medisenator – Senator Medical AB

Important points about: Cloth Face Masks

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 05:23:41 +0000

As you may be hearing in the news, experts may soon be recommending that all of us wear masks in public. There’s a growing body of evidence suggesting that it could be a wise move. Researchers from Yale compared data from countries where mask usage is common against countries where it is not and found that the death rate from COVID-19 is up to 10% lower in the countries with masked populations. Whether “masks for all” becomes an official recommendation in the US or not, at this point, if something MAY be effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19, it’s probably time to do it.

However, it’s important that you do not try to buy surgical or N95 masks! Given the dangerous shortage of protective equipment for healthcare workers on the frontlines, it is vitally important that we save surgical masks and N95 masks for those doctors, nurses, and others who are exposed to high levels of the virus.

That being said, you can still make cloth masks, or order them, for yourself or family. Studies have shown that cloth masks may help with spread of infection when used in conjunction with hand washing and physical distancing.

As a mom of two kids myself, I started looking into this a few days ago. There are several options, it seems: you could go the DIY route (basic instructions here); or you could buy them, whether from people in your communities who are selling them, or on websites, like etsy.

What type of cloth mask could work?

One study done in 2013 showed that 100% cotton t-shirts could have 69% effectiveness in protecting against organisms that are sized similar to flu viruses, and linen has 60-61%. But since COVID-19 is so new, we don’t have data about the levels of protection against this particular virus.

When choosing a fabric, one doctor suggested a “light” test, to see how effective different cloths might be – the less light that passes through the mask, the more effective it is. In fact, this doctor demonstrates how to make masks from old bras! (this doctor’s YouTube video is here)

Whatever kind of fabric you choose, keep these best practices in mind:

2-3 ply masks make sense, as the extra fabric helps filter out particles.
The fit of the mask is key: you need to make sure it covers the mouth and nose properly, and that it doesn’t slip from that area too often.
Putting a vacuum filter, or even a coffee filter, between layers of fabric may help as it causes some electrostatic friction which may ‘trap’ particles in the mask so you won’t breathe them. If you go this route, make sure that the mask has a pocket that will allow you to take out the filter when you need to wash the mask. Note that there is very little science around this idea – it’s just based on common sense at this point.
Washability of the mask is important. Remember, to sterilize, you need to use the hot water cycle in the washer, and heat dry. For this reason, synthetic fabrics may not be good.
Make sure you don’t touch the mask when you wear it. It may have contaminants on the surface. Leave it on until you get home and wash your hands after you do take it off.
Take off your mask when you get home. Place it in a plastic bag until you’re ready to do laundry. Masks should be treated as dirty and contaminated after each use.

One last thought as we venture into the “masked” new world –

Although wearing a mask can potentially help prevent the spread of infection, it should be considered an add-on, not a replacement, for physical distancing and hand hygiene. Staying away from others and vigilant hand-washing are truly the pillars of prevention, and have been proven to be effective in ‘flattening the curve” and decreasing the flow of people to our hospitals.

Reference: WebMD

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admin — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 08:08:08 +0000

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Women are gaining ground at top Medical Journals — Slowly

admin — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 15:08:18 +0000

It has been a hard but continuous achievement

When the New England Journal of Medicine announced its new editor-in-chief in June, it chose to continue with a man for the post. In their 208-year history, the journal has had one top female editor, Marcia Angell, MD. She held the title for 1 year, from 1999 to 2000.

Angell was the first woman to helm a major medical publication, though Suzanne Fletcher, MD, shared the position at the Annals of Internal Medicine with her husband, Robert Fletcher, MD, from 1990 to 1993.

Now that women make up a little more than half of the current medical school class, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the times they are a changing, though not at the same pace everywhere.

As this graphic illustrates, the Journal of the American Medical Association was helmed by Catherine DeAngelis, MD, from 2000 to 2011; Fiona Godlee, MD, has run the BMJ since 2005; and the Annals of Internal Medicine appointed Christine Laine, MD, to its highest spot in 2009. Another prestigious medical journal, the Lancet, has never had a female editor-in-chief.

Reference: Medscape 2019

WHO warning: E-cigarettes won’t help in reducing cancer

admin — Tue, 20 Aug 2019 09:38:53 +0000

No evidence to justify their claim according to World Health Organization (WHO)

Electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products are not helping fight cancer, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says, urging smokers and governments not to trust claims from cigarette firms about their latest products.

The seventh “WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic” said blocking the industry’s interference was critical to cutting the harm from tobacco use.

“The tobacco industry has a long history of systemic, aggressive, sustained and well-resourced opposition to tobacco control measures,” the report said.

“While some strategies are public and others more covert, all have the goal of weakening tobacco control.”

The report said tobacco giant Philip Morris International was trying to position itself as a responsible public health partner via its “Unsmoke” campaign, which encourages people to “change to a better alternative”.

