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Convent Focuses On Different Approach To End-Of-Life Care
A focus on end-of-life care emphasizes social and spiritual elements over aggressive medical intervention.
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Canadians Watch U.S. Reform Effort Closely
American health care reform has become a "hot topic north of the border," the Washington Times reports. "If Mr. Obama succeeds, the U.S. could draw even more Canadian doctors and nurses to the U.S., exacerbating a shortage of medical professionals, said Dr. Brian Day, a Canadian health care critic and former head of the Canadian Medical Association. If Mr. Obama fails, perhaps Canada could open its system to "medical tourism" from the U.S., Dr. Day said." Under the Canadian system, everyone is insured and has "access to basic health care without ever seeing a doctor or hospital bill." But 70% of Canadians also have "some form of supplemental health insurance," in part because of long wait times for tests and treatments under the government plan. For Canadian citizens who become ill in the U.S., it is often cheaper to "ride on a private Lear jet back to Canada" than to be treated in a U.S. hospital.
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Sufferers Of Lung Diseases May Be Helped By Placenta-Derived Stem Cells
An Italian research team, publishing in the current issue of Cell Transplantation (18:4), which is now available on-line without charge at http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cog/ct, has found that stem cells derived from human placenta may ultimately play a role in the treatment of lung diseases, such as pulmonary fibrosis and fibrotic diseases caused by tuberculosis, chemical exposure, radiation or pathogens. These diseases can ultimately lead to loss of normal lung tissue and organ failure. No known therapy effectively reverses or stops the fibrotic process.
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Video Games Are Helping Doctors View The Body - Using The Nintendo Wii To Interpret Radiology Exams

The popular Nintendo Wii videogame system is helping radiology students reach new levels! Faculty from Weill Cornell Medical College have coupled the motion-sensitive Wii remote with the same computers used to analyze scans, and have found that the Wii remote makes examining CT and MRI images more ergonomic, heightens the interactivity during classes, and may potentially improve the ability to interpret scans. "The remote is very intuitive -- cycling through the scans is a matter of rotating your wrist," explains Dr. George Shih, a radiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and assistant professor of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, who, along with his colleagues, helped develop the system that links the Wii remote to the diagnostic computer. Their research was presented recently at the 2009 American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) Annual Meeting in Boston, Mass. Traditionally, radiologists might spend hours at a time, with only short breaks, reading scans using a typical mouse and keyboard. Many of the movements are repetitive and require precise mouse-clicking and scrolling, which can be taxing on the body and may lead to repetitive motion injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. "The easiest way to avoid injury is to change positions," says Dr. Shih, and that is exactly what using the Wii remote allows. By simply holding the remote in their hand and rotating their wrist, radiologists can gradually inspect the scans, while sitting in any position they find most comfortable. Dr. Shih demonstrated that a person using the remote could sit back and relax in his seat, with his arms draped to the sides, and still maintain the same ability to interpret scans as compared to rigidly sitting at a desk using a mouse and keyboard. Within the remote lies a device that measures 3-D motion, called an accelerometer, which allows the user to advance through the scan with simple movements. "We are not currently using the Wii remote in actual clinical diagnosis," says Dr. Shih, "but we"re hoping to show that it can become an alternative that is at least as accurate as using a traditional keyboard and mouse." Currently, the Wii is being used in radiology courses at Weill Cornell as a tool for teaching students. Since the Wii remote is wireless, with a wide range, instructors can hand the controller to students sitting in the lecture hall to scan images themselves. He says this boosts the class" interactivity, allowing the students to interpret scans rather than simply observe the instructor. "It"s exciting to see faculty members creating innovative tools to push the boundaries of not only education, but also technology that has the potential to change the entire field of radiology," says Dr. Robert Min, radiologist-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and the chairman of radiology at Weill Cornell Medical College. To create the device, Dr. Shih collaborated with a longtime friend and colleague Dr. Michael Brown, and with Lu Zheng from School of Computing at the National University of Singapore. Drs. Matthew Amans and Cliff Yeh, radiology residents at Weill Cornell, were also involved in the development and design of the system. Weill Cornell Medical College


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