, according to a study conducted at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands. The Europe-wide...
English Hospital Issues Panic Alarms to Staff
West Suffolk Hospital in England has issued panic alarms to its staff in a bid to keep them safe while visiting patients away from its premises. The alarm, which is the size of an ID card,...
Czech Hospitals Perform 600 Organ Transplants a Year
Hospitals in the Czech Republic perform about 600 organ transplants a year, according to data from the Czech Transplant Society and the IKEM transplant centre in Prague. Figures from...
Implantable Devices Can Identify Stroke Risk, Says Study
St Jude Medical has announced the results of a study that demonstrates the effectiveness of implantable device monitoring as a way to predict the risk of stroke in elderly patients. The...
FDA Launches External Defibrillator Improvement Programme
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has launched a programme to facilitate the development of safer and more effective external defibrillators through improved design and...
Si-Bone Receives CE Mark for Sacroiliac Joint Treatment System
Si-Bone has received CE Mark approval for its iFuse Implant System, a minimally invasive device used to treat the sacroiliac joint. The system is indicated for fracture fixation of large...
One Quarter of Cancers in England Detected Late
Nearly 25% of all cancers in England are only detected when patients are admitted to hospital in an emergency, the National Cancer Intelligence Network has said. The group analysing...
Brain Scan Could Predict Paediatric Anxiety Disorder Treatment Outcomes
A functional MRI (fMRI) brain scan could be used to predict if children with paediatric anxiety disorder will respond to cognitive behavioural therapy. Neuroscientists at Georgetown...
Three Kentucky Hospitals to Merge
Three hospitals in Kentucky, US, are to merge to form a statewide health services organisation, to improve the quality of care in the region. Catholic Health Initiatives, the University...
Visceral Leishmaniasis Deaths in Sudan to Rise
Visceral leishmaniasis has killed 260 people in southern Sudan in the past year, with deaths estimated to double in the coming months, according to World Health Organization. More than...
Watchdog Finds Health and Safety Breaches at Wolverhampton Hospital
England's health watchdog has identified a series of quality and safety breaches at Penn Hospital in Wolverhampton. Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission identified ten areas of...
EU Funds Neurodegenerative Diagnostic Device Programme
The EU has granted €9m for the development of a lab-on-chip to detect neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. A consortium of 18 partners will take up...
Medtronic Reports Positive Cardiac Resynchronisation Device Trial
Medtronic has reported positive results from a clinical trial designed to evaluate the use of its cardiac resynchronisation therapy-defibrillators (CRT-Ds) on mildly symptomatic heart...
Scientists Use Microwaves to Monitor Vital Signs
Scientists in Japan have developed a technique that uses microwaves to measure a patient's vital signs. The system uses weak microwaves to irradiate and scatter off the human body. A...
Researchers Use Tracking System to Identify Faulty Medical Devices
Computerised tracking systems can be used to identify faulty medical devices, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. US researchers used a...
NHS Spending on Temporary Doctors Doubles in Two Years
NHS hospitals have spent more than £750m in the past year on hiring temporary doctors, according to data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The figures obtained by the...
US State Implements Flu Immunisation Policies
Ninety four out of the 98 hospitals in the US state of Washington have adopted new flu immunisation policies that require healthcare workers to either be immunised or use...
Solar-Powered Device to Measure Blood Pressure Unveiled
A solar-powered device to measure blood pressure can provide affordable and reliable testing in low-income countries, according to a research published in Hypertension: Journal of the...
South African Hospital Operator Fined Over Illegal Kidney Transplants
Netcare KwaZulu, the operator St Augustine's Hospital in Durban, South Africa, has been convicted on charges relating to illegal kidney transplants. According to the South African...
Researchers Develop Heart Pump for Congenital Heart Disease Surgery in Infants
A heart pump for infants that can be used during surgery has been developed by researchers at Purdue University in the US. The viscous impeller pump is designed for treating infants...
Saudi Arabia Launches Healthcare Technology Project
Saudi Arabia has launched the largest healthcare technology project of its kind in the Gulf Cooperation Council, a union involving Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United...
NHS Trust to Upgrade Patient Administration System
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust in the UK has contracted iSOFT to upgrade its patient administration system, which will provide additional patient and clinical functionality at its...
Canada's Second Wave of H1N1 More Severe than First
The second wave of the H1N1 pandemic in Canada was more severe than the first, according to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association's journal. Researchers compared the...
FDA Proposes Changes to Prevent Radiation Overdoses
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is proposing changes to protect patients from radiation overdoses during CT scans. The move comes after the FDA carried out an investigation into...
Boston Scientific Initiates Patient Enrolment for Parkinson's Disease System Trial
Boston Scientific Corporation has initiated patient enrolment for the clinical trial of its Vercise deep brain stimulation system, which is used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease. ...
Singapore to Spend S$1bn on Two New Hospitals
The Government of Singapore has announced that it will invest nearly S$1bn ($777m) to build two new hospitals in the country's Jurong constituency. The funds will be used to construct...
UK Spending Cuts are Putting NHS Staff Under Pressure, Union Says
Public sector spending cuts in the UK are putting the NHS under severe pressure, a report by Unison has said. The UK's largest public service union surveyed more than 8,000 NHS staff,...
Cardio Surgery Devices Market to Reach $2.4bn in 2016
The global market for cardiovascular surgery devices is estimated to reach $2.4bn in 2016, according to a report by GlobalData. The market was valued at $2bn in 2009. Growth is expected to...
Combined Imaging Technologies Could Improve Breast Cancer Detection
A combination of optical and X-ray imaging can be used to distinguish malignant breast cancers from benign lesions, according to a study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital in the...
Victorian Government Launches $1.5bn Health Package
The Australian state of Victoria has pledged to employ an additional 1,700 nurses, 400 doctors and 700 other health professionals under a four-year A$1.5bn ($1.5bn) package if the state...
UK Tuberculosis Cases Reach Record High
Tuberculosis cases in the UK reached 9,040 in 2009, the highest level in 30 years, according to the Health Protection Agency's annual TB report. The number of cases of the new drug-resistant...
Low-Dose CTs Prevent More Lung Cancer Deaths than X-Rays
Low-dose CT is more effective at preventing deaths from lung cancer than a chest X-ray, according to a new study conducted by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The NCI's National...
CARE Fertility Test May Improve IVF Success Rates
Researchers at UK-based CARE Fertility have developed a test that can increase the chances of having a baby through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Chromosomal abnormalities are a major cause...
