10 Medical Innovations Of 2010

At Dicom Solutions, we offer digital imaging technology that is on the forefront of better patient care.  As a distributor of medical imaging systems, our mobile x-ray equipment, computed radiography systems, DICOM  viewer software, PACS appliances and more are put to use everyday in medical facilities throughout the world.  As 2010 draws to a close, we would like to share with you some of the exciting medical innovations that came into being this year.

Glucose Levels And Cancer
According to the November 29, 2010 edition of the New York Times, cancer researchers are looking at metaformin, a diabetes pill used to help treat type-2 diabetes, as a possible treatment for certain types of cancers.  The idea is that the glucose, which is the fuel for cells, would be lowered to the cancer cells, so that they would die.

HIV/AIDS Medications
Big PhRMA reports that in development there are one hundred new vaccines and medicines that researchers hope will prevent or treat HIV/AIDS, to lessen the symptoms and reduce the virus amounts in the blood.

Reduction of Stroke Risk
Based on the Cleveland Clinic’s list of the Top 10 Medical Innovations for 2010, there is now a means to prevent clot development in those who take warfarin for a long period for atrial fibrillation.

Parkinson Patient’s Motor Function
The Cleveland Clinic’s list notes that Parkinson’s patients who ride a tandem bicycle at a speed of ninety revolutions per minute had a good improvement in their motor function.

Cancer Medications
It was discovered, according to The American Society of Clinical Oncology, that shorter sessions of hypofractionated radiation was as effective as longer treatments in early stage breast cancer to reduce the chances of cancer recurrence.

Sleep Apnea and Other Nighttime Breathing Disorders
There is now technology available, as reported in the Cleveland Clinic’s top ten list, that patients can use at home for the purpose of screening and seeing how effective treatments are working for sleep disorders.

Improvements in Fertility
This year brought fertility innovations that allow healthy women to thaw and fertilize their eggs based on technological advances in freezing and storing eggs, according to the Cleveland Clinic Medical Innovation Summit list.

New Alzheimer’s Medications In Development
According to a report published by Big PhRMA, there have been 98 new medications developed or in the process of FDA approval for the treatment of Alzheimer’s.  Based on a report in the December 2, 2010 edition of The Seattle Times, Dr. Howard Fillit, a neuroscientist, said regarding recent clinical trials of Alzheimer’s drugs, the hope is that the “new drugs will slow down the progression of the disease—and ultimately, prevention is the goal.”

Alternatives to Warfarin
The top ten list from the Cleveland Clinic’s Medical Innovations Summit announces that patients can now prevent blood clots from forming as well as handle their own treatment with new non-Vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants.

Benefits To Those With Hearing Loss
A new non-surgical device can be used, in conjunction with the teeth, to help patients with single-sided deafness to hear better, this according to the Cleveland Clinic’s Top Ten List.