Duke anesthesiologists have found that a “Doppler” technique of using reflected sound waves to measure the heart?s pumping action can better guide the administration of fluids and plasma during major surgery. They have found that the use of Doppler technology appears to reduce hospital stays and to speed patient recovery.

Additionally, according to Duke University Medical Center researchers, these patients experience less postoperative nausea and vomiting and are able to eat solid foods muc

Transplants in animal models could translate into therapy for humans

Neural stem cells, transplanted into injured brains, survive, proliferate, and improve brain function in laboratory models according to research based at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The findings, published in the October edition of the journal Neurosurgery, suggest that stem cells could provide the first clinical therapy to treat traumatic brain injuries. Traumatic brain injuries occur in two

Applications include nanotechnology, more

Defects such as cracks in a material are responsible for everything from malfunctioning microchips to earthquakes. Now MIT engineers have developed a model to predict a defect’s birthplace, its initial features and how it begins to advance through the material.
The model could be especially useful in nanotechnology. “As devices get smaller and smaller, understanding the phenomena of defect nucleation and growth becomes more and more

Whether 240 miles above in the International Space Station or firmly grounded on Earth, medical testing without needles wins everyone’s vote.

Refinements under way to current near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic techniques will expand the range of non-invasive blood and tissue chemistry measurements. These changes also will provide accurate readings unaffected by skin color or body fat.

“Once complete, this device will allow chemical analysis and diagnosis without removing samples f

Lasker recipient James E. Darnell contends drug developers should focus more on ’transcription factor’ proteins

Researchers may be looking for novel cancer drugs in the wrong places, says Rockefeller University Professor James E. Darnell, Jr., M.D., in an article in this month’s Nature Reviews Cancer.

Darnell, who received the 2002 Albert Lasker Award for Special Achievement in Medical Science, argues that drug development research should focus more on a speci

Chinese herbal medicine combined with standard therapy may be more effective than standard therapy alone for treatment of chronic hepatitis B, according to an analysis of randomized, controlled trials led by University of California, Berkeley, researchers.

Researchers analyzed 27 clinical trials in which chronic hepatitis B patients using Chinese herbal medicine alone, or with interferon alfa, were compared with a control group of patients that were taking only interferon alfa. The protein