Mammograms May Detect More Than Breast Cancer

New study finds calcium deposits in breast tissue can predict calcium in arteries, a known risk factor for heart disease. Mammograms are widely and often successfully used to detect breast cancer, the second leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women. Now, new research published in the journal JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging suggests it can help protect against an even bigger...

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2 New Cancer Therapies That Might Help Patients 'Live Again'

Cancer can be devastating to the individuals and families it affects. The disease alters patients' routines, roles, and relationships with others. Luckily, in the age of cancer research, millions more Americans are surviving the horrible disease, showing that you can live with cancer rather than die from it. In Big Think's latest video, 2 New Cancer Treatments That Give Patients...

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Federal officials, advocates push pill-tracking databases

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's top health officials are stepping up calls to require doctors to log in to pill-tracking databases before prescribing painkillers and other high-risk drugs. The move is part of a multi-pronged strategy by the Obama administration to tame an epidemic of abuse and death tied to opioid painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin. But physician groups...

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Ransomware hackers take aim at Kentucky hospital

A Kentucky hospital is operating in an internal state of emergency following an attack by cybercriminals on its computer network, Krebs on Security reported. Methodist Hospital, based in Henderson, Kentucky, is the victim of a ransomware attack in which hackers infiltrated its computer network, encrypted files and are now holding the data hostage, Krebs reported Tuesday....

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GM mosquitoes could block spread of Zika in Florida

Genetically modified mosquitoes could be released in Florida to block the spread of the Zika virus after the FDA confirmed they would cause "no significant threat to the environment". The OX513A mosquito -- or Aedes aegypti -- is modified by British bioengineering company Oxitec, and has been approved following evaluation by the FDA on potential health and environmental impacts....

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This tech tricks your brain into hearing surround sound

Ambidio wants to give stereo sound a virtual makeover. The Los Angeles-based startup, which has secured investment from Horizons Ventures and will.i.am, has developed a proprietary encoding technology that it claims can turn stereo speakers into surround sound. Laptops, mobile phones, tablets and even high-end hi-fi systems all work with the process. For best experience, the...

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Google Joins Effort to Stop Zika Virus Spread

Google last week announced it would contribute US$1 million to the UN Children's Fund to support the global fight against the mosquito-borne Zika virus. A team of Google engineers has volunteered to work with UNICEF to analyze data in an effort to figure out the viral infection's path. It also will match employee donations with the goal of giving an extra $500,000 to UNICEF...

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Obama Pushes Plan to Cut Medicare Drug Payments

WASHINGTON—The Obama administration is proposing a test program to see if lowering reimbursements for drugs administered by some Medicare doctors would prompt them to choose lower-cost, but equally effective, medications. The development could lead to an overhaul of reimbursements under Medicare Part B, a program that pays about $19 billion a year to providers—and is outlined...

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Fingertip surgery

A stretchable electronic sensor may replace the scalpel and other operating room tools for some surgical procedures. It lets physicians feel electronic activity and slice tissue with their fingertips. Futuristicnews.com reports that researchers at the University of Illinois, Northwestern University and Dalian (China) University of Technology changed hard semiconductors into...

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A health check chair

Checking health signs such as blood pressure, temperature and mobility usually involves multiple tests and can be time-consuming. A chair developed by Sharp is equipped with multiple sensors that can measure a user’s vital signs all at once and save the data to the cloud for physicians to reference. Sharp designed the chair for patients to use at home and is considering adding...

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The orderly robot

The UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay now has a fleet of about two dozen Tug robots delivering drugs, linens and meals and carting away medical waste, soiled linens and trash, reports Josh Valcarcel in Wired magazine. Twenty-seven infrared and ultrasonic sensors enable the robots to avoid bumping into people or blocking their paths. They stand back from elevators and...

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Battery-powered germ-killers

As the number of joint replacement surgeries grows, so do concerns about the complications of infection from antibiotic-resistant superbugs. Biomedical engineers from the North Carolina State University Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering are developing nanotechnology built directly into orthopedic implants. A battery-activated device powers an army of microscopic...

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Press-and-print body parts

Last year, Cornell University scientists used a 3-D printer to produce an artificial ear that, according to Randy Reiland’s January 2014 report in Smithsonian.com, “looks and works like the real thing.” Reiland notes that researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have bioprinted blood vessels; their counterparts at Wake Forest...

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Google glass aids trauma care

Trauma surgeons at the Forbes Hospital Trauma Center near Pittsburgh are testing Google Glass technology using a software called VIZR, Visual Info Zonal Reminder. Google Glass is a wearable technology with an optical head-mounted display that provides information in a smartphone-like, hands-free format. Wearers communicate with the Internet via natural language voice command....

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The Medical Technologies That Are Changing Health Care

New, eye-popping medical technology provides earlier diagnoses, personalized treatments and a breathtaking range of other benefits for both patients and health care professionals.Not long ago, people started wearing wristbands that recorded the number of steps they took, their heart rates and sleep cycles. But if the now-ubiquitous bands and accompanying apps that stored...

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Plane Toilet Can Kill Germs In Three Seconds

Boeing has developed an aeroplane bathroom that can automatically kill 99.9% of bacteria. The moment someone exits the bathroom, ultraviolet (UV) lights sanitise all surfaces in just three seconds. The toilet seat even automatically lifts so that the light can hit hard-to-reach areas. Given that the flush button alone has more than 250 colony-forming units of bacteria per...

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Verisante Technology Receives Purchase Order for Aura, a Revolutionary Medical Device for the Detection of Skin Cancer

Cancer detection technology specialist, Verisante Technology has confirmed that the company has won new purchase orders for Verisante Aura from the company's exclusive distributors in Canada and Europe. According to the company, Aura is the only device that can detect all major types of skin cancer and the only device that has been developed by a government cancer agency and a leading university dermatology department. Developed by a team of leading...

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Penn State Hershey Medical Center Selects Avantas Technology for Automated Labor Management System

Avantas recently announced that it’s consulting services and Smart Square proprietary labor management software has been selected by Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Using the company’s technology offerings, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center will create an automated labor management system. In a statement, Sherry Kwater, Chief Nursing Officer, Penn State Hershe, said that, "When we chose Avantas as a partner, our objective...

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Wanda and Dignity Health Combine Efforts on Collaborative Platform for Cancer Treatment

Wanda and Dignity Health recently launched OncoVerse, a decision-support platform that facilitates collaboration in the treatment of cancer patients. Its designers seek to make the process of defining a course of treatment more efficient, and ensure that all members of the team involved in treatment are on the same page. San Francisco-based Wanda, Inc. is a NetScientific Inc. portfolio company that develops remote monitoring healthcare analytics...

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