Archives: 2/2010
DMG America, a dental technology company out of Englewood, N.J., is selling a light cured infiltrant resin that is useful for treating early cavities. At the very early stage of tooth decay, before a formal, treatable cavity has developed, fluoride treatment is often used as prophylaxis. But after a certain level of tooth decay, fluoride will be of no use, yet drilling the tooth to treat the cavity is not merited either, since filling a cavity with this method destroys healthy tooth tissue, and it is uncertain whether the decay will continue to a point that requires treatment. Dentists at this stage usually wait to see how the tooth decay progresses, but the Icon system gives dentists another option and allows them either the ability to treat decay that they view as particularly vulnerable to progression or treat a patient who they view as not likely to practice healthy dental hygiene. The technology is also useful for the treatment of cariogenic white spot lesions.
From the press release:
“Icon represents a new category of dental products,” said Tim Haberstumpf, DMG America director of marketing. “It is the first product to bridge the gap between prevention (fluoride therapy) and caries restoration. Icon’s micro-invasive infiltration technology can be used to treat smooth surface and proximal carious lesions up to the first third of dentin (D-1). In just one patient visit, Icon can arrest the progression of early enamel lesions and remove white spot lesions.”
When a dentist discovers incipient caries that are beyond preventive therapies though too early for restorative treatment, Icon offers a simple alternative to the ‘wait and see’ approach. With Icon, the dentist can offer immediate treatment without unnecessary loss of healthy tooth structure. Icon prevents lesion progression and increases life expectancy for the tooth. Icon also provides a highly esthetic alternative to microabrasion and other restorative treatments for cariogenic white spot lesions. White spot lesions infiltrated by Icon take on the appearance of the surrounding healthy enamel.
Press Release: Introducing Icon…
Product Page: DMG Icon…
(hat tip: Gizmodo)
David Agus, professor of medicine at the University of Southern California and co-founder of personal genomics company Navigenics, spoke at last year’s TEDMED about the state of available cancer therapy treatments and how far they’ve come from fifty years ago. Turns out the progress made so far has not been very promising and Agus is calling for a new strategy in attacking this multifaceted disease.
Link: TEDMED…
A Message from Dr. Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief of British Medical Journal
by on Feb 8, 2010 • 12:00 am
Link…
Previously: A Message from Dr. Fiona Godlee, Editor-in-Chief of British Medical Journal; Global Warming Beliefs and The Hippocratic Oath: How BMJ Leadership Fails on Both; BMJ Urges Others, Fails to “Lead by Example” on Climate Change; Fionagate: An Illustrated, Interactive Website; Feet to the Fire: Responding to Dr. Godlee ; Carbon Footprint, or How to Spot Other People’s Garbage
The X Prize Foundation recently announced that it’s working on a new contest that will be offering $10 million to the winner to develop a breakthrough in brain-to-computer interface (BCI) technology. If the foundation comes up with adequate financing, it will be the same amount of buckaroos that they’ve been giving for advancements in commercial passenger space craft, automotive technology, DNA sequencing, and lunar travel. Although such BCI devices already kinda exist, they are functionally limited and don’t lend themselves well to practical, especially clinical use. It is not yet known what the requirements of the Brain-Computer Interface X PRIZE will be, but considering the prize amount it should spur development in the field.
Here’s a half hour video of Ray Kurzweil discussing the status and future of brain related technologies from the recent Singularity University sponsored workshop at MIT, where the idea for the BCI X Prize was presented.
Link: BCI X PRIZE – Igniting a Brain-Computer Interface Revolution…
St. Jude Medical has received the European CE Mark of approval for the Fortify and Fortify ST implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) and Unify cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator. The devices are smaller and can deliver a stronger punch than previous generation models, and they feature new heart monitoring algorithms.
These devices feature 40J of delivered energy (45J stored) – the highest energy level available in the industry – helping to ensure that therapy will be successful for those patients who require a higher energy shock for defibrillation.
Because of the devices’ narrower shape, physicians can implant them using a shorter incision, leading to less time spent closing the incision and a smaller scar for the patient. The company’s SJ4 lead connector system further streamlines the procedure by reducing the number of connections between the defibrillation lead and the device, which can improve patient comfort by reducing the bulk of wires in the patient’s chest.
The Unify CRT-D and Fortify ICD also incorporate the new CorVue(TM) pulmonary congestion monitoring algorithm. This new feature alerts physicians when a patient’s heart failure may be worsening, as evidenced by changes in electrical signals that can be correlated to increased congestion, or fluid retention, in the chest area. The algorithm continuously monitors fluid retention in multiple vectors, providing an accurate diagnostic and an alert designed to minimize false positives.