Atrium Completes Patient Enrolment for iCAST Stent Trial
Atrium Medical Corporation has completed patient enrolment for a study of the Atrium iCAST Balloon Expandable Covered Stent for the treatment of patients with iliac artery occlusive...
Non-Affiliated Hospitals as Good as University Hospitals
Contrary to popular belief university-affiliated hospitals do not offer better care than non-affiliated hospitals, according to a new study by medical rankings service CareChex, which evaluated...
NHS Organ Transplants Reach All-Time High
A record number of NHS patients in the UK underwent an organ transplant during 2009 / 10, according to the NHS Blood and Transplant's annual report. Hospitals carried out 3,706...
UK Scientists Develop Jellyfish Protein Cancer Test
Scientists at The University of York, UK, have developed a new test that uses cells derived from jellyfish to detect cancers deep within the human body. The scientists isolated...
Elderly Women at High Risk of Inappropriate Urinary Catheterisations
Elderly women face a high risk of inappropriate urinary catheterisations in emergency departments, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control. During...
Eye Implant Restores Vision in Retinitis Pigmentosa Patients
Scientists at Retinal Implant have developed an eye implant that enables patients with the degenerative eye disease retinitis pigmentosa to see shapes and objects. The device, known as...
Most Abu Dhabi Hospitals Fail Health Inspections
The majority of hospitals and clinics in Abu Dhabi, UAE, failed health inspections last year, according to Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD). Last year HAAD inspectors made 1,300 visits...
San Francisco Launches EHR Project
The San Francisco Department of Public Health, in California, US, has launched a two-year electronic health record (EHR) project for its physicians to help them meet ARRA meaningful...
Scottish Hospital Asked to Ensure Cleanliness
Health inspectors have asked NHS Grampian to make improvements to ensure cleanliness at the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital, Scotland, UK. The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate...
US Launches Trial for Early Lung Cancer Diagnosis
Physicians at El Camino Hospital, US, have initiated a clinical trial to evaluate a new tool for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. The trial will combine Respiragene, a new genetically...
Hospital Patients at High Risk of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
Approximately 81% of hospital patients are at a high risk of obstructive sleep apnoea, according to a study conducted by researchers at Loyola University Health System in the US. ...
MRI May Predict Ischemic Stroke Onset
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to determine the time of ischemic stroke onset, which would allow doctors to provide life-saving treatment, according to a new study published in...
Australian Government to Launch Hospital Comparison Website
A website that will allow Australians to compare the performance of the country's hospitals will be launched in December. Federal Health Minister Nicola Roxon said the work on the...
US Researchers Unveil Blood Test for Ectopic Pregnancies
Researchers at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in the US have developed a blood test to diagnose ectopic pregnancy, a complication where the foetus implants itself outside the womb. ...
Penumbra Initiates Patient Enrolment for Stroke Stent Study
Penumbra has initiated patient enrolment for a clinical trial of its Pulse flow restoration device, a temporary stent for the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke. The clinical trial...
NHS Trust Falling Short of 11 Key Standards, CQC Warns
The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust is falling short of 11 of the 16 essential safety and quality standards, the UK's Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said. The watchdog said it...
World's Largest Proton Therapy Centre Opens in US
The world's largest free-standing proton therapy centre has opened in Virginia, US. The Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute is expected to treat about 2,000 patients with...
EU Commission Warns of Device Reprocessing Dangers
The European Commission has revealed that there are three major risks associated with the reprocessing of single-use medical devices. In a report, the commission warned of the dangers...
NHS Report Reveals Increase in Hospital Stays Among Elderly
NHS hospital stays among the over 75s have risen by 66% in the past decade, according to data from the NHS Information Centre. The figures also revealed that stays for people aged 60 to...
Researchers Initiate Trial of Vertebral Compression Fracture Device
US researchers have begun a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the Kiva System, which is used for the treatment of painful vertebral compression fractures caused...
UK Hospital Managers Among Least Clinically Qualified, Says Report
Hospital managers in the UK are among the least clinically qualified in the developed world, according to a study by management consulting firm McKinsey. The study evaluated management...
Researchers to Develop Blood Test for Cancer
Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology are developing a blood test to diagnose cancer using biomarkers. The test is based on the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system...
US Hospital Implants Non-Blood Contacting Mechanical Heart Assist System
St Paul Heart Clinic in Minnesota, US, has reported that the first patients in the state have been implanted with the world's first non-blood contacting mechanical heart assist system. ...
Researchers Develop Imaging Technique for Breast Cancer
Cancer Research UK scientists have developed an imaging technique that can show whether breast cancer treatment is working weeks before current methods. The scientists developed two...
October 2010
Top
Portable Scanner Developed to Detect Breast Cancer
Scientists at the University of Manchester in the UK have developed a portable scanner that uses radio frequency technology to detect breast cancer. The scanner analyses dielectric...
Hospitalisations for Medication-Related Conditions Rise in US
The number of hospitalisations in the US among people aged 45 and older for medication and drug-related conditions has doubled between 1997 and 2008, research suggests. A report released by...
US Hospital Unveils Plans for $130m Cancer Facility
The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, US, has unveiled a $130m cancer facility. The 155,000 sqft cancer facility will focus on both research...
Passive Safety Devices Prevent Needlestick Injuries, Study Suggests
Passive and fully automatic safety devices offer more protection from accidental needlestick injuries than active devices, according to a study conducted by the Groupe d'Etude sur le...
Australian Hospital Receives Funding for Heart-Lung Transplant Programme
St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney, Australia, has received A$3m ($3m) from the Government of New South Wales for a heart-lung transplant programme. The funds will allow the hospital to...
Diabetes Costs NHS £1m an Hour
Diabetes costs the NHS about £1m every hour, according to research by Diabetes UK. The charity, which collected figures from GP practices, has reported that one in 20 people in UK are...
CorMatrix Reports Positive Study Results of Pericardial Closure Implant
CorMatrix Cardiovascular has reported positive study results of its extracellular matrix (ECM) technology, an implant used to reconstruct the pericardium. The study was conducted by...
EDAP Completes First Stage of Ultrasound Trial
EDAP TMS said that it has successfully completed the first phase of clinical study evaluating high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) technology in patients with metastatic liver cancer. ...
Israeli Researchers Develop Device to Diagnose Sleep Apnoea
Israeli researchers have developed a device that can diagnose obstructive sleep apnoea at home. The WatchPAT device, developed and manufactured by Itamar Medical in Caesarea, Israel, is worn...
