The PulmoLife Spirometry
Screener
Image courtesy
of VIASYS Healthcare Inc |
DESI
hunts down pathogens in seconds
WEST LAFAYETTE, IN — Researchers at Purdue University
have found a better way to detect pathogenic bacteria
like E coli. The fast and accurate technique
they've developed could have wide-ranging applications
in food safety, healthcare and homeland security.
Using desorption electrospray ionization,
or DESI, a technique that's already been commercialized,
the team was able to bypass several steps currently
needed to prepare suspicious samples for analysis. With
this new method, results were in in under a minute,
compared to the several hours it now takes to identify
a pathogen. "This is the first time we've been able
to chemically analyse and accurately identify the type
of bacteria using a mass spectrometer without any prior
pre-treatment within a matter of seconds," said Dr R
Graham Cooks, a professor of chemistry in Purdue's College
of Science. His findings were published in the journal
Chemical Communications on January 7.
The
FibroScan
Image courtesy of EchoSens
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FibroScan:
bye bye liver biopsies
LONDON — Forget risky and invasive needle biopsies
— a new ultrasound-like machine can detect liver
damage painlessly in just a few minutes. FibroScan,
developed by the French firm Echosens, can be used to
assess the presence and degree of liver damage, a common
complication of chronic hepatitis C infection or alcohol
abuse.
The device uses a transient elastography
system: the speed at which the elastic waves —
which are measured by ultrasound — travel through
the organ determines the degree of fibrosis. The waves
will propagate much faster in a soft, healthy liver
than through a hardened, cirrhotic one. The painless,
risk-free procedure will make it much easier to monitor
patients' progress, as well as the effects of medical
interventions, say the manufacturers.
 "This
is an important addition to finding out what is happening
with the liver and can be used to look at a number of
diseases," hepatologist Dr Rajiv Jalan of the London
Clinic told the Daily Mail. "You don't need to
be an alcoholic to start to show signs of changes to
the liver."
PulmoLife
holds up COPD mirror to smokers
CONSHOHOCKEN, PA — Smokers can now get a real-time
look at whether their habit has them on a path to permanent
lung damage, thanks to a new device that just got the
FDA's seal of approval.
The palm-sized PulmoLife Spirometry
Screener, developed by Viasys Respiratory Care Inc,
was designed to measure FEV1 — the measurement
of choice for lung function when screening for chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — quickly
and easily. The company claims the device will help
physicians give patients fast proof of the very real,
physical damage caused by smoking long before they develop
symptoms.
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