Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Chronic Achilles Tendon Pain Eased By Ultrasound-Guided Injections

Patients with chronic tendinosis of the Achilles tendon can experience a reduction in pain when injected with a small amount of a dextrose solution, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, BC.

"Chronic tendinosis is a common overuse injury which can be very painful and debilitating and can affect many tendons throughout the body," said Norman J. Maxwell, MD, lead author of the study. "Research has shown that this condition results from impaired healing of recurrent injury to the tendon. Research has also shown that chronic tendinosis is not an inflammatory but a degenerative process," he said.

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Saturday, October 27, 2007

Ultrasound differentiates between hepatitis and cirrhosis

Simple gray scale and color Doppler sonography can show differences between compensated liver cirrhosis and chronic viral hepatitis in patients with liver problems. Certain color Doppler indices can even help narrow down the stage of chronic viral hepatitis, reducing the need for biopsies.

Dr. Panagiotis Iliopoulos from Agios Andreas General Hospital in Patras, Greece, and colleagues from hospitals around Patras and Thessaly published their research in the September issue of the Journal of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Ohio Bill Would Allow Women Seeking Abortion To View Ultrasound Image

Ohio state Sen. Gary Cates (R) recently proposed a measure (SB 230) that would give a woman seeking an abortion the option of viewing an ultrasound image of her fetus before undergoing the procedure, the AP/Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Mark Lally, legal director for Ohio Right to Life, said abortion-rights opponents believe viewing ultrasound images might influence women seeking abortions to reconsider undergoing the procedure. "We have encountered women who, after having abortions, saw ultrasounds in other contexts of other children and they say, 'Hey, that's about the same age the child that I aborted was,' and they have adverse emotional reactions," Lally said.

source

Friday, October 19, 2007

SenoRx Announces 510(k) Clearance for Its Breast Biopsy Ultrasound System

ALISO VIEJO, Calif., Oct. 17, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- SenoRx, Inc. (NasdaqGM:SENO - News) today announced that it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its SenoSonix(tm) System, an integration of its EnCor(r) breast biopsy system with a state-of-the-art ultrasound imaging system. The device incorporates SenoRx's proprietary EnCor vacuum-assisted biopsy technologies with an ultrasound system developed and sold by Ultrasonix Medical Corporation of Canada. SenoRx and Ultrasonix have enjoyed a close working relationship, jointly developing the technology that facilitates the integration of the two products. The

Ultrasonix launched its innovative Sonix series of Smart Ultrasound systems in 2005 and has placed over 1,000 systems worldwide. Launching its flagship EnCor system in November 2005, SenoRx currently has an installed base of more than 400 of its breast biopsy systems in the United States and Canada.

pres release

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Emergency room ultrasound tool runs Windows CE

SonoSite has introduced a point-of-care ultrasound tool that runs Windows CE 6.0. The S-FAST is aimed at emergency departments, and can be carried about or mounted on an IV pole or wall, according to the company

Touting the unit's toughness, the company adds that the S-FAST can withstand being dropped from three feet onto a hard surface. But to help prevent this from happening, the device includes standard VESA-compliant mounting capabilities to keep it secure.

source

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

FDA Issues Warning on Ultrasound Drugs

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing a warning to physicians regarding drugs used to enhance heart imaging in echocardiography.

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, the FDA has been investigating reports of deaths and serious cardiopulmonary reactions in patients who have taken these drugs. The two drugs which seem to be affected by this warning are Definity, which is manufactured by Bristol-Myers, and Optison which is sold by General Electric Co.

The injectable contrast agents which contain microscopic gas-filled spheres are used in only a small fraction of patients undergoing echocardiography.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

ACR Revises Breast Ultrasound Accreditation Program Requirements

Due to recent revisions to the ACR Practice Guideline for the Performance of a Breast Ultrasound Examination, the ACR Committee on Breast Ultrasound Accreditation has updated the program requirements for ACR Breast Ultrasound Accreditation.

The new guideline was approved at the ACR Annual Meeting and Leadership Conference (AMCLC) in May and went into effect Oct. 1, 2007. The primary changes to the program requirements address interpreting physician qualifications, equipment specifications, and image labeling.

complete article here

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Small scanners find hidden heart disease

By MARILYNN MARCHIONE, AP Medical Writer

MADISON, Wis. - What if your doctor could swipe a wand over your neck and reveal whether you have hidden heart disease?

That is now possible in places other than the sickbay of the starship Enterprise.

Miniature ultrasound machines are starting to make their way into ordinary doctors' offices, where they may someday be as common as stethoscopes and EKGs. A pocket-sized one weighing less than 2 pounds hit the market last week.

Some of these devices can make images of neck arteries, which offer a "window" to heart arteries that cannot easily be seen. If the neck vessels are clogged, doctors know that those around the heart probably are, too, and that treatment or more testing is needed.

source article

Thursday, October 4, 2007

GE Healthcare To Address Use Of Ultrasound Machine In India For Sex-Selective Abortions

V. Raja, CEO of GE Healthcare South Asia, at a seminar that concluded Saturday said while the company has been "compliant as far as the law is concerned," it is "willing to do more and to look at suggestions" to reduce use of its ultrasound machine for sex-selective abortions, AFP/Yahoo! News reports (Gupta, AFP/Yahoo! News, 9/29).

According to a UNICEF report released in December 2006, about 7,000 fewer girls than expected are born daily in India, and about 10 million fewer girls than expected were born in the past 20 years. The most recent Indian census figures found that the gender ratio decreased from 947 girls per 1,000 boys to 927 girls per 1,000 boys from 1991 to 2001.

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