Groupon for medical care is symptomatic of our broken system
Emory University medical fellow Dr. Nicole Herbst was shocked when she saw three patients who came in with abnormal results from chest CT scans they had bought on Groupon. Yes, Groupon — the online coupon mecca that also sells discounted fitness classes and foosball tables. Similar deals have shown up for various lung, heart and full-body scans across Atlanta, […]Find jobs at  Careers by KevinMD.com.  Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.  Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 13, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/lauren-weber" rel="tag" > Lauren Weber < /a > < /span > Tags: Policy Public Health & Source Type: blogs

Intervene Immune Publishes Thymus Regrowth Trial Results
Intervene Immune is the company formed to commercialize the methology for regrowth of thymic tissue used in the small TRIIM (Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) trial, a combination of growth hormone, DHEA, and metformin. As I've noted in the past, that the approach involves the use of human growth hormone over an extended period of time makes it less desirable as an intervention, but if one can gain an expectation of some thymic regeneration, leading to an extended improvement in immune function that lasts for years beyond the treatment period, then it might be worth the trade-off. In general, ...
Source: Fight Aging! - September 9, 2019 Category: Research Authors: Reason Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs

Injectable Hydrogel for Transcatheter Intravascular Embolization: Interview with Dr. Rahmi Oklu, Founder of Obsidio
Obsidio Inc., a medical device company based in Columbia, South Carolina, has developed an embolic hydrogel (called a gel embolic material: GEM) designed to be delivered minimally invasively through a clinical catheter for blood vessel occlusion. Applications include controlling blood flow in vascular injuries and aneurysms, reducing tumor blood supply, and preventing abnormal blood flow between arteries and veins, such as arteriovenous malformations. Currently, the gold standard treatment in terms of transcatheter embolization involves delivering multiple metal coils into a blood vessel, which works by promoting coagul...
Source: Medgadget - September 6, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Cardiac Surgery Exclusive Neurosurgery Oncology Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs

Echo quiz – Cardiology MCQ
Echo quiz – Cardiology MCQ The image is of: Echocardiogram in calcific mitral stenosis CT scan in aortic stenosis Bicuspid aortic valve on echocardiogram MR image of aortic valve Click here for the answer and discussion (Source: Cardiophile MD)
Source: Cardiophile MD - September 6, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Prof. Dr. Johnson Francis Tags: Cardiology MCQ DM / DNB Cardiology Entrance Echocardiogram Library Echocardiography Source Type: blogs

What is the differential of this very unusual ECG?
Take a look at this ECG first without clinical context:What do you think?There is sinus bradycardia with very unusual shortened QT interval (approximately 400 ms), for a QTc (Bazett) 358 ms. The T-waves have high amplitude and narrow bases, reminiscent of hyperkalemia, maybe also with hypercalcemia. The T-waves are not bulky or fat, and are therefore not hyperacute regardless of their amplitude.Short QTc is rare, but has been described as less than 360 ms for males and less than 370 ms for females. Furthermore, less than 330 ms (males) or less than 340 ms (females) can be termed " very short QTc " and, in the absence of re...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - September 1, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs

Robotic Guidewire to Clear Stroke Clots, Deliver Therapies Inside Brain
Endovascular procedures have drastically improved the available therapy options for a number of diseases and conditions. Catheters can now be navigated deep into the body, including the brain, but there’s still room for improvement to traverse particularly tortuous vascular anatomy. These days, most guidewires that are used to make the initial journey through the vasculature are pretty dumb. They can be rotated and pushed, and that’s about it, which can be pretty frustrating for the physicians who have to use them to get through three-dimensional mazes. There are externally steerable systems out there, such ...
Source: Medgadget - August 29, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Neurology Neurosurgery Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs

The costly decision of delaying surgery
It was a common enough reason for someone to have a CT scan. The order read, “Abdominal pain, colon cancer resected in January.” It was now March, only two months post-surgery. Yet the patient’s CT scan showed a number of large masses in the liver, consistent with metastatic cancer. I compared the current study to […]Find jobs at  Careers by KevinMD.com.  Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.  Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - August 29, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/cullen-ruff" rel="tag" > Cullen Ruff, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Conditions Oncology/Hematology Radiology Source Type: blogs

A young woman with altered mental status and hypotension
Written by Pendell MeyersI texted this Prehospital ECG with no clinical information to Dr. Smith.What do you think?Dr. Smith texted back " Pulmonary Embolism " within seconds.Here is the clinical information:A woman in her 30s with no known past medical history presented by ambulance for altered mental status and syncope. She was delirious, ill-appearing, hypotensive, tachycardic, afebrile, satting 99% on 2L/min masal cannula.Sinus tachycardiaAcute RV strain pattern evidenced by the morphology of the QRS and T-wave in V1-V3, including small-moderate R-wave followed by deep S-wave, then concave ST segment into whole T-wave ...
Source: Dr. Smith's ECG Blog - August 6, 2019 Category: Cardiology Authors: Pendell Source Type: blogs