Both devices also have features that are designed to assist in the reduction of unnecessary shocks, including painless anti-tachycardia pacing, which can be used for fast ventricular arrhythmias prior to or while the device is preparing to deliver shock therapy, and other enhanced technology for reducing inappropriate therapy.
In addition to the family-wide features of the Unify and Fortify devices, the Fortify ST ICD features St. Jude Medical’s first-to-market ST segment monitoring diagnostic algorithm, which can add important information to assist in medical decision making and accelerate patient care. The Fortify ST ICD continuously monitors for specific changes in the ST segment of the electrocardiogram that can indicate the onset of serious conditions such as ischemia.
Press release: St. Jude Medical Announces European Approval of Smaller, Higher Power ICD and CRT-D Devices with New Heart Failure Monitors
New cancer targeting nanoparticles seem like daily news here at Medgadget. Today we have gold nanoparticles developed jointly by researchers at Rice University and A.V. Lykov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute in Minsk, Belarus that create plasmonic nanobubbles when targeted with a laser. These particles can be guided to a tumor by antibodies and then activated to generate tiny explosions, so clinicians one day will be able to stay back and enjoy.
The short-lived bubbles are very bright and can be made smaller or larger by varying the power of the laser. Because they are visible under a microscope, nanobubbles can be used to either diagnose sick cells or to track the explosions that are destroying them.
In laboratory studies published last year, Dmitri Lapotko and colleagues at the Laboratory for Laser Cytotechnologies at the A.V. Lykov Heat and Mass Transfer Institute in Minsk, Belarus, applied nanobubbles to arterial plaque. They found that they could blast right through the deposits that block arteries.
In the current study, Lapotko and Rice colleague Jason Hafner, associate professor of physics and astronomy and of chemistry, tested the approach on leukemia cells and cells from head and neck cancers. They attached antibodies to the nanoparticles so they would target only the cancer cells, and they found the technique was effective at locating and killing the cancer cells.
Lapotko said the nanobubble technology could be used for “theranostics,” a single process that combines diagnosis and therapy. In addition, because the cell-bursting nanobubbles also show up on microscopes in real time, Lapotko said the technique can be used for post-therapeutic assessment, or what physicians often refer to as “guidance.”
Press release: Rice physicists kill cancer with ‘nanobubbles’
More at Nanowerk: Plasmonic nanobubbles combine diagnosis and treatment in one theranostic method…
Abstract in Nanotechnology: Tunable plasmonic nanobubbles for cell theranostics
Image: Ajda Gregorcic
“Artificial Pancreas” Using Available Commercial Technology Shows Promise
by on Feb 5, 2010 • 10:40 am
Clinical researchers at Cambridge University have been testing the effectiveness of combining commercial continuous glucose monitors with insulin pumps via a proprietary closed-loop algorithm developed by the researchers.. The study, performed on type 1 diabetic pediatric patients using pumps and meters from Smiths Medical, Medtronic, and Abbott, has demonstrated a significant overnight glucose management improvement over continuous drip pumps.
In the new study, 17 children and teenagers aged between 5 and 18 with type 1 diabetes were studied during 54 nights at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. The team measured how well the artificial pancreas system controlled glucose levels compared with the children’s regular continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII) pump, which delivers insulin at preselected rates.
The study included nights when the children went to bed after eating a large evening meal or having done early evening exercise. Both are challenging to manage, a large evening meal because it can lead to so-called “insulin stacking” and, as a result, a potentially dangerous drop in blood glucose levels later in the night, and late afternoon or early evening exercise because it increases the body’s need for glucose in the early morning and can therefore increase the risk of night time hypoglycaemia.
The pooled results showed the artificial pancreas kept blood glucose levels in the normal range for 60% of the time, compared with 40% for the CSII. The artificial pancreas halved the time that blood glucose levels fell below 3.9mmol/l – the level considered as mild hypoglycaemia. It also prevented blood glucose falling below 3.0mmol/l, which is defined as significant hypoglycaemia, compared with nine hypoglycaemia events in the control studies.
More from the study abstract in The Lancet: Manual closed-loop insulin delivery in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: a phase 2 randomised crossover trial
Press release: ‘Artificial pancreas’ a step nearer for children with type 1 diabetes
Image: Medtronic’s Paradigm Veo Wireless Insulin Pump Helps Prevent Hypoglycemia
