Tech

Diffusion weighted MR can accurately identify benign from malignant pelvic lymph nodes in patients with gynecologic malignancy, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA. Diffusion weighted imaging is a noninvasive test that uses an MRI sequence sensitized to the motion of water molecules within tissue.

Manipulation of kVp (kilovoltage peak) and mAs (tube current flow) according to a patient's body shape may help reduce radiation doses in pediatric patients during CT, according to a study performed at the Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital in Cleveland, OH.

A new automated system designed for the interpretation of coronary CT angiography (CCTA), helps radiologists determine which cases are high priority and should be read first, according to a study performed at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA.

Using cardiac CT to diagnose low risk patients with chest pain is significantly cheaper—44% less than the standard of care—and can decrease the length of hospital stay up to 20 hours, according to a study performed at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA.

Preoperative MR can help surgeons limit nerve damage while performing a robotic assisted laparascopic prostatectomy (RALP)—saving some men from becoming impotent, according to a study performed at the University of California, Los Angeles, CA.

The popular Wii gaming remote may offer radiologists a fun, alternative method to using a standard mouse and keyboard to navigate through patient images, according to a study performed at the New-York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York, NY. The remote may also offer radiologists relief from repetitive motion injuries as a result of using a mouse and keyboard.

A research team from Northeastern University and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has discovered, serendipitously, that a residue of a process used to build arrays of titania nanotubes—a residue that wasn’t even noticed before this—plays an important role in improving the performance of the nanotubes in solar cells that produce hydrogen gas from water.

These days, chemical analysts are expected to track down even single molecules. To do this highly sensitive detective work, nano researchers have developed minute strings that resonate in characteristic fashion. If a molecule docks onto one of the strings, then it becomes heavier, and its oscillations become measurably slower. Until recently, however, such "nano-electromechanical systems", or NEMS, have been short of practical applications.

Copenhagen, Denmark, Thursday 23 April: The first identification of GP130 somatic activating mutations* in human tumours was announced today at EASL 2009, the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Liver Disease in Copenhagen, Denmark.

During these trying financial times, the cost of healthcare and how much we are willing to pay for it is at the top of our economic concerns. The financial value of pain has a wide ranging influence, affecting drug prices and injury compensation. But what about on an individual level — is it possible to place a value on our health, to prevent pain and suffering? University College London psychologists Ivo Vlaev and Nick Chater, and neuroscientists Ben Seymour and Raymond J. Dolan were interested in just how much money volunteers were willing to pay to avoid pain and discomfort.

In London, motorists pay a fee to drive into certain parts of the city during peak traffic hours, and the idea has been considered for implementation in New York as well. Now Dr. Itai Ater, an economist from Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Management, is suggesting that introducing "congestion pricing" at airports could save travellers time and airlines money.

BOULDER, Colo.-Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a technique for efficiently suppressing errors in quantum computers. The advance could eventually make it much easier to build useful versions of these potentially powerful but highly fragile machines, which theoretically could solve important problems that are intractable using today's computers.

A new study, led by Lucy Selman and colleagues from King's College London, has found that patients with incurable, progressive diseases and their family carers in sub-Saharan Africa often do not receive enough information about the patient's disease and its management, which impacts negatively on their ability to cope with illness. The results of the study have been published online by the BMJ today.

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have created lip-reading computers that can distinguish between different languages.

Computers that can read lips are already in development but this is the first time they have been 'taught' to recognise different languages. The discovery could have practical uses for deaf people, for law enforcement agencies, and in noisy environments.

Led by Stephen Cox and Jake Newman of UEA's School of Computing Sciences, the groundbreaking research will be presented at a major conference in Taiwan on Wednesday April 22.

GALVESTON, Texas — According to a study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, elderly Medicare recipients transitioning from outpatient to hospital settings were more likely to experience lapses in continuity of care in 2006 than 1996. The researchers ascribe part of the reduction in continuity of care to the increasing use of hospitalists, physicians who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients.