Posts Tagged ‘MRI’

A new Johns Hopkins University study is validating the potential of smart phones in medical care. Since the debut of the iPhone, one of the most-often demonstrated medical uses of the device are radiological applications which allow physicians to view x-rays, CT scans and MRIs wirelessly. However, are these images comparable to the high-end workstations found in the radiologist’s office? Are pictures displayed on such a small screen sufficient for physicians to make accurate diagnoses? According to this current study, it appears radiologists were able to just as accurately diagnose an appendicitis on an iPhone 3G as on their office computers, with one major difference – portability. Fifteen of the 25 study patients were correctly identified as having acute appendicitis on 74 of 75 interpretations. Being able to accurately diagnose a medical emergency, such as an appendicitis, without having to be tied to a workstation may save valuable time, especially in areas where radiologists may not be available immediately. Perhaps it’s just a matter of time until someone writes a program which will allow computers to automatically detect an appendicitis without the radiologist. [via Medical News Today]

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Stanford University researchers have found that regions with high concentrations of MRI machines also have increased rates of back surgery among patients who present with new back pain. Is there a problem with this? Well, perhaps, especially since we know that increased surgery rates doesn’t necessarily improve patient outcome. In fact, surgery has its risks and often times will not completely cure back pain. Between 2000 and 2005, the MRI availability in the U.S.  more than tripled, from 7.6 to 26.6 machines per 1 million people. Each machine costs more than $2 million and one low-back scan costs $1,500. Increased rates of scans and surgeries increase the total health care dollars spent on treatment of back pain, one of the most common reasons for physician visits today. [via Medical News Today]

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Fact or fiction? Losing one’s ability to use a particular sense will heighten the other senses. Neuroscientists at McGill University, home of the world-renowned Montreal Neurological Institute, set out to test this idea and discovered that in certain circumstances blindness can, in fact, heighten the other senses. By testing blind and sighted subjects for pitch perception and their ability to locate sounds, researchers found that blind subjects generally scored higher, not surprisingly. However, they also discovered that those who were born blind performed the best, while those who became blind as young children were slightly worse, and those who lost their vision after age 10 did no better than the sighted subjects. The theory is that a young brain could be rewired so that visual-processing areas were used for other purposes. And sure enough, by looking at MRI scans of subjects’ brains, they discovered that blind subjects who performed the best were using both the visual and auditory regions of their brains. [via New York Times]

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Preliminary results of a small Yale University study shows that women who have c-sections are more “neurohormonally deprived” than women who undergo vaginal birth. It is believed that the process of birth induces production of hormones that “prime” the mother’s brain for certain behaviors, such as kissing, cuddling and feeding, which allow for instant mother-baby bonding. MRI brain scans of c-section mothers taken while they listened to their babies crying showed less activation in areas of the brain associated with empathy, drive and motivation than mothers who delivered vaginally. However, after a few months, it appears that these differences between the two groups largely disappear. Full story.

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