The Pacey Cuff Urethral Control Device: Interview with CEO and a Practicing Urologist
Pacey Medtech, based in Vancouver, Canada, has developed the Pacey Cuff, a urethral control device for urinary incontinence in men, post-prostate cancer treatment. Treating prostate cancer can sometimes lead to urinary incontinence, which can have significant consequences for patient confidence and comfort. The psychological impact of incontinence can be enormous, and can affect people’s ability to work and socialize.
The Pacey Cuff has been proposed as a solution to the issue. It fits around the penis, and applies pressure to the urethra to prevent urine leakage. However, what makes the device different from traditional...
Source: Medgadget - October 18, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Conn Hastings Tags: Exclusive Rehab Urology Source Type: blogs
HOW TO Support Patient Education Through Technologies?
There’s nothing new about an information-savvy patient. The novelty is the array of digital technologies and internet-based communication tools aiming at appeasing that appetite beyond just asking doctors for advice. How could medical professionals help their patients understand the most possible about diseases, drugs, treatments and alternative care with the help of innovative means? Here’s our overview.
Like it or not, patients google symptoms
One of the most visible consequences of digital health is the change in the relationship between patients and doctors. The latter are not the exclusive source of medical inform...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 2, 2018 Category: Information Technology Authors: nora Tags: Empowered Patients From Chance to Choice Healthcare Design Medical Professionals Social media in Healthcare communication digital digital health doctor-patient doctor-patient relationship future health communication patient educati Source Type: blogs
The Abscopal Effect
In the waning years of my career as a Nuclear Radiologist, I have become somewhat more jaded than I was as a younger doc. When you see cancer and other diseases fifty times a day, sometimes getting better, sometimes getting worse, that ' s bound to happen. Of course, I ' m far prefer reporting improvement, but relapses are also part of this job. The oncologists wander into the reading room every few minutes, or so it seems, anyway, to look at their patients ' scans (the gantry is generally still warm). If the news is bad, I will tell them in all honesty that I admire the strength it will take to deliver the bad news. On th...
Source: Dalai's PACS Blog - August 19, 2018 Category: Radiology Source Type: blogs
Artificial Intelligence Optimizes Chemo and Radiotherapy to Treat Glioblastomas
Patients with glioblastoma, a persistent and difficult to treat brain cancer, often end up suffering through multiple rounds of chemo and radiation therapy. Scientists at MIT have been working on harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to better optimize the therapy dosages, sparing the patients the brunt of the treatments while maintaining their clinical effectiveness.
Their software, which uses a technique called reinforced learning, assesses different data points about a given patient, and uses information obtained from thousand of previous similar cases to produce a treatment plan that is better optimized than ...
Source: Medgadget - August 13, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Informatics Neurology Oncology Source Type: blogs
Truth or Lie? I Wish I Knew
The story began a year ago, as did my divorce, but I will try my best to explain my relationship with Blake Chadick (name changed slightly), as it was a major impact on me this past year, waiting for my divorce to be finalized. I realize my blog is reading backwards at the moment, but should only be several entries or so.First of all, he ' s married. He said his wife Melissa was very sick from the radiation treatment she received when she had colon (among other) cancers in 2011. She slept half of the day, was in the the bathroom for the other half, and had a medication the constipated her for about 2 hour...
Source: bipolar.and.me - August 13, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Source Type: blogs
Truth or Lie? I Wish I Knew
The story began a year ago, as did my divorce, but I will try my best to explain my relationship with Blake Chadick, as it was a major impact on me this past year, waiting for my divorce to be finalized. I realize my blog is reading backwards at the moment, but should only be several entries or so.First of all, he ' s married. He said his wife Melissa was very sick from the radiation treatment she received when she had colon (among other) cancers in 2011. She slept half of the day, was in the the bathroom for the other half, and had a medication the constipated her for about 2 hours a day so she could be ...
Source: bipolar.and.me - August 13, 2018 Category: Psychiatry Tags: @drinkbodyarmor @mamacof3 anxiety betrayal blake chadick depression lies Source Type: blogs
How Can We Better Educate Patients About Their Imaging Procedures?
Although radiologists have been working toward strengthening patient communication in recent years, there exists a weak spot in relaying procedural information. According to a studypublished inRadiology, 22 percent of patients don ’t receive pre-examination information for their radiology exams." This means one in five people are showing up for the exam without any information about the test they are getting, " saidJay K. Pahade, MD, the study ’s lead author in a Radiological Society of North America press release. " This is an important finding in today ' s health care system, where we want more patient engagement...
Source: radRounds - June 1, 2018 Category: Radiology Authors: Julie Morse Source Type: blogs
IBM Watson Artificial Intelligence System for Cancer Care: Interview with Elekta ’s Andrew Wilson
Elekta, the big name in radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and oncology informatics that’s based in Sweden, recently partnered with IBM to offer the Watson for Oncology artificial intelligence (AI) platform along with its MOSAIQ Oncology Information System and other cancer care solutions. According to Richard Hausmann, the CEO of Elekta, it is “the first radiation therapy company to offer capabilities that combine conventional health information systems with artificial intelligence and cognitive cloud computing.” The hope is to introduce AI in a meaningful way to treatment planning and delivery so as to improve ...
