National Survey of Americans' Health App Use Shows Technology's Promise and Weakness
Like the treadmills and stationary bikes that become rec room coatracks, fitness and other health-related smartphone apps are acquired in large numbers by Americans, but over time, many are left unused by those who download them. According to results of an online national survey analyzed by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center, 58 percent of 1,604 adult smartphone users had downloaded one of the estimated 40,000 available health-related mobile applications, and 42 percent had downloaded five or more.
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Virtual Reality Imaging in Cardiac Cath Lab to Treat Blocked Coronary Artery
Virtual reality (VR) has potential to revolutionize some aspects of medicine and healthcare. Several medical specialties are already using it to train physicians and assist diagnosis and it also has potential for treatment. A group of cardiologists has now successfully used a VR device to guide the opening up (revascularization) of a chronically blocked right coronary artery. Their report is published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.
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Blood Sample New Way of Detecting Cancer
A new RNA test of blood platelets can be used to detect, classify and pinpoint the location of cancer by analysing a sample equivalent to one drop of blood. Using this new method for blood-based RNA tests of blood platelets, researchers have been able to identify cancer with 96 per cent accuracy. This according to a study at Umeå University in Sweden recently published in the journal Cancer Cell.
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Computer Assisted CBT Provides Little or no Benefits for Depression
Researchers at the University of York have revealed computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) is likely to be ineffective in the treatment of depression. Published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Professor Simon Gilbody from York's Department of Health Sciences and the Hull York Medical School led the REEACT trial. The study was funded by the National Institute of Health Research Health Technology Programme.
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Genetics of Cancer Cells: Computational Models to Sort out the Chaos
Scientists of the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine of the University of Luxembourg have developed a method for analysing the genome of cancer cells more precisely than ever before. The team led by Prof. Antonio del Sol, head of the research group Computational Biology, is employing bioinformatics: Using novel computing processes, the researchers have created models of the genome of cancer cells based on known changes to the genome.
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Sniffing out Cancer with Improved 'Electronic Nose' Sensors
Scientists have been exploring new ways to "smell" signs of cancer by analyzing what’s in patients’ breath. In ACS’ journal Nano Letters, one team now reports new progress toward this goal. The researchers have developed a small array of flexible sensors, which accurately detect compounds in breath samples that are specific to ovarian cancer. Diagnosing cancer today usually involves various imaging techniques, examining tissue samples under a microscope, or testing cells for proteins or genetic material.
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Acoustic Imaging with Outline Detection
Reverberated sound can make objects visible. The sonar is used in the shipping industry to acquire information about the seabed or shoals of fish, while gynaecologists use ultrasound images to study foetuses in the womb. Material testing procedures that regularly check for fissures in rail tracks or aircraft support structures are also based on ultrasound.
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