Dual-modality breast tomosynthesis and automated ultrasound: University of Virginia Cancer Center researchers developed a hybrid breast imaging device which combines three-dimensional anatomical (structural) imaging and 3D biological (functional) imaging into one integrated device. The system uses 3D digital X-ray breast tomosynthesis and 3D molecular breast imaging tomosynthesis, a recently developed technique that uses intravenously injected tracers that are more readily absorbed by malignant lesions. In other breast scan news, TechniScan of Salt Lake City developed the Warm Bath Ultrasound breast imaging system, a software-controlled ultrasound system that performs an automated whole breast examination. The patient lies prone on the system’s examination table with the breast suspended in a warm water bath at near-skin temperature while an ultrasound array is moved in a continuous scan so that a complete series of two-dimensional image slices are collected. The results can be viewed on a DICOM review station.
Pills send messages when swallowed: University of Florida researchers developed a signaling technology that can be embedded into drug tablets to notify clinicians and caretakers that a pill has been ingested. Although a bit of electronics will move through the digestive tract, the researchers believe it will pass safely without any side effects. If the technology proves itself, it could be used to confirm compliance in clinical trials or to monitor patients under a strict drug regimen.
New bionic eye prototype revealed: An Australian collaborative unveiled the prototype of a bionic eye that may soon enter clinical trials. Ushered in with the help of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who’s taking a victory lap for issuing roughly $40 million to the project, the Bionic Vision Australia consortium’s system evidently involves a camera built into a pair of eyeglasses that transmits imagery to an implanted electrode that stimulates the optic nerve.
Camera phone lends an eye to the blind: The visually impaired were never thought of as potential customers of camera-enabled smartphones. A camera that sees better than your eyes, though, can be an incredible tool when paired up with a bit of computing horsepower. LookTel, an app previewed a year ago and now available for HTC Touch Pro with Windows Mobile, was created by IPPLEX in partnership with National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute, and Veterans Administration to simply read out what the phone’s camera is seeing.
A weekly roundup of new developments in medical technology, by MedGadget.com.