Online Medical Technology News : Bhopal : India: The Pioneer : Tele-Medicine project still incomplete

The inordinate delay in the State's ambitious Tele-Medicine project seems to be getting longer as the project is still under process. The project originally was to be made functional by April 2008 onwards at 10 district hospitals, 2 charitable hospitals and 3 medical colleges across the State. The project aims at providing the necessary medical expertise through tele-conferencing at the places, where the services of expert physicians are not available.

The ambitious project of Tele-Medicine was devised by the State Health Department with the technical support from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). In the first phase, Balaghat, Mandla, Sidhi, Shahdol, Shivpurkalan, Jhabua, Mandsore, Khargon, Shajapur, Betul and Trust hospitals Padhar Betul, Yogiraj institute Mandla along with Medical Colleges of Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior.

Madhya Pradesh Council for Science and Technology, which had devised the unique idea, is the nodal agency of this project. Senior MPCST Scientist Rajesh Arya, who is taking care of the project claimed that the necessary infrastructure have been installed at the various centres recently. He also claimed that these centres have started functioning on testing basis.

Continue reading : http://www.dailypioneer.com/161069/%E2%80%98Tele-Medicine%E2%80%99-project-still-incomplete.html

 

Online Medical Technology News : Mumbai : India: DNA: Digital imaging makes storage cheaper for corp hospitals

Digital imaging is fast making life easier for patients and hospitals. Patients may no longer have to carry around images of X-ray, MRI, CT scan, mammograms, ultrasound, EEG and other medical tests every time they head out to see a doctor. Besides, misplacing medical records may not mean additional expenditure on duplicates.
Corporate hospitals across the country are now opening up to a digital imaging technology for storage and easy retrieval of images, thereby saving patients time and effort of carrying their medical records.

Called picture archival and communications system (PACS), the technology helps store images such as MRI, CT scans, X-ray etc in a compressed form in a centralised server connected to all the imaging machines. After a test is done, the image is stored in the centralised hospital server. Whenever a patient visits consultants, the images can be retrieved from this server. Ankur Bharti, the healthcare consultant at management consulting firm Technopak, said, "Doctors can view the patient's images from any room in the hospital."

 

Continue Reading : http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1237004

 

NOTE : Sneha Diagnostics has been using PACS since it's inception in it's state-of-the art diagnostics centers across remote places in India, with a motto to bring world class medical diagnostics to every corner.

Online Health News : Vijayawada : AP : India: Deccan Chronicle : 30% of TB patients are HIV+ in AP

At least 30 per cent of TB patients in certain areas of the state such as Vijayawada are HIV positive, revealed the TB Alert UK chief executive, Mr Mike Mandelbaum.

Mr Mike also informed, "Around 1.7 million people die of TB every year in the world with majority deaths from India. TB Alert Asia representative Mr Tilak S. Chauhan said, "Anantapur and Adilabad have highest prevalence and according to a study in Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Hyderabad on Multi Drug Resistant TB, 45 cases have been recorded.

Morever, the treatment for Multi drug Resistant TB is expensive," he added. "It is now the responsibility of health workers to administer the drug to the patients," Dr Nalini Krishnan project director of Reach said.

Online Health News : Nellore : AP : India: Deccan Chronicle : Nellore threatened by jaundice terror

The largest outbreak of jaundice caused by the hepatitis E virus in southern India was reported at Nellore in a joint study conducted by Narayana Medical College, Nellore, in association with Welcome Trust Research Laboratory, Christian Medical College, Vellore.

The study indicates that more than 22,000 patients have been affected by jaundice during the last six months. Exposing the poor quality of water being supplied by the civic body to citizens, the study indicates that most patients were those drinking municipal water.

The study team conducted a house-to-house survey to determine the burden of the disease in society. At least 70 per cent of the patients were male. The percentage of population affected by the outbreak was 5.6 per cent and this is the highest overall attack rate reported till now in India, according to study team members. Dr Lalit Nihal, department of gastroenterology, said "Even though the number of patients reported in the study is 22,000, this is still an underestimation since only Nellore was covered

 

Online Health News : Hyderabad : AP : India: The Hindu : Increase tuberculosis awareness

Get people to treatment early and increase awareness that the disease is completely curable. This is the firm route to eradicate tuberculosis (TB), according to Mr Mike Mandelbaum, Chief Executive, TB Alert, UK.

Though 1.7 million people worldwide die to TB annually and India has the dubious distinction of accounting for 4 lakh of them, TB can be prevented and cured with proper adherence to regimen, he told newspersons here today.