Emotional Health Monitoring Smart Phone App Released
The Department of Defense has released a free smart phone mobile application, T2 Mood Tracker, which will enable military service members and veterans track their emotional health...
UK Spending Cuts Could Cause Hospital Beds Crisis
Hospital beds in England may become filled with elderly and vulnerable patients due to cuts to local government care, according to NHS Confederation head Nigel Edwards. In a letter to The...
Cholera Outbreak Kills More Than 250 in Haiti
A cholera outbreak in Haiti has killed more than 250 people, though another 3,000 cases of the disease have been registered so far. The deadly infection has taken hold in Port-au-Prince,...
MRSA Found to Affect More People in US than UK
More people in the US acquire MRSA bloodstream infections than in the UK, according data published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. The study analysed data from the US Centers for...
Researchers Develop Synthetic Bone Material
Researchers at UMass Medical School, US, have developed an inexpensive, synthetic bone material that can be used to repair complex fractures and large areas of bone loss. Researchers created...
Irish Junior Doctors Top HSE Overtime Pay Rankings
Junior doctors in the UK accounted for the top 30 recipients of overtime pay in Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) during the past year, according to the data obtained in response to...
Microchip Could Separate Tumour Cells from Blood Samples
Researchers at the Spanish National Research Council have developed a microchip that uses ultrasound waves to separate and extract tumour cells from a blood sample. The patented microchip,...
Study Reveals Gap Between Best and Worst US Hospitals
Patients treated at top-performing hospitals in the US are 72% less likely to die than patients treated at those with a low rating, according to a HealthGrades study. Researchers analysed...
Israel to Build World's Largest Underground Emergency Hospital
Rambam medical centre in Israel is constructing what it claims to be the world's largest underground emergency health centre in the northern port city of Haifa. The facility is designed...
US Patient Monitoring Market to Reach $4bn by 2017
The US patient monitoring market is estimated to reach $4bn by 2017, according to a report by iData Research. Multi-parameter vital-sign devices represented the majority of the market in 2010,...
TransEnterix Receives CE Mark for Surgical System
TransEnterix has received CE mark approval for its Spider surgical system, a device that enables a surgeon to operate through a patient's belly button. The system allows surgeons to operate...
Information Sharing Linked to Surgical Benefits
A group of hospitals in the US managed to reduce surgical complications by 10% after agreeing to share information on patient safety, according to a study published in the Archives of...
Canadian Surgeons Perform World's First Robotic Surgery and Anaesthesia
Surgeons at McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in Canada have performed the world's first completely robotic surgery and anaesthesia. The surgeons used the DaVinci surgical robot and...
Study Deems Pacemakers Reuse Safe and Effective
The reuse of pacemakers is safe, effective and poses little risk of infection, according to a study conducted at the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, US. The research added...
US Researchers Awarded Grant for Brain Monitoring Device
Researchers at the University of Cincinnati, US, have received a $2.1m grant from the US Department of Defense to help them develop the next generation of brain monitors. They are working on...
Masimo Reports Positive Haemoglobin Monitor Study Results
Masimo has reported that a randomised controlled trial of SpHb, its non-invasive and continuous haemoglobin monitor, has shown that the device helped anaesthesiologists reduce the frequency...
US Hospital Opens Proton Therapy Unit
The first proton therapy unit in the US state of Illinois has been opened at Central DuPage Hospital. Proton therapy is an advanced form of radiation treatment for cancer that spares...
Early Menopause Gene Discovery Could Lead to Predictive Test
Scientists in the UK have identified genes related to the early onset of the menopause, opening the way for a predictive genetic test. In a study, researchers from the University of...
NHS Needs to Learn from Complaints, Ombudsman Warns
The NHS needs to listen harder and learn from complaints, according to a report from health service ombudsman Ann Abraham. The ombudsman analysed 15,579 complaints made about the NHS in...
First US Hospital Deploys Wayfinding Technology
Lake Health in Ohio has become the first health system in the US to install a digital wayfinding system, following the opening its TriPoint Medical Center. The kiosk-based technology,...
SNP Vows to Reduce NHS Scotland Senior Managers by a Quarter
The Scottish National Party has said it will cut the number of senior NHS managers in Scotland by 25% over the next four years. Speaking at the SNP conference, Health Secretary Nicola...
Researchers to Trial Eye Device for Cancer Drug Delivery
The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles in the US has been offered a $1m grant from the National Cancer Institute to conduct clinical trials on a cancer drug delivery device to...
CareFusion Infusion Pump Recall Classified as Class I
CareFusion has reported that its recall of approximately 17,000 Alaris PC (model 8015) infusion pump units has been classified as Class I by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A Class...
UK Hospital Upgrades Imaging Department
The Royal Oldham Hospital in Greater Manchester, England, has upgraded its imaging department to provide patients with more accurate and quicker diagnoses. The hospital, part of Pennine...
UK Scientists to Develop Urine Test for Prostate Cancer
Scientists from two cancer research organisations in the UK are developing a urine test that could identify men at risk of prostate cancer. The test is based on a protein...
US Scientists to Conduct First Robot-Assisted Prostate Cancer Trial
A first-of-its-kind clinical trial is to use a robot to perform prostate brachytherapy, a procedure that involves the placement of 60-120 therapeutic radioactive seeds in the tumours of...
Oregon Hospital Group Installs EHR and PM Solutions
St Charles Health System in Oregon, US, has installed electronic health record (EHR) and practice management (PM) solutions, creating a clinically integrated health information system that...
MRI Shows Promise in Diagnosing Brain Disorders
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, US, have successfully used brain imaging to differentiate between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and paediatric...
New Tool Could Optimise Cardiovascular Device Design
Researchers at Stony Brook University, US, have developed a device that can be used to optimise cardiovascular device design to eliminate the risk of clot formation. The device...
Insurance Status and Poor Nutrition Increase Hospital Readmission Risk
Race, insurance status, poor nutrition and depression are some of the risk factors responsible for hospital readmissions in the US and Australia, according to two studies published in the...
Hill International to Lead Kuwait Hospital Expansion Programme
The Kuwait Ministry of Health has contracted a Hill International-led joint venture to provide project and construction management services as part of its KWD150m ($513m) nationwide...
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Could Treat Depression
A study conducted at Rush University Medical Center, US, suggests that transcranial magnetic stimulation can be an effective, long-term treatment for major depression. The non-invasive...
Singapore Researchers Develop Device to Predict Heart Failure
Researchers at Singapore General Hospital and Nanyang Technological University have developed a device that can predict a patient's risk of heart failure. The non-invasive device measures...
