
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — IBM’s Jeopardy-winning Watson supercomputer is taking a swing at oncology research in efforts to help hospitals more quickly diagnose and treat cancer.
Watson can cull through 200 million pages of information in less than 3 seconds, according to IBM, and the machine is getting an education in oncology at Manhattan’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.
"The capabilities are enormous," Sloan-Kettering breast cancer chief Dr. Larry Norton told Boston.com. "And unlike my medical students, Watson doesn’t forget anything."
Researchers plan to add textbooks, medical journal and select patient medical records to Watson’s vast knowledge base. When it’s ready, Watson will use its database to suggest diagnoses and make prediction recommendations with lightning speed.
Between teaching Watson and testing its predictions, the computer may not start making rounds until 2014, the news source reported.
Abbot names new pharma division
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) named its spun-off pharmaceutical division AbbVie, and the health care titan expects to launch by the end of this year, according to a press release.
Preview: American College of Cardiology 2012
This year’s meeting of the American College of Cardiology should be a hot one, with Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) set to unveil trials results from the Partner A cohort of its Sapien transcatheter aortic valve implantation system, news from the Host-Assure drug-eluting stent studies and Stampede trial results comparing bariatric surgery with medical therapy for treatment of diabetes, TheHeart.org reported.
W.L. Gore enrolls 1st patients in GREAT registry of endovascular aortic treatment
W.L. Gore & Associates enrolled the 1st patient into its global registry for endovascular aortic treatment, studying its Gore TAG thoracic and Excluder AAA endoprostheses and C3 delivery system in treatment of thoracic and abdominal aneurysms, according to a press release.
Consumer products leave a mark on health care
Health & Human Services health info-tech national coordinator Farzad Mostashari sees mobile phones as an unavoidable component of patient health care and a "a ubiquitous, connected platform" waiting to be unleashed, MobiHealthNews reported.