Radio Frequency Is Used In Florida Hospitals To Detect Missed Surgical Objects Inside Patients.

Radio frequency (RF) detection technology is used for the first time in Good Samaritan Medical Center and West Boca Medical Center in the operation rooms to prevent missing any foreign items my mistake inside the patient during the surgery.
Good Samaritan and West Boca are conducting the RF Surgical Detection System from Bellevue, Wash.-based RF Surgical Systems as an assistant to the standard practice of manual counting to improve the patient safety in all conditions at the surgical operations.
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Radio Frequency Is Used In Florida Hospitals To Detect Missed Surgical Objects Inside Patients

50% Of Females Over 40 In US Get Annual Mammography Scans, Study.

According to a new study, 50% only of the females over the age of 40 in the US undergo annual mammography scans for early detection of breast cancer, even if their health insurance is covering the procedure. The study was discussed at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which took place earlier this month.
The research team reviewed database of around 12 million individuals to check medical claims in the period from January 2006 to December 2009. The females involved in the study had the mammography procedure covered by Medicare or employer-provided insurance. Researchers mentioned that only 50% of females between 40 and 85 had a mammography scan in any given year and 60% only underwent two or more mammograms during a period of 4 years. It was also mentioned that the average rates of annual mammography screening were 47% for females between 40-49 and 54% for those at the age between 50-65, it was also reported that the rate was 45% for females at 65 and older. Although researchers did not check why many females did not go for mammography screening, they said that a number of theories may explain that, such as lack of mammography screening center, discomfort with the procedure, or general non-compliance.

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50% Of Females Over 40 In US Get Annual Mammography Scans, Study.

Negative Lung Cancer Screening Means Less Intention To Stop Smoking, Study.

It has been discovered lately that men who undergo screening and have negative results for lung cancer are not trying to give up smoking more than those predicted to have lung cancer and need follow up, according to a Dutch study.


A US study recommended screening of the lungs of heavy smokers with special type of CT scanner, which can help the detection of the cancer in its early stages and reduce its risk of dying from the disease by 20% better than using the ordinary X-ray.

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Negative Lung Cancer Screening Means Less Intention To Stop Smoking, Study.

Transvaginal Ultrasound Is Useful For Detecting Endometrial Cancer, Study

According to a study, from the University College London, Transvaginal ultrasound features high specificity and sensitivity for diagnosing endometrial cancer. The researchers discovered that transvaginal ultrasound is useful for high-risk groups prone to endometrial cancer and especially in the management of postmenopausal females subjecting to pelvic scans for causes different from vaginal bleeding.

The most common gynecological cancer in Europe is endometrial cancer, and in many northern and western European countries it has a rising occurrence in postmenopausal females. Overall occurrence of endometrial cancer in the U.K increased from 13.5 per 100,000 in 1993 to 17.9 per 100,000 in 2005.
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Transvaginal Ultrasound Is Useful For Detecting Endometrial Cancer, Study

Nordion Ships The First Mo-99 Sample From Russia.

Nordion Inc., a major company providing services and products to healthcare market across the world, announced that the first sample of its Molybdenum-99 (Mo-99) has been shipped from "Isotope", Nordion’s partner in Russia. Mo-99 and other Medical isotopes are used by a wide range of hospitals and healthcare facilities in order to diagnose and treat several medical conditions, such as cardiac and neurological disorders in addition to several forms of cancer.
Back in September, Nordion and Isotope made a supply agreement for Mo-99 that extends until 2020. The recently-shipped sample will be evaluated at Nordion’s facility in Ottawa, Canada. The assessment is taking place in order to get product registration and regulatory approvals before allowing Nordion to start supplying the medical isotope in the Canadian markets.

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Nordion Ships The First Mo-99 Sample From Russia.

New York Times Reported Uncomfortable Questions On Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines.

According to New York Times, debates have been taking place since the release of breast cancer screening recommendations over than one year ago; it was reported that there are still "lingering, uncomfortable questions about when and how often to undergo breast cancer screenings, and how to balance the benefits of early diagnosis with the harms of mammography”.

New guidelines were released by the U.S Preventive Services Task Force in November 2009, mentioning that females with an average risk of breast cancer should start imaging for the disease at age 50 other than females at age 40. The panel recommendations mentioned that the decision to begin imaging every two years "should be an individual one" that "takes patient context into account, including the patient's values regarding the specific benefits and harms."
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New York Times Reported Uncomfortable Questions On Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines.

EMRs Do Not Always Mean Higher Quality Of Care, Study.

A new research, published this week in the American Journal of Managed Care, found that the adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) in U.S. hospitals has limited effect on the quality of care.


The researchers at the nonprofit Rand analyzed the quality of care at 2,021 hospitals between 2003 and 2007 across three conditions: pneumonia, heart attack, and heart failure. The number of hospitals using either basic or advanced EMRs grew from 24 % in 2003 to 38 % in 2006.

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EMRs Do Not Always Mean Higher Quality Of Care, Study.

Texas Breast Specialists Practice Awarded The ACR’s Breast Imaging Centre of Excellence.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) has awarded Texas Breast Specialists, a related practice of Texas Oncology-Amarillo Cancer Center, the status of a “Breast Imaging Center of Excellence.”
Texas Specialists is considered to have the most developed breast screening equipment and the best diagnostic services in Amarillo. The practice provides all the screening techniques that can detect breast cancer in an earlier stage when the treatment is more effective, among these techniques, the digital screening and diagnostic mammography, breast-specific gamma imaging, breast ultrasound, stereotactic and ultrasound-guided needle and vacuum probe breast biopsies, ductography, and second opinion consultations.

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 Texas Breast Specialists Practice Awarded The ACR’s Breast Imaging Center of Excellence.

iSoft Signs An Agreement With CliniWorks For Worldwide Distribution Of AccelFind.

iSoft, a leading Australian company providing healthcare IT solutions, announced that it has signed a new agreement with CliniWorks, a US-based healthcare IT marketing company, in order to distribute iSoft’s AccelFind software to hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the world.
AccelFind allows its users to extract medical knowledge from any form or type of data. The knowledge can be obtained from sources such as free text notes, discharge summaries or other forms of data such as those available in electronic medical records (EMR). The recently-signed agreement will include iSoft offering its AccelFind among its Life Sciences solution, and it will provided under the ‘Powered by CliniWorks’ banner.

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iSoft Signs An Agreement With CliniWorks For Worldwide Distribution Of AccelFind.

Philips Cooperates With German Partners To Improve MPI Technology.

Royal Philips Electronics, a major company providing medical imaging systems, has recently announced the beginning of a new German public-private partnership, which aims to improve the developments currently taking place in whole-body Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) systems, along with the preclinical hybrid systems that use a combination of MPI and the traditional MRI scans.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research committed to offer a fund of EUR 10.6 million to the consortium partners, and the total budget will be EUR 20.3 million. Philips aims to strengthen its position as a leading provider of the latest medical imaging systems. Therefore, the company is contributing the researches carried out to develop MPI; the imaging technique was designed by scientists at Philips.
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Philips Cooperates With German Partners To Improve MPI Technology.