Genomic Health Reports Positive Breast Cancer Test Trial
Genomic Health has reported positive study results from a trial of its Oncotype DX breast cancer test, which it found had a significant effect on the treatment decisions made by doctors. The...
Wales to Open its First NHS Hospital with Single Rooms
The first NHS hospital in Wales to offer every patient their own room is to open in December 2010. The £53m Aneurin Bevan Hospital will have 96 en-suite single rooms, offering patient's...
Study Suggests MRI Could Help Diagnose Autism
A study conducted at the University of Utah, US, has suggested that MRI could be used to help diagnose autism. Researchers enrolled 90 people, 53 of whom had autism, and used MRI to compare...
Stanford and Varian Scientists Partner to Develop New Imaging Technology
Scientists from Stanford University and Varian Medical Systems are working on a new imaging technology to improve the quality of CT images from patients with metal objects in their bodies such...
Researchers Warn of Lack of Intensive Care Beds in UK
A report in medical journal The Lancet has warned that UK hospitals have a relatively low number of intensive care beds, indicating that they are poorly prepared in case of major disasters. ...
Irish HSE Asked to Address Patient Safety at Mallow Hospital
The Irish Health Safety Executive (HSE) has been warned that it needs to address the safety of patients requiring emergency surgery at Mallow General Hospital while its permanent and...
WHO Releases Guidelines to Improve Mental Health Care
The World Health Organization (WHO) has released simplified diagnosis and treatment guidelines for the management of depression, epilepsy, alcohol use disorders and other common mental disorders...
Carotid Artery Stenting Linked to Increased Stroke Risk
Carotid artery stenting causes a greater risk of adverse outcomes compared with surgical treatment by carotid endarterectomy, according to a study from the New York University School of...
HHS Announces $727m for Community Health Centres
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced funding of $727m for 143 community health centres across the country. The awards, the first of $11bn set aside by...
Chinese Cardiovascular Market to Reach $1.6bn by 2016
The cardiovascular market in China is estimated to reach $1.6bn by 2016, according to a report by GlobalData. Large numbers of people in China are at risk of cardiovascular diseases due to...
Researchers Develop Potential Pre-Screening Test for Lung Cancer
US researchers have developed an optical technique that can be used to detect the early signs of lung cancer. Partial wave spectroscopic microscopy works on the principle of field effect –...
Ultrasound Device Could Speed Up Fracture Healing
Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) can speed up the healing of fractures, a German study has discovered. Researchers from the University Hospital Marburg and the University of Ulm...
UK Watchdog Raises Concern Over Yorkshire Hospitals
The UK Care Quality Commission (CQC) has identified a series of breaches of safety and standards at two hospitals in Yorkshire and ordered the local NHS Trust to take immediate action. ...
UK Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients Face Blood Donation Ban
Patients with chronic fatigue syndrome will be banned from donating blood in the UK, under the new safety guidelines that come into effect on 1 November. The ban will apply across all four...
MRI and CT Scan Use Triples in US
The use of MRI and CT scans in US emergency departments tripled between 1998 and 2007, according to a study carried out at Johns Hopkins University. Researchers found that patients...
UK Nurses Struggle to Spot Depression in Patients
Nurses find it difficult to identify when patients are suffering depression or are distressed, according to two studies conducted by researchers at the University of Leicester, UK. The...
NHS to Report on More Infections
The NHS will report figures on two more infections from 2011 as part of efforts to help patients make an informed choice about where to seek treatment. Hospitals will have to report the...
Artificial Pancreatic Tissue Offers Hope for Diabetics
Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital, US, have developed a bio-artificial matrix that could serve as a scaffold for pancreatic islets and supportive stem cells. The researchers found...
FDA Awards Information Hub Development Contract
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has awarded the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) $904,000 to develop an information hub for medical products, regulatory processes and systems...
African-Americans Warned of Increased Hypertension Risks
African-Americans should be treated for blood pressure at lower threshold levels than the general population, according to a study by the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks. ...
Webcam Used for Vital Signs Monitoring
Researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a system that can measure a patient's vital signs using a low-resolution webcam. The system works by measuring the...
US Pledges $4bn to Fight AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis
The US Government has pledged $4bn of support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria between 2011 and 2013. The pledge's three goals are to save more lives through...
Medcath Concludes Hospital Sales
Medcath Corporation has completed the sale of two US hospitals to Vanguard Health Systems. Under the terms of transaction, Vanguard Health Systems has paid approximately $32m for certain...
NovaBone Receives FDA Approval for Bone Graft Delivery System
NovaBone Products has received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for its NovaBone Putty MIS delivery system, which improves the delivery of bone grafting material in minimally...
Varian and IMRIS to Develop MR-Guided Radiation Therapy System
Varian Medical Systems and IMRIS have agreed to co-develop an MR-guided radiation therapy system to treat cancer. The companies will develop the new system by combining IMRIS' MRI technology...
NHS Receives £70m to Fund Post-Hospital Care
UK Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced an extra £70m ($110m) to help the NHS improve care for patients after they leave hospital. The move is designed to reduce the number of...
Diagnostic X-Rays Found to Increase Childhood Leukaemia Risk
Exposure to diagnostic X-rays can increase the risk of childhood leukaemia, according to researchers at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health. Researchers enrolled...
First-Time Mothers "Disappointed" with NHS Postnatal Care
First-time mothers are disappointed with the postnatal care they receive from the UK's NHS, according to a new survey by the National Childbirth Trust. The parenting charity conducted an...
Deep Brain Stimulation Could Be Used to Treat OCD
Deep brain stimulation could help patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, according to research conducted at Amsterdam University's Academic Medical Center. Sixteen patients with...
Italian Boy Becomes First Child to Receive an Artificial Heart
A 15-year-old boy has become the first child to receive an artificial heart, following a ten-hour operation at Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Rome. Artificial hearts are usually...
New Laser Technique Could Reduce Surgery Scars
Researchers at the University of Toronto and Hospital for Sick Children, Canada, have developed a laser technique that can reduce scarring after surgery. The Picosecond IR Laser (PIRL)...
NHS Shake-Up May Affect Long-Term Stability
A radical shake-up of the NHS in England could affect its stability and long-term future, the British Medical Association (BMA) has warned. The UK Government is planning to give GPs control...
Michigan Hospital Launches Medical Helicopter
Henry Ford Hospital in Michigan, US, has brought a new helicopter into service to transport critically ill and trauma patients to the hospital. The helicopter, designated Air Med 1,...