Back Brace Simulator Uses 3D Prints of Patient Spine and Rib Cage
The development of innovative back braces has stagnated a bit. In part, this is because different patients have unique needs and there isn’t a comprehensive platform to test how new braces will help support different anatomies. Now, a team of engineers at Lancaster University in the U.K. has developed a torso simulator that can help researchers to design new back braces that are perfectly tuned to the needs of different people. The device mimics a male torso, including its mechanical characteristics, and the spine and rib cage are 3D printed from CT scans of actual patients. This gives the device the ability to...
Source: Medgadget - August 6, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Orthopedic Surgery Rehab Source Type: blogs

World ’s First PET/SPECT Scanner Developed Using Compton Camera
Nuclear medicine relies on two imaging modalities to assess internal function and diagnose disease. Positron emission tomography (PET) typically uses fluorine-18, a radiotracer that releases positrons, and a special scanner to detect the resulting gamma rays. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is similar, but usually depends on injecting the technetium-99m radioisotope and a gamma camera to detect where it goes in the body. Each modality has its benefits and drawbacks, and comparisons between the two may provide interesting insights and clinical consequences for nuclear medicine. However, it is currently im...
Source: Medgadget - August 6, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Nuclear Medicine Radiology Source Type: blogs

The Impact Of Digital Health Technologies On The Future of Medical Specialties In One Infographic
Will digital assistants prescribe medication, will smart algorithms diagnose patients with malignant lesions based on CT scans, while robot surgeons do the dirty work in the OR 20 years from now, ousting doctors completely? Highly unlikely, but there are many fears around the advancement of digital health technology up to a point of medical professionals becoming superfluous. While we believe that fears about technology, especially A.I., replacing physicians are unfounded, we should acknowledge the impact of fast-paced innovation happening in healthcare on the various medical specialties. That’s what our latest infograph...
Source: The Medical Futurist - August 6, 2019 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Future of Medicine Medical Professionals digital digital health doctor impact infographic infographics Innovation medical specialties medical specialty nurse physician technology Source Type: blogs

Self-Powered Microrobots Deliver Drugs to Tumors in the Gut
Treating tumors within the GI system is often a difficult challenge, frequently requiring invasive surgery. Scientists at Caltech have now developed self-propelled microrobots that can deliver drugs to precise spots within the intestines, and that can let clinicians monitor and control their activity. Besides drug delivery, the microrobots have the potential to be used in microsurgeries in difficult to reach parts of the body. The microrobots are tiny spheres of magnesium coated with a drug, gold, and parylene, a polymer that doesn’t break down within the GI tract. They’re also encapsulated within paraffin w...
Source: Medgadget - July 26, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: GI Materials Medicine Nanomedicine Oncology Source Type: blogs

3D Printed Titanium Implants for Severe Spinal Deformities
Most medical implants are manufactured in quantity to cover large groups of people suffering from specific diseases. Those with rare conditions are often left out, but 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, now allows for the production of bespoke devices designed exclusively for individual patients. While 3D printing technology has advanced significantly over the past few decades, significant clinical and legal challenges exist that prevent its wider adoption in many spheres of medicine. A diverse group of engineers, surgeons, and regulatory experts have been working together at the University Medical Cente...
Source: Medgadget - July 26, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Orthopedic Surgery Radiology Source Type: blogs

Doctors, listen up! You ’ll be a patient soon.
As I age, the probability of acquiring yet another health condition seems to, unfortunately, increase. There’s always one test or another that is on my to-do list, be it bloodwork, X-ray, MRI, or maybe a CT scan thrown in for good measure. I comply usually with a sense that it is for the benefit of […]Find jobs at  Careers by KevinMD.com.  Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.  Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 20, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/michele-luckenbaugh" rel="tag" > Michele Luckenbaugh < /a > < /span > Tags: Patient Patients Primary Care Source Type: blogs

Kidney stones: What are your treatment options?
If you’ve been diagnosed with kidney stones (urolithiasis), you may have several options for treatment. These include medical therapy, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL), and ureteroscopy. A brief anatomy of the urinary tract The urinary tract includes kidneys (two organs that filter waste and extra water from the blood) ureters (two tubes bringing urine from each kidney to the bladder) bladder (organ that collects urine) urethra (a single tube through which urine in the bladder passes out of the body). The evaluation for kidney stones If your symptoms suggest kidney sto...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - July 18, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Kevin R. Loughlin, MD, MBA Tags: Kidney and urinary tract Men's Health Women's Health Source Type: blogs