There are also encouraging research studies pointing to development of preventive vaccines, better drugs which can shorten the duration of treatment time from the present (6-8 months) in the future, Mr Mike said.

Participating in the 'Speak up to stop TB' initiative launched here jointly by REACH and the Lilly MDR TB partnership, Mr Mike said though two billion people have the TB bacteria latent, the chances of contracting the commonest lung TB is as low as 10 per cent. He felt that TB should now be referred to more as an 'illness' than a disease as it is easily treatable.

The Lilly MDR TB partnership, a public-private initiative, has mobilised 18 partners in five continents to fight the battle to stop spread of TB. Lilly is donating $135 million.

Dr Ramya Ananthakrishnan, Medical Co-ordinator for REACH, said there was still stigma attached to TB patients in society. This was uncalled for because TB can affect anyone. Also, it can be treated with available drugs and the Government provides them free of cost in India.

Dr Nalini Krishnan, Executive Secretary of REACH (Resource Group for Education & Advocacy for Community Health), a Chennai-based public-private initiative focused on TB control, also announced the launch of a Web site that provides a range of information about TB ( www.media4tb.org).

 

Online News : India PR Wire: Metropolis and Merrygold Health Network to provide Maternal and Child Health Care in UP

Metropolis Health Services will now provide quality testing services to patients of Merrygold Health Network in Uttar Pradesh. UP has the one of highest maternal mortality ratio of 517 per 1, 00,000 live births (SRS 2005- 2006) and Infant Mortality rate of 71 per 1000 live births (SRS 2007). The main cause of this situation is poor antenatal care (44% received ante natal care) and low coverage of institutional delivery (22%) in the State (source: NFHS III).

HLFPPT has committed to develop the Merrygold Health Network with support of Govt. of UP and SIFPSA (State Innovations in Family Planning Services Project Agency) in the entire State. The Merrygold Health Network is an example of public private partnership working on the principles of franchising for development of network across all 70 districts of Uttar Pradesh. The project will support the Government of UP's and GOI 's efforts in reducing maternal, new born and infant deaths by increasing antenatal care, institutional deliveries and new born care, post natal and family planning services to women in rural and semi urban population.

In the first phase of the project, Metropolis will open one Lab in HLFPPT-owned Hospital and the other lab will be commissioned in a Franchised Hospital. The first Metropolis Laboratory has been commissioned in HLFPPT-owned Merrygold Hospital, Agra. Samples of patients requiring specialized testing will be sent to the referral laboratories of Metropolis Health Services Laboratory through their own effective and efficient systems. The patients will see the reports on the website or can collect the reports from Merrygold hospital.

 

Continue reading : http://www.indiaprwire.com/pressrelease/health-care/2009030420881.htm

 

Online News : Diagnostics : Advanced Research : The Telegraph : New Delhi : Better prostate cancer treatment hope

New Delhi, Feb. 15: Scientists have spotted a new chemical fingerprint of aggressive prostate cancer that may lead to better diagnosis and effective treatment strategies tailored for individual patients.

A research team in the US has identified a molecule named sarcosine in the urine of patients with prostate cancer that may be used to distinguish between benign, slow-growing, and aggressive prostate tumours.

"One of the biggest challenges in prostate cancer is determining if the cancer is aggressive. We end up over-treating patients because physicians don't know which tumours will be slow-growing," said Arul Chinnaiyan, professor of pathology at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study that revealed the sarcosine-cancer link. The study appeared in the journal Nature.

"We've identified a potential marker for aggressive tumours," Chinnaiyan said.

The study suggests that sarcosine, a product of complex cellular activity, is a better indicator of aggressive, invasive and advancing cancer than the traditional prostate-specific antigen (PSA) used today.

Continue Reading : http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090216/jsp/nation/story_10540632.jsp

Online : Times of India : Qality : Pathology labs come under scanner by Rucha Biju Chitrodia | TNN