US Inspectors Reopen Investigation into FDA-Approved Medical Scanners
Federal inspectors in the US have reopened an investigation into claims that US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) scientists were pressurised to approve certain medical scanners by their...
St Jude Spinal Cord Stimulation System Approved in Japan
St Jude Medical has received regulatory approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for Eon Mini, its spinal cord stimulation system for the management of chronic pain. ...
Dual-Platform Technique Improves Circulating Tumour Cell Detection
Researchers at On-Q-ity have developed a dual-platform technology that improves the detection circulating tumour cells (CTC) in breast cancer patients. The On-Q-ity Circulating Cancer Capture...
Japan Faced With Medical Professionals Shortage
Japan needs around 24,000 more doctors to make up for its serious shortage of medical professionals and reduce the workload on current staff, according to a study by health authorities. ...
South Africa to Upgrade Major Public Hospitals
South Africa is to spend billions of rand on the modernisation of its five major public hospitals, according to Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi. Teams have already been deployed to plan...
UAE Hospital Opens Mammography Unit
Al Rahba Hospital in the UAE has opened a new digital mammography unit for breast cancer detection as a part of its Women's Health Programme. The unit is equipped with all the...
Kindred Healthcare Completes Nursing Centre Acquisitions
US-based Kindred Healthcare has completed the $38m acquisition of three nursing and rehabilitation centres in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. The centres have about 405 beds and generate...
Microelectronic Device Could Reverse Brain Damage
Researchers are developing a microelectronic device that could help trauma victims regain movement by promoting the growth of damaged neurons in the brain. The device works on the principle...
Researchers Develop Blood Test for Colon Cancer
Researchers from Danish biotech company Exiqon have developed a blood test for colon cancer that could be used as an initial screening tool prior to colonoscopy. The test works by measuring...
September 2010
Top
Experts Predict Mortality Risk for Hospitalised Stroke Patients
Researchers from the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, have developed an assessment tool that can predict a stroke patient's risk of death after being hospitalised. The team...
NHS Watchdog Warns Hospitals over Laparoscopic Surgery Complications
The UK's National Patient Safety Agency has issued a warning to the NHS after a series of laparoscopic operations led to severe complications and deaths. Between April 2005 and April...
Microfluidic Device Developed to Identify Aggressive Breast Cancers
Researchers at the University of South Australia have developed a disposable device that can identify aggressive breast cancers. Patients with aggressive breast cancers have abnormal levels...
CT Scans Could Predict Future Cardiovascular Risk
Incidental findings from routine CT scans can be helpful in identifying a patient's cardiovascular risk, according to a study from University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands. ...
Laser-Based Devices Could Replace X-Rays in Disease Diagnosis
Portable devices that use laser beams may soon replace X-rays in the diagnosis of breast cancer, tooth decay and bone diseases. These devices work on the principle of Raman spectroscopy, where...
Brazilian Defibrillator Programme Contract Awarded to Zoll
The Brazilian Ministry of Health has awarded Zoll Corporation a contract to supply 5,000 Zoll AED Plus units for its early defibrillation programme. Brazil will standardise Zoll AED Plus...
Study Warns of Imaging Risks in Child Cancer Patients
The medical imaging tests used children's cancer treatment can expose them to worrying levels of radiation, according to a study conducted at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto,...
NHS Scotland to Launch Swine Flu Vaccination Programme
NHS Scotland is to begin a swine flu vaccination programme in response to concerns that the virus will return in a more virulent form this winter. The NHS seasonal vaccination programme...
German Patients Suffer Unnecessary Pain in Hospital
In a pain study conducted by researchers at Bochum University Hospital, 56% of patients in German hospitals said that they experienced unbearable pain. The researchers conducted a survey of...
Care Improves in US Hospitals
Accredited hospitals in the US are providing higher quality care for heart attack, pneumonia and surgical patients, according to a report by The Joint Commission. The annual report,...
Chronic Sinusitis Can be Safely Treated in Clinics, Study Finds
Balloon dilation for chronic sinusitis (CRS) can be safely performed in a clinic, according to a study by Entellus Medical. The study enrolled 71 patients, where 19 patients underwent...
Insulin Pump Improves Diabetes Control, Says Study
A blood-sugar sensor and insulin pump can help patients with type I diabetes control their condition more effectively than multiple daily insulin injections, according to a study published in...
Blood Test Could Predict Transplant Organ Rejection
Researchers at Stanford University in the US have developed a simple and inexpensive blood test that can detect whether the body will reject a transplanted organ. The researchers evaluated...
Medical Electrodes Market to Reach $976bn by 2015
The global market for medical device electrodes is estimated to reach $976bn by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts. The US and Europe will account for more than 70% of...
Australian Hospital Closes Beds Following Norovirus Outbreak
Fremantle Hospital and Health Service, Australia, has closed 15 beds following a norovirus outbreak. The highly infectious virus causes stomach cramps, vomiting and intestinal...
Staff Shortage Forces London Hospital to Close Emergency Department
Queen Mary's Hospital in London, UK, is to temporarily close its emergency and maternity departments due to staff shortages. Hospital managers said that the closures are necessary to...
MRIs Could Be Used for Endovascular Stent Surveillance
MRI scans can be used for the routine surveillance of great vessel stents, according to a study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Endovascular stents can imaged using...
Researchers to Develop Emergency Care Device for Astronauts
Engineers have begun work on a system that can provide medical care to astronauts while in space, using funds from the US National Space Biomedical Research Institute. The system will combine...
Bedsores Linked to Hundreds of Deaths in Scotland
Bedsores have been linked to hundreds of deaths in Scotland in the last five years, according to Scottish Government statistics. They were directly linked to 78 deaths in between 2005 and...
Canadian Province Unveils New Hospital Funding System
Officials in the Canadian province of British Columbia have launched a performance-based hospital funding scheme. Patient-focused system aims to reward hospitals for treating more people...
King's College Hospital Trust Joins Serco Joint Venture
Serco Group has added King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to its pathology joint venture with Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. Under the ten-year contract, estimated to...
Scientists Develop New Breast Cancer Marker
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have developed a new material that could help surgeons to locate breast cancers, reducing the need for second surgeries. The...
Zynex to Develop Central Blood Volume Monitoring Device
Zynex has announced that it is developing a device to monitor central blood volume. The device, currently in engineering and prototyping phase, is intended for use in operating and...
UAE Sees Rise in Cancer Deaths
Cancer is the third leading cause of death in United Arab Emirates (UAE) following heart disease and accidents, a study has found. The research, based on UAE reports and statistics on...
