Scanning Blood Flow During Operations

SPACE MEDICINE

illustration only

Warsaw (SPX) Jun 02, 2004
PERMON is developing a radiological imaging system that will give medics a clearer view inside the human body by accurately monitoring organ blood flow during operations. This essential information will lead to an increase in techniques such as laser surgery over more invasive methods.

Operations will be less costly and less traumatic to the patient, involving smaller incisions, less pain, and shorter hospital stays. The project brought together a range of Polish and Austrian partners from across the medical field to devise the PERMON system that uses computer software to compare scanner data with maps of healthy blood flow around organs including the brain and the kidneys.

By providing constant updates on blood flow, the system allows a surgeon to operate as the patient lies under the scanner, fine tuning the surgery as the operation proceeds to obtain the best result.

Dr. Piotr Bogorodzki at the Warsaw University of Technology, the project's Polish lead partner, says that "with our system, surgeons don't have to wait for the result of MRI or CT scans. Delays in treatment are removed and surgery can be adapted as more information is revealed."

The PERMON system can also monitor drugs designed to improve blood flow during organ transplants and help tackle the circulation problems that cause millions of deaths through stroke and other serious illnesses every year. Bogorodzki expects strong interest from pharmaceutical companies and from medical technology companies keen to take the system into commercial markets.

Co-operation across technical and medical disciplines is the key to PERMON's success. Clinicians had criticised previous measures of blood flow as being designed by theorists, and for being time-consuming and too complex.

Dr. Bogorodzki says, "EUREKA made it easy for clinicians and technicians to work together. Paperwork and bureaucracy are kept to a minimum, allowing us to get on with the research and development." Feedback from all project partners and simulations of operating theatre conditions were used to refine the final software design into a format that clinicians felt comfortable with.

The PERMON project team are confident that their system has a bright commercial future, and are now waiting for scanner technology to catch up. The next generation CT scanner, which should be available within two years, is expected to create a much greater interest in blood flow monitoring.

SPACE MEDICINE

UK Law Allows Human-Animal Hybrid Work

London (UPI) Jun 02, 2004
Britain could become the first country where scientists successfully create a human-animal hybrid, thanks to a legal loophole allowing such experiments.

SUPERPOWERS US Warned Not To Ignore Chinese Military Advances	NUKEWARS India, Pakistan Survive Verbal Scare Nuclear Sites Ready For Terror US Nuclear Strategy Hits Congress DOE Nuclear Security Plan Questioned
MISSILE NEWS Raytheon Delivers First Production Tactical Tomahawk Cruise Missile Raytheon SSDS Category 3 On Line At Navy Test Facility Lockheed Martin Conducts Successful Guided MLRS Unitary Rocket Test Raytheon To Supply Ship Self-Defense Systems Computing Platform	MISSILE DEFENSE Lockheed Martin Brings A THAAD To Troy Lockheed Martin Offeres Two Open Architecture Capabilities For Aegis Missile Defense On Alert By September URS Wins Navy Contract For Missile Defense Theater Managament
AEROSPACE Sonic Boom Modification May Lead To New Era Hewitt Pledges Support For Aerospace Industry National Consortium Picks Aviation Technology Test Site Wright Flyer Takes To The Sky In Las Vegas	UAV NEWS NASA-Industry Alliance Initiates UAV National Airspace Access Project Brain-based Control For Unmanned Vehicles United Industrial Training Soldiers To Use Raven UAV System Raytheon Integrates and Tests SeaVue Radar and MTS Onboard Predator B
IRAQ WARS	MILTECH Airbag Inflators Provide Push For New Surface Vessel Launcher Russian Navy May Sink By 2008: Admiral

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement