One-year results presented at annual ophthalmology meeting

Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, its Doheny Retina Institute and Second Sight, LLC, are reporting on the initial results of their groundbreaking, FDA-approved feasibility trial of an intraocular retinal prosthesis that appears to be able to restore some degree of sight to the blind.

“We have successfully completed enrollment and implantation of three patients in t

Geologists find meteorites 100 times more common in wake of ancient asteroid collision

Using fossil meteorites and ancient limestone unearthed throughout southern Sweden, marine geologists at Rice University have discovered that a colossal collision in the asteroid belt some 500 million years ago led to intense meteorite strikes over the Earth’s surface.

The research, which appears in this week’s issue of Science magazine, is based upon an analysis of fossil meteor

Self-organization is a growing interdisciplinary field of research about a phenomenon that can be observed in the Universe, in nature and in social contexts. Researchers seek explanations by using both experimental, often computer-based approaches and empirical, observational approaches. Mechanisms of self-organization are beginning to be identified and the theoretical foundation is under development. Research on self-organization tries to describe and explain forms, complex patterns and behaviours t

Radiofrequency ablation — using heat to treat cancers – offers some lung cancer patients an alternative to extensive surgery, additional chemotherapy or radiation therapy, a new study shows.

Researchers at the Oncology Institute in Bari, Italy, treated 40 lung nodules found in 18 patients. Fourteen patients had lung metastases and four patients had non-small cell lung cancer that could not be surgically removed. All of the patients had initially undergone chemotherapy for their disease.

“Full-field digital tomosynthesis is mammography–only better,” researchers say of a new technique that just might be the next generation of breast cancer screening. Two new studies on this technique illustrate that full-field digital tomosynthesis (TOMO) can not only increase the visibility of breast lesions but could likely dramatically reduce the number of patients being called back for a second mammogram because their first screening mammogram was unclear.

In the first study, researchers

Image-guided radiofrequency ablation — using heat to destroy cancers — can preserve kidney function and avoid kidney dialysis for patients with solid renal tumors who are not surgical candidates, a new study indicates.

“We have been able to successfully destroy 50 out of 51 renal tumors in 32 patients,” says Michael Farrell, MD, consultant radiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and the lead author of the study.

The easiest tumors to treat with radiofrequency ablation are th