Florida Hospital Installs Ultrasound Systems
Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in the US has installed four Xario XG ultrasound systems to improve its diagnosis and treatment capabilities. Toshiba's Xario XG is a portable ultrasound...
Corindus Coronary Intervention System Performs Well in Trials
Corindus Vascular Robotics has revealed positive study results for their CorPath 200 System, which is used to deliver and manipulate coronary guidewires and stent / balloon systems in...
Mental Health Services in Sussex to Undergo Major Changes
Two mental health wards in Sussex, UK, are to close as a part of major changes to mental health services in the region. The mental health wards in The Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards...
Scientists Develop Blood Test for Fatty Liver Disease
Scientists from the Basque Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) and OWL Genomics have developed a blood test for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Non-alcoholic...
Neurostimulation Shows Promise for Migraine Treatment
Medtronic has revealed positive results from a trial to test occipital nerve stimulation for the treatment of chronic migraines. The randomised and blinded trial was conducted across nine...
Scientists Test Body-Powered Fuel Cell
A fuel cell battery that could potentially be powered by natural body processes has been developed by scientists from the Université Joseph Fourier in Grenoble, France. The implantable...
GE Begins Hospital Pilot
GE Healthcare has begun a pilot of its Smart Patient Room solution at Bassett Medical Center in New York, US. The solution, designed to reduce medical errors and improve patient...
French Doctors Remove Patient's Kidney Through Vagina
Doctors have removed the infected kidney of a morbidly obese patient through her vagina, the first surgery of its kind, according to health authorities in Lyon. The 117kg-patient's kidney...
Robotic Heart Catheter Could Improve Atrial Fibrillation Treatment
Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a computerised robotic catheter that could make atrial fibrillation treatment faster, cheaper and more effective. ...
Artificial Ovary Could Help Infertile Women
Scientists have created the first artificial ovary, offering hope to women who have become infertile through chemotherapy. Researchers at Women & Infants Hospital and Brown University...
South Carolina Hospital Installs Patient Safety System
Palmetto Health Richland Hospital in South Carolina, US, has become the first hospital in the state to install a remote monitoring and wireless clinician notification system. The...
HPA Develops Bacterial Meningitis Test
A tool that can rapidly identify bacterial meningitis has been developed by researchers at the UK's Health Protection Agency (HPA). Researchers analysed 385 confirmed cases of meningitis over...
Neuroimaging Could Aid Early Diagnosis of Parkinson's
Neuroimaging techniques can be used to predict if people with REM sleep disorder will develop neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, according to a study published in Lancet...
Scottish Patients Could be Charged for Doctor Visits
A senior advisor to the Scottish Parliament has said that patients should pay up to £20 each time they visit their GP or stay in hospital. Professor David Bell has advised MPs that the...
New Hospital Inaugurated in Jordan
Prince Al Hussein Ben Abdullah II Hospital in Ain Al Basha, Jordan, has been inaugurated. The JD18m ($25m) hospital will provide healthcare services to 30,000 people residing in Ain Al...
Scientists Unveil One-Hour TB Test
UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) scientists have developed a test that can identify positive tuberculosis cases within one hour. The single DNA molecule identification test uses the...
Synergy Health to Provide Decontamination Services for Two NHS Trusts
Synergy Health has been granted two 15-year contracts to provide hospital decontamination services to NHS trusts in Leicester and Sheffield. The firm is also building sterile...
Shape Memory Alloys Proven to be Biocompatible
The shape memory alloys (SMAs) used in medical devices and implants are biocompatible and should not cause medical problems, according to a study from the University of Maribor, Slovenia. ...
Studying Calcium Deposits Can Reveal Breast Cancer
A study published in the British Journal of Cancer has found a direct link between the composition of calcium deposits in breasts and the malignancy of breast cancer tumours. Researchers...
Study Authors Often Fail to Disclose Device Manufacturer Payments
More than half of the payments made by orthopaedic device companies to surgeons in the US were not disclosed in journal articles, according to a study published in Archives of Internal...
Researchers to Develop Blood Test for Pre-Eclampsia
Researchers are developing a new blood test that can predict a woman's risk of pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening condition that can occur during pregnancy. An international team of scientists...
Fibre Optic Link Could Offer New Hope for Amputees
A research team led by engineers from Southern Methodist University is developing a fibre optic link to allow communication between prosthetic limbs and the brain, providing new hope for amputees....
Two Canadian Hospitals Receive Redevelopment Funding
Two hospitals in Vancouver, Canada, have been given C$90.5m ($87m) by the British Columbia provincial government for the first phase of a redevelopment plan. The redevelopment of The...
Hospital Distrust Deters African Americans from Blood Donation
A lack of trust in US hospitals is behind the low rate of blood donation among the African-American community, according study published in Transfusion. Researchers surveyed attendees at...
Unnecessary Hospital Transfers Add to US Healthcare Costs
Unnecessarily transferring patients between hospitals is increasing healthcare costs, according to a study from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. Researchers...
For-Profit Californian Hospitals Perform More Caesareans
For-profit hospitals in California, US, are performing more caesarean sections than their non-profit counterparts, according to a California Watch analysis. Birthing records across...
Routine Re-Siting of Peripheral IVDs May Not Cut Complications
Routine re-siting of a peripheral intravenous device (IVD) may not reduce complications, according to a study published in journal BioMed Central. Current recommendations are that peripheral...
California Law Could Protect Patients from Medical Radiation
A proposed bill in California, US, could protect patients from dangerous levels of radiation from imaging devices such as CT scanners. The bill, which is awaiting the governor's signature,...
Stanford Hospital Partners with Accenture to Improve Care
Stanford Hospital & Clinics of California, US, has partnered with Accenture for a seven-year, connected health technology initiative. Through the initiative, the hospital hopes to...
AtheroMed Initiates Atherectomy Catheter Trial
AtheroMed has started to enrol patients for a clinical trial of its Phoenix atherectomy catheter, a device to treat peripheral arterial disease in the legs. The FDA-approved...
UK Junior Doctors Spend More Time on Admin Than Specialty Training
Junior doctors working in their chosen hospital specialty area for the first time are spending 14% of their time in administrative work and only 13% of their time learning their...
New Rules Will Force Chinese Medical Device Manufacturers to Report Faults
Medical equipment manufacturers in China will have to report any faults associated with their products, according to draft regulations issued by the Chinese Government. The new monitoring...