The WHO said the campaign aimed to ensure tobacco remained socially acceptable, while confusing consumers with terms such as “smoke-free products”, which may refer to products with toxic emissions and unknown short-term and long-term health effects.

Philip Morris spokesman Ryan Sparrow said the WHO’s message made it harder to provide safer options for people who cannot quit smoking.

“There is no question that the best choice for smokers is to quit cigarettes and nicotine altogether. The reality is many people do not. We cannot turn our backs on them,” he said. “Organisations like the World Health Organisation need to stop talking at smokers and start listening.”

The WHO report said the industry hoped to win respectability through manipulative messages such as claiming their products were part of a “harm reduction” strategy, even though cigarettes still account for 97 per cent of the global tobacco market.

Vinayak Prasad, program manager of WHO’s tobacco control unit, said development of new products was solely intended to expand the markets of tobacco firms.

“There is no difference between cigarettes and heated tobacco products except that in terms of exposure: the exposure is less and the smoke is not visible,” he said.

Electronic cigarettes, containing nicotine but not tobacco, were promoted as a way to quit smoking. But there was no evidence to justify the claim, and evidence from the United States showed they had increased the prevalence of young people smoking, he said.

“So it’s also a gateway for young people,” Prasad said.

“The answer is it needs to be regulated. WHO has clear guidelines – to get electronic cigarettes regulated. And if you are banning it, fine, but if you aren’t banning it don’t let it (go) free in the market, because the young people are taking it up.”

Reference: WHO, 7news

Importance of Body image for women (Breast Cancer Article)

admin — Mon, 19 Aug 2019 12:23:05 +0000

Body image in women with breast cancer using a scalp cooling system to reduce chemotherapy induced hair-loss

Background: Most women consider hair to be an important part of body image. Alopecia is an emotionally traumatic side effect for breast cancer patients undergoing adjuvant chemotherapy. The DigniCap Scalp Cooling System is the first scalp cooling system cleared by the US Food and Drug Administration to reduce the likelihood of chemotherapy induced alopecia.

Methods: Quality of Life (QOL) data were collected as part of a prospective clinical trial evaluating the clinical performance of scalp cooling in women with early stage BC receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.

The study’s primary endpoint was hair loss as evaluated by patient self-assessment. Treatment success was defined as ≤ 50% hair loss. QOL was evaluated by the EORTC-QLQ-BR23 (BR23) administered at baseline, last chemotherapy cycle, and one month later. For BR23, 4 response categories were collapsed to 2 categories (Not at all/A little bit and Quite a bit/Very much) for analysis. QOL was compared between those with success vs. failure of scalp cooling.

Results: 101 patients were evaluable for the primary endpoint: Success was seen in 67 (66.3%) pts. QOL at study entry was comparable between pts with scalp cooling success or failure for each item in the BR23 questionnaire. Results reported as percentages of patients in each group who answered either quite a bit or very much to body image-related questions on the BR23 questionnaire are displayed in Table 1.

Conclusions: Women with breast cancer using scalp cooling during chemotherapy who had hair preservation experienced improved quality of life, according to self-assessment of body image, compared to women who had significant hair loss.

Reference: Cancer Research Journal

Immunotherapy for cancer-simply explained

admin — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 08:15:22 +0000

“Immunotherapy for cancer” is a new treatment modality that aims to empower patient’s own immune system to fight against cancer.

Despite it initially looks, CANCER is actually a genetic disorder. There are several consecutive series of mutations which must happen in advance of a cancer cell develops.

Typically this requires 6 – 10 mutations in the cells which causes losing cancer regulation checkpoints in the process. Usually the process needs a long time, which should explain why most cancers appear in old ages and even after a long while from quitting the smoking or drinking alcohol.

Our immune system is usually capable of spotting a mutated cell and destroying it before it grows and mutates even further.

In other words, some mutations are simply too complicated for our immune system to be discovered and destroyed. The Immune system then needs an extra “booster”, to enhance their radar for spotting cancer cells. This are where immunotherapy drugs (like Nivolumab, Ipilimumab, Blincyto, etc.) come to the picture and work.

At the moment this is quite a new therapy method and grows increasingly fast (Nobel prize 2018 was about the same!). We as an experienced player in international level within oncology sector are very much interested to enhance permeability of these expensive molecules into cancer cells. This can save a lot by using lower dosage of immunotherapy medicines for having the same clinical outcome.

It can also potentially help to prevent cancer in high risk patient groups. Utilizing electricity and electroporation is something that might be considered as a route for such and we are welcoming international research centers to work hand in hand against cancer.

Having that said, we hope high, because with all these methods we might not be that far from curing cancer.