Source: Medgadget - April 13, 2018 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Editors Tags: Exclusive Informatics Oncology Radiation Oncology Radiology Source Type: blogs
A mix of treatments may extend life for men with aggressive prostate cancer
For men diagnosed with aggressive cancer that’s confined to the prostate and nearby tissues, the overarching goal of treatment is to keep the disease from spreading (or metastasizing) in the body. Doctors can treat these men with localized therapies, such as surgery and different types of radiation that target the prostate directly. And they can also give systemic treatments that kill off rogue cancer cells in the bloodstream. Hormonal therapy, for instance, is a systemic treatment that kills prostate cancer cells by depriving them of testosterone, which fuels their growth.
Now a new study shows that a mix of different t...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 31, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Cancer Men's Health Prostate Health Source Type: blogs
The Future of Value-Based Care Relies Upon Providers: Taking the Reins on Alternative Payment Models
By CHUCK SAUNDERS and NEAL SHORE, MD
2017 was a pivotal year for the growth of value-based care. For many practices, this meant completing their first performance year as part of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). A much smaller percentage of practices was able to participate in approved advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs).
While practices await feedback on their 2017 performance, early lessons have already become evident. Clearly, as practices are assigned greater responsibility and accountability for patient populations, it becomes increasingly important that they effectively navigate the reimburseme...
Source: The Health Care Blog - March 23, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: blogs
FDA approves new drug for men at high risk of prostate cancer spread
A newly approved drug called apalutamide is giving hope to thousands of men confronting a tenacious problem after being treated for prostate cancer. Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels should plummet to zero after surgery, and to near zero after radiation therapy, but in some men, they continue rising even when there’s no other evidence of cancer in the body. Doctors typically respond to spiking PSA with drugs that block the production of testosterone, which is the male sex hormone that fuels prostate cancer. However, this type of medically induced castration, called hormonal therapy, doesn’t always reduce PSA. More...
Source: Harvard Health Blog - March 15, 2018 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Charlie Schmidt Tags: Cancer Health Men's Health Prostate Health Source Type: blogs
Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 229
LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog LITFL • Life in the Fast Lane Medical Blog - Emergency medicine and critical care medical education blog
Just when you thought your brain could unwind on a Friday, you realise that it would rather be challenged with some good old fashioned medical trivia FFFF…introducing Funtabulously Frivolous Friday Five 229 – musical medial conditions from http://www.songfacts.com.
Question 1
“I stare into
Some great abyss
And calculate
The things I’d miss
If I could only
Make some sense of this.”
Sheryl Crow is singing about her experience undergoing treatmen...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - March 9, 2018 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Neil Long Tags: Frivolous Friday Five ACDC breast cancer cardiac arrest gonorrhoea heart attack heroin Leonard Cohen Madness radiation song Sheryl Crow Spiderbite The Flaming Lips The Jack Source Type: blogs
New Treatment for Breast Cancer Could Help Some Women Avoid Surgery
Most women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer typically have surgery to remove the tumor, followed by three to six weeks of radiation. But there’s an exciting new development in breast cancer treatment – a first-of-its kind radiation therapy system for early stage cancers that may cut the number of treatments to only a few days.
And, one day, the inventors say, it might even eliminate the need for surgery altogether for some patients.
It’s called the GammaPod, invented by scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared the way for the Gam...
Source: Life in a Medical Center - February 20, 2018 Category: Universities & Medical Training Authors: UMMC Admin Tags: Cancer breast cancer cancer treatment Cedric X. Yu Elizabeth Nichols GammaPod UMMC Source Type: blogs
Trump Administration Releases Budget Proposal Calls for Increased Funding for Fighting Fraud and Abuse
The Trump Administration recently released its fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget proposal, including extensive health policy provisions.
The budget proposal features numerous program integrity provisions. For instance, the budget calls for: a $45 million increase in Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control funding; expanded prior authorization requirements for high utilization practitioners of radiation therapy, therapy services, advanced imaging, and anatomic pathology services; expansion of the items of DME, prosthetics and orthotics that are subject to prior authorization; a demonstration to test the use of a benefits manager fo...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 19, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Trump Administration Releases Budget Proposal Calls for Changes to Open Payments and Increased Funding for Fighting Fraud and Abuse
The Trump Administration recently released its fiscal year (FY) 2019 budget proposal, including extensive health policy provisions.
The budget proposal features numerous program integrity provisions. For instance, the budget calls for: a $45 million increase in Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control funding; expanded prior authorization requirements for high utilization practitioners of radiation therapy, therapy services, advanced imaging, and anatomic pathology services; expansion of the items of DME, prosthetics and orthotics that are subject to prior authorization; a demonstration to test the use of a benefits manager fo...
Source: Policy and Medicine - February 19, 2018 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