UK Hospital is First to Adopt Slinky Coil for Angioplasty
Cardiologists at Southampton General Hospital in the UK have become the first in Europe to use a new "slinky" coil during an angioplasty procedure. The Resolute Integrity Stent System is...
New Algorithm Could Improve Breast Cancer Imaging
Researchers at the University of Cordoba, Argentina, have found a way to improve the image quality of X-ray mammography, which could help to reduce false results when screening for breast cancer. ...
US Ranking Methods May Undervalue Some Physicians
Physician ranking programmes in the US that do not consider the patient's socioeconomic status and insurance coverage may undervalue the work of the physicians, a study has suggested. ...
WHO Warns of Major Medical Device Gaps in the Developing World
Developing countries have limited access to medical devices despite the quantity and variety available worldwide, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) study. The findings indicate...
Researchers Develop Blood Test for Respiratory Viral Infections
A blood test that can accurately and rapidly diagnose respiratory viral infections has been developed by a research team from Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy and Duke...
Cut US Emergency Visits to Save Costs, Says Study
Around 17% of all emergency department visits in the US could be treated at retail medical clinics or urgent care centres, saving $4.4bn a year, according to a study by RAND Corporation. ...
Non-Specialist Colonoscopy Associated with Greater Risk of Repeats
Older adults who are given a colonoscopy by a family doctor, general surgeon or internist are more likely to require a repeat colonoscopy within one year than those who are given the exam by...
Researchers Use Electrical Stimulation to Treat Depression
Researchers at University of California, Los Angeles in the US have developed a technique known as trigeminal nerve stimulation, which applies electrical stimulation to a major nerve...
Scientists Develop Handheld MRSA and Breast Cancer Test
Scientists have developed a handheld device that can rapidly detect diseases such as breast cancer and MRSA. The device, known as CliniHub, has four ports that contain a chemical assay...
Uncontrolled Asthma Increases Hospitalisations in US and Japan
Patients with uncontrolled asthma in the US and Japan have significantly worse physical and mental quality of life and require far more healthcare than patients with controlled asthma, according...
England Slow to Implement Electronic Health Records
The implementation of electronic health records in England is likely to be a long, iterative and complex process, according to research published in the British Medical Journal. The...
Ascension's Total Shoulder System Receives FDA Approval
Ascension Orthopaedics has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its TITAN Modular Total Shoulder System, an implant system that offers multiple surgical options...
France's CLB Installs Europe's First CyberKnife VSI
Leon-Berard Cancer Multidisciplinary Center (CLB) in Lyon, France, has become Europe's first hospital to install the CyberKnife VSI System for the treatment of cancer. The CyberKnife...
US Health Information Exchange Group Receives Federal Grant
HealthBridge, a non-profit health information exchange organisation in Cincinnati, US, has received $13.8m in federal funding to help Cincinnati health providers to better use...
Japan's Plate and Screw Market to Exceed $170m by 2014
The Japanese medical plate and screw market, driven by surgeon acceptance, is forecast to grow to over $170m by 2014, according to a report from Millennium Research Group (MRG). The...
UCSF Researchers Develop First Implantable Artificial Kidney
The first implantable artificial kidney has been developed by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) who hope the device may eliminate the need for dialysis in...
Saint Barnabas Installs Automated Chest Compression Device
Saint Barnabas Medical Center of New Jersey, US, has installed the AutoPulse Non-Invasive Cardiac Support Pump to provide resuscitation capabilities for its emergency department. The...
Sugar Does Not Relieve Baby Pain
Feeding sugar to newborn babies during painful hospital procedures may not relieve pain, according to a new study by researchers at the University of London, UK. Babies in hospitals...
Miniature Pump Developed to Improve Microneedle Drug Delivery
Researchers at Purdue University, Indiana, US, have developed a miniature pump to be used with microneedle drug-delivery patches, which will improve the delivery of medication into the...
BRIC Medical Devices Market Exceeds $10bn
The medical devices market in Brazil, Russia, India and China is worth about $10.8bn, according to a marketresearch.com report. The report, 'The Market for Medical Devices in Brazil,...
Atrial Fibrillation Hospital Admissions Rise by 75% in Australia
Hospital admissions in Australia related to atrial fibrillation increased by almost 75% in ten years, according to a study by cardiology researchers. Atrial fibrillation is a heart...
New Device Helps Bilateral Hearing
An electronic device that requires one implant to improve bilateral hearing has been used in an operation at the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre (SOECIC) in the UK. To have...
Prometheus Introduces Crohn's Prognostic Test
Prometheus Laboratories has launched the first serogenetic test that can predict a patient's risk of developing Crohn's disease complications. Prometheus's Crohn's prognostic test uses...
LifePoint Hospitals Acquires SRHS
LifePoint Hospitals in Tennessee, US, has announced the acquisition of Sumner Regional Health Systems (SRHS) for $145m plus working capital. SRHS, which will be renamed HighPoint Health...
IBM to Standardise Patient Records in China
IBM will deploy its data management technology in a group of hospitals in southern Guangdong province in China, to standardise patient records and perform statistical analyses of...
Catholic Healthcare West Announces Successful Sepsis Prevention Initiative
Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) in the US has announced that its three-year "severe sepsis prevention initiative" has saved about 991 lives and reduced the inpatient mortality rate due to sepsis...
Researchers Develop MRI Technique to Record Moving Joints and Organs
Max Plank researchers from Göttingen have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that can capture live recordings of moving joints and organs. To develop the technique,...
Scientists Develop Rapid Neutrophils Isolating Device
Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have developed a new microfluidic device that can rapidly and accurately isolate neutrophils, an innovation that can help in...
Researchers Develop Plastic Microneedles That Could Help Diagnose Cancer
Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed plastic microneedles that can deliver nanoscale dyes known as quantum dots into the skin, an innovation that could help in...
Scientists Use Biosynthetic Corneas to Restore Eyesight
Scientists from Canada and Sweden have successfully used biosynthetic corneas to restore patients' eyesight in a human trial. The biosynthetic implants were developed using recombinant...
NHS Stomach Reduction Ops Rise Ten-Fold
The number of patients in NHS hospitals undergoing stomach reduction surgery for obesity has increased ten-fold since 2000, according to new research. The British Medical Journal reports...
US Hospitals Slow to Adopt Electronic Health Records
The adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in US hospitals is growing at a very slow rate, according to a study conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health. Researchers found...
August 2010
Top
Nuclear-Based Breast Imaging Exams Increase Cancer Risk
Nuclear-based breast imaging exams such as single breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) or positron emission mammography (PEM) may increase a woman's risk of developing radiation-induced...