A Swedish Human Milk Analyzer Cleared by FDA to Measure Nutritional Content for Donor Milk

admin — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 17:54:30 +0000

Senator Medical AB in Stockholm, Sweden introduces an innovative Swedish medical device with FDA Approval

Donor human milk is a standard of care in many maternity wards caring for preterm infants. While very effective, the nutritional content of donor milk is often subpar and requires targeted fortification.

Miris, based in Uppsala, Sweden, won FDA clearance for its Human Milk Analyzer, a novel device used to test donor breast milk for energy, fat, carbohydrate, and protein content. The device provides results within minutes using only a small sample of milk. The technology allows clinicians to fortify donor milk with the right ingredients before it is administered to preterm babies.

The system consists of the Miris Ultrasonic Processor and Miris Heater that are used to prepare samples, and the Miris Human Milk Analyzer for analysis.

Senator Medical AB, New technologies, FDA approved Swedish product

Some details about the study that led to the clearance, according to Miris:The FDA reviewed data submitted by the sponsor of 112 samples of human milk to analyze the performance of the device. For the study, the sponsor tested the same 112 samples in the machine and compared them to the expected true values obtained by independent methods; both systems provided similar results for each test. The data showed that the Miris Human Milk Analyzer test was effective at determining levels of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the milk.

There may be conditions that limit the information available from the Miris Human Milk Analyzer. For example, certain medications that a nursing mother may be taking could interfere with the test’s ability to accurately measure nutrient levels in breast milk.

The FDA reviewed data submitted by the sponsor of 112 samples of human milk to analyze the performance of the device. For the study, the sponsor tested the same 112 samples in the machine and compared them to the expected true values obtained by independent methods; both systems provided similar results for each test. The data showed that the Miris Human Milk Analyzer test was effective at determining levels of protein, fat and carbohydrate in the milk. There may be conditions that limit the information available from the Miris Human Milk Analyzer.

For example, certain medications that a nursing mother may be taking could interfere with the test’s ability to accurately measure nutrient levels in breast milk.

Reference: Internet, medgadget, Senator Medical Ab

Keywords: Innovative technologies, future projects, Senator Medical AB, Medisenator, milk analyzer, 2019, FDA approved, Medical devices

Vitamin D deficiency: How much vitamin D should you take every day?

admin — Sun, 30 Dec 2018 11:40:42 +0000

VITAMIN D deficiency can happen to many people over the winter months as we lack enough sunlight to absorb the vitamin naturally. UK health officials advise taking supplements during the winter, but how much should you take every day?

Vitamin D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body.

Calcium and phosphate are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy, and a lack of these nutrients can lead to bone deformities and bone pain.

During the spring and summer months, most people in the UK/Scandinavia should be able to get all the vitamin D they need from sunlight.

But how much vitamin D do you need?

According to the NHS, all children from the age of one year and adults need 10 micrograms of vitamin D per day.

During the spring and summer this should be obtained naturally from the sun, but in the autumn and winter health officials advise taking supplements.

“During the autumn and winter, you need to get vitamin D from your diet because the sun isn’t strong enough for the body to make vitamin D,” said the NHS.

“But since it’s difficult for people to get enough vitamin D from food alone, everyone should consider taking a daily supplement containing 10 micrograms of vitamin D during the autumn and winter.”

Aside from supplements, foods containing vitamin D include oily fish, red meat, liver, egg yolks and fortified foods.

Some people, who are less exposed to the sun during the warmer months, are advised to take vitamin D supplements all year round, including in the summer.

This includes people who aren’t often outdoors, for example those who are frail or housebound, and people who live in an institution like a care home.

People who usually wear clothes that cover up most of the skin when outdoors are also advised to take vitamin D supplements.

In addition, people with dark skin from African, African-Caribbean and south Asian backgrounds may also not get enough vitamin D from sunlight, according to the NHS.

If taking vitamin D supplements, it’s important to ensure you don’t take too much, as this can lead to a condition called hypercalcaemia.

Hypercalcaemia happens when too much calcium builds up in the body, and can weaken the bones and damage the kidneys and heart.

The NHS warns adults and children aged between 11 and 17 years not to take more than 100 micrograms of vitamin D a day.

Children aged one to 10 years should take no more than 50 micrograms a day, while infants under 12 months shouldn’t take more than 25 micrograms per day.

“If you choose to take vitamin D supplements, 10 micrograms a day will be enough for most people,” said the NHS.

Reference: Sundayexpress, Internet, Senator Medical, Medisenator Sweden

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2018 was awarded for the discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation; few days ago here in Stockholm, Sweden

admin — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 09:16:33 +0000

But how does the immunotherapy work?

Immunotherapy uses our immune system to fight cancer. It works by helping the immune system recognise and attack cancer cells.