Those among us who have been handed wrong reports at pathology laboratories have reason for hope. A nine-member working group has been recently set up at the behest of Dr R Chidambaram, principal scientific advisor to the Government of India, to not just recommend scientific and technological measures for countering spurious and sub-standard drugs, but also examine diagnostic centres. Thus, apart from looking for ways to check fake drugs, the committee will analyse pathology labs that do not produce adequate and correct results, and suggest ways to improve upon them.
   While the working group will not look into regulatory aspects for the critical segment, its committee's quality-monitoring agenda is welcome from consumer perspective. As Dr Chandra Gulati, Delhibased editor at the Monthly Index of Medical Specialities and a member of the committee, says a wrong report is more dangerous than a fake drug. After all, the entire line of treatment is based on right or wrong diagnosis of a medical condition.
   Another member of the committee who does not wish to be identified says the group will first study and analyse the measures adopted the world over, especially in Europe and the US. It will then consider whether some or all of them are applicable to India, with or without modification, says Gulati.
   As far as regulation is concerned, currently there is no Central, single-point regulator for the crucial diagnostic segment, considering health is a state subject. "But some states already have their clinical establishment Acts in place,'' says an official in the ministry of health and family welfare.
   Dr S B Chavan, director general of health services, Maharashtra, says individual Acts are framed on the basis of the model registration Act circulated by the Government of India. "Each state frames the rules according to its convenience under the ambit of the Act.''
   In Maharashtra, for instance, only a qualified pathologist can run a pathology lab and his assistant technicians must possess a DMLT or Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technician. But then, there is no authority that monitors this most important detail at present. An effort was made in this direction by bringing laboratories under the purview of the Bombay Nursing Home Act (Amendment) 2006. The amended Act, however, is yet to be passed.
   As Dr Milind Bhide, a Mumbai pathologist, says: "Nobody regulates pathology labs. There is no medical registration required to start one.''
   The sole Central effort towards standardisation and regulation, as mentioned earlier in these columns, was made by the National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories (NABL), under the government's department of science and technology. "It complies with ISO 15189 2007 specifications, which is a worldwide standard for clinical laboratories,'' says Dr Bhide. The accreditation is an ongoing process and reviewed every year.
   However, so far, it is voluntary. As Bhide says, "Unfortunately, what happens is labs that are accreditated have to compete with others that aren't.''

Profile : Radiology services provider: Teleradiology : India : Bangalore : Teleradiology Solutions

Teleradiology Solutions was founded in 2002 by two Yale trained physicians, Dr. Arjun Kalyanpur and Dr. Sunita Maheshwari. It was initially set up to provide hospitals in the United States with night shift radiology solutions. However it grew rapidly and now provides teleradiology to hospitals in Singapore and India with other countries on the anvil.

Teleradiology Solutions (US) is accredited by the US Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). It is also the first organization outside Singapore to be accredited by the Ministry of Health, Singapore.

The company provides teleradiology services to hospitals around the globe, which includes interpretation of all non-invasive imaging studies, namely CT, MRI, ultrasound, nuclear medicine studies and digitized Xrays. Emergency reports are provided within thirty minutes to locations diametrically across the globe. The company provides subspecialty consultations in cardiovascular and oncologic imaging to hospitals in India as well, and has joint research partnerships with major technology vendors such as GE, to explore new techniques in 3D imaging analysis.

TRS is a company with a difference – one that strives to maintain the highest possible quality in everything it does, while providing a meaningful and fun-filled work experience to its employees. Dissemination of knowledge in its field (through continuing education programs) and corporate social responsibility are both key aspects of its existence.

TRS' pioneering and pathbreaking efforts have been widely recognized by the international media, business and medical journals, that have acknowledged its status as an innovative company at the forefront of the telemedicine revolution.

 

For more information about Teleradiology Solutions Please visit their web-site : http://www.telradsol.com

 

 

 

 

Online : India : Bangalore : Express HealthCare Management : ClinicalDiagnostic : Teleradiology Solutions: Taking expertise to hospitals in US

Teleradiology Solutions, Inc, Bangalore, a nascent teleradiology consultations provider to hospitals in the US, which started just about two years ago, has now become a leader in the imaging markets. While the US is facing a shortage of radiologists, where 20 per cent of the vacancies remain unfilled, workload on radiologists has increased and staffing has been inadequate. Seeing the increasing potential for radiology solutions in the US with inadequate number of radiologists and inadequate training programme to meet the demands of the growing aged population, Teleradiology Solutions was set up in India mainly to provide night shift support to the hospitals in US in a much more productive way.

The service is based on the use of web-driven teleradiology systems. "We use broadband internet access with complete redundancy that ensures total uptime to transfer image data from the hospital server," explains Dr Arjun Kalyanpur, CEO and chief radiologist, Teleradiology Solutions.

The company provides teleradiology based services over the internet like Nighthawk coverage, where it provides on-call preliminary or final interpretation by board certified radiologists of all emergently performed non invasive imaging studies including Computed Tomography, MRI, ultrasound, X Ray, nuclear medicine studies and conventional plain films (digital format) with a turnaround time of under 30 minutes for a transcribed faxed report. "Here a single radiologist is able to support multiple hospitals," adds Dr Kalyanpur.

 

Continue reading : http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/20040229/innews07.shtml