US Hospital Performs World's First Sensor-Assisted Knee Surgery
Surgeons at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, US, have performed the world's first sensor-assisted knee surgery, in collaboration with OrthoSensor. The new technology...
Taiwanese Researchers Develop Pen-Sized Sterilisation Device
Researchers from National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan, have developed a pen-sized device that can sterilise medical instruments and wounds. The device works on the principle of...
NHS Complaints Rise by Record Rate
NHS hospitals and community services in England received more than 100,000 complaints during 2009 and 2010. The data collected by the NHS Information Centre shows a 13.4% increase from...
Kindred Healthcare to Buy Five US Hospitals
US-based Kindred Healthcare has announced that its subsidiaries have made a definitive agreement to acquire five long-term acute care hospitals in California and three nursing and...
ConvaTec's Continence Control Device Receives EU Approval
ConvaTec's Vitala continence control device has been granted the CE mark for 12-hour daily use with a convex skin barrier. Vitala is a pouchless and non-invasive device that provides...
Maryland Hospital Installs First Medication Tracker in US
The first automated tracking and "chain-of-custody" system for medications has been installed in the US at the University of Maryland Medical Center. Aethon's MedEx System acts as...
Researchers Develop LED-Based Diagnostic Device
Arizona State University researchers have developed a diagnostic device that uses LEDs and microelectronic amplifiers to detect diseases. Integrascope can analyse patient fluid samples...
US Hospital Announces Full Hand Transplant Programme
Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, US, has announced plans to offer full hand transplants as part of an experimental programme. Patients facing dominant of double hand amputation will...
Sirtex's Colorectal Cancer Microspheres Prove Effective
Sirtex has announced that its radioactive yttrium-90-labelled resin microspheres appear to be a safe and effective treatment for patients with colorectal cancer liver metastases who have...
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust Told to Improve Patient Safety
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been asked to make improvements in several areas, including protecting patients from abuse. The Care Quality Commission (CQC), an...
Researchers Develop Construct That Prolongs the Life of Implants
Researchers from the University of Louisville / Jewish Hospital Cardiovascular Innovation Institute have developed a microvascular construct that can prolong the life of implanted...
Genetic Test Could Herald TB Breakthrough
Scientists are getting closer to developing a genetic blood test that could determine whether a patient carrying latent form tuberculosis (TB) will develop full-blown TB. Researchers compared...
South African Strike Affects Emergency Medical Services
A strike by one million civil servants in South Africa that began on 18 August has affected emergency medical services. Armed security forces have been deployed outside 37 hospitals in...
Turner Awarded Contract to Upgrade US Children's Hospital
Turner Construction Company has been awarded a $72m contract to modernise St Mary's Hospital for Children in New York, US. The project will include a five-storey, 90,000ft² expansion...
CTC Effective at Detecting Extracolonic Lesions
Computed tomography colonography (CTC) doubles the detection rate of lesions outside of the colon, according to a study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. CTC is an emerging...
OJ-Bio to Develop Rapid Chlamydia Detection Device
Researchers at OJ-Bio are developing a portable wireless device that can rapidly detect sexually transmitted diseases such as chlamydia. The handheld device will identify the protein markers...
Canadian Children's Hospital Granted C$995m for Expansion
Sainte-Justine children's hospital in Montreal, Canada, is to receive C$995m to upgrade and expand its facilities. About C$925m will be invested by the Quebec Government and C$70m will...
Beijing Goodwill and IBM Partner to Improve Cardiovascular Disease Detection
Beijing Goodwill and IBM have announced the launch of an all-in-one electronic cardiogram management system in China, which will help doctors to detect and manage cardiovascular diseases. ...
Researchers Develop Protein Coating That Improves Implant Adhesion
Researchers from Georgia Tech Institute of Technology in the US have developed a coating that can strengthen the bond between titanium joint replacement implants and a patient's bone. The...
Scientists to Develop Foetal Surveillance System
Scientists from the University of Ulster, Queen's University Hospital and the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital are developing a foetal surveillance system to alert doctors if a baby is at risk...
Only Half of English Hospital Trusts Have a Chaperone Policy
Only half of acute hospital trusts in England have a formal chaperone policy despite the recommendations of a public inquiry, according to research published in Postgraduate Medical...
Gender-Specific Knee Implants No Better Than Standard Prostheses
Gender-specific total knee prostheses do not offer women any clinical benefits when compared with standard prostheses, according to a recent study in Bone and Joint Surgery. The study analysed...
Catheter Removal Reminders Could Halve Urinary Tract Infections
Reminding hospital staff to remove catheters could reduce the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 52%, according to a study by University of Michigan researchers. ...
Operation Cancellations on the Rise in Ireland
Almost 18,000 hospital operations were cancelled in Ireland in 2009, a 10% increase from the previous year, according to Fine Gael health spokesman Dr James Reilly. The Health Service...
Eight Die While Doctors Strike in Flood-Hit Pakistan
Eight people have died in Pakistan's flood-affected Muzaffargarh district, after hospital doctors went on strike on 18 August. Doctors and paramedics at the district headquarters hospital...
Brain Cooling System Could Reduce Brain Damage
A portable system that cools the brain via the nasal cavity could increase the survival rate of people who have had a heart attack, according to a study. The RhinoChill Intra-Nasal Cooling...
Researchers Develop One-Hour Meningitis Test
Researchers in Northern Ireland have developed a groundbreaking test for meningococcal meningitis that can detect the disease in one hour. Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), uses...
Laser Discovery Could Lead to New Pacemakers
Scientists have found that pulsed light from a laser can be used to pace contractions in an avian embryonic heart, a discovery that could lead to a new generation of pacemakers. Pulsed...
Balloon Implant Could Prevent Prostate Cancer Treatment Side Effects
Scientists have developed a balloon implant that can prevent incontinence, impotence and loss of libido associated with prostate cancer treatment. Prostate cancer treatment, which...
US Hospitals Spend $83bn on Diabetic Patients in One Year
US hospitals spent $83bn caring for diabetic patients in 2008, according to an analysis by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The amount accounts for 23% of total...
Southampton Nears Single-Sex Accommodation Target
Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (SUHT) in England has announced that 99% of its hospital beds are on single-sex wards. SUHT manages Southampton General Hospital, Princess...
Mixed-Sex Wards to be Eliminated in English Hospitals
UK Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is planning to announce the end of mixed-sex wards in English hospitals. Only accident and emergency and intensive care units will be allowed to...
Researchers Develop Implantable Silk Metamaterials
Researchers at the Tufts Univers