Our immune system works to protect the body against infection, illness and disease. It can also protect us from the development of cancer. The immune system includes the lymph glands, spleen and white blood cells. Normally, it can spot and destroy faulty cells in the body, stopping cancer developing. But a cancer might develop when:

The immune system recognises cancer cells but it is not strong enough to kill the cancer cells
The cancer cells produce signals that stop the immune system from attacking it
The cancer cells hide or escape from the immune system

Immunotherapy is not yet as widely used as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy uses medication to kill cancer cells and radiotherapy means the use of radiation, usually X-rays, to treat illness.

Immunotherapy uses the natural power of your immune system to fight illnesses, and has been approved to treat people with many types of cancer.

There are different types of immunotherapy, some of which are also called targeted therapies or biological therapies.

Monoclonal antibodies (MABs)

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced molecules engineered to serve as substitute antibodies that can restore, enhance or mimic the immune system’s attack on cancer cells. They are designed to bind to antigens that are generally more numerous on the surface of cancer cells than healthy cells. This process is called antibody dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC).

Vaccines to treat cancer

Normally, vaccines help to protect us from disease, and researchers are looking at whether vaccines can be used as a treatment to help the immune system to recognise and attack cancer cells.

When you have the vaccine, it stimulates the immune system into action. The immune system makes antibodies that can recognise and attack the harmless versions of the disease. Once the body has made these antibodies it can recognise the disease if you come into contact with it again. So you’re protected from it.

Cytokines

Cytokines are a group of proteins in the body that play an important part in boosting the immune system. Interferon and interleukin are types of cytokines found in the body. Scientists have developed man made versions of these to treat some types of cancer.

Adoptive cell transfer

Adoptive cell transfer changes the genes in a person’s white blood cells (T cells) to help them recognise and kill cancer cells. Changing the T cell in this way is called genetically engineering the T cell.

This treatment is only available as part of a clinical trial in the UK. An example of a type of adoptive cell transfer is CAR T-cell therapy.

Source: Cancer Research UK, Senator Medical AB, Medisenator

Keywords: Senator Medical AB, Immunotherapy, Nobel Prize, Sweden 2018, cytokines, vaccine therapy, Medisenator, Monoclonal Antibodies, Cancer treatment, Oncology, Edutainment

Philips HealthWorks Supports Startups Using AI for Radiology, Ultrasound, and Oncology

admin — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 13:21:03 +0000

In Philips innovation hubs located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Eindhover, Netherlands, Bangalore, India, and Shanghai, China, 19 startups out of 750 applicants are taking part in an intensive, 12-week Philips HealthWorks program to accelerate their innovations. The focus of this program is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare with the goal to improve patient outcomes and the efficiency of care delivery. During the program, the 19 startups, representing 14 different countries, will validate their value propositions, build, test, and scale their ideas, and explore potential collaborations with Philips and others. Participants will also benefit from Philips’ own AI platform for healthcare, Philips HealthSuite Insights. The platform is already used today to enable machine learning and deep learning applications in the areas of imaging, telehealth, oncology, and genomics.

According to Alberto Prado, Head of Philips HealthWorks, “We are already working closely with clinical partners to develop AI-enabled solutions that are grounded in scientific research and validated in clinical practice. This new collaboration program recognizes the role that start-up companies play in bringing breakthrough healthcare innovations to the market.”

The following are the 19 companies participating in the current program which culminates in “Breakthrough Day” taking place on December 12, 2018. All of the following leverage AI to address their indicated use case.

Radiology
- Cercare Medical, brain maps for radiological assessment of CT and MRI scans
- Contextflow, medical image data analysis
- Image Biopsy Lab, prevention of debilitating bone diseases
- Laralab, cardiac image-based intervention planning
- LinkingMed, automatic organ delineation, adaptive radiotherapy planning, and quality control
- Longwood Valley, surgery planning, diagnostics, and analytics
- Lunit, cardiac imaging and digital pathology
- Neurophet, neuromodulation guidance and medical image analysis
- NeuroPsyAI, diagnosis of neurological and psychiatric diseases using MRI
- Predible, surgical planning, malignancy scoring, nodule tracking, and response assessment for lung cancer
- Quantib, detecting changes in tissue for diagnosis of dementia and multiple sclerosis
- Quibim, transforming medical images into meaningful data
- Triocula, cross platform surgical planning using advanced imaging
- Zed+, software and workflow solutions to improve radiology department efficiency
Ultrasound
- CompassNeuroScience, localize and classify brain dysfunction diseases
- Onsight, automated medical imaging
- ThinkSono, diagnosis for deep vein thrombosis
Oncology
- Cipher Gene, decoding cancer to manage as a chronic disease
- Deepinformatics, pathological imaging diagnostic tool for improved efficiency and accuracy

Read the rest of interview here.

Keywords: Senator Medical AB, AI, Philips Medical, Oncology, Cancer diagnosis, Tele Health, Ultrasound, Radiology, Healthcare, Imaging, Medisenator