SECONDARY CARE
SPECIAL REPORTS
Improving the Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Cardiac Arrhythmia – Biosense Webster
Improving Peritoneal Dialysis Patient Care and the Role of Remote Patient Management Technology – Baxter
Personalised Medicine in Fertility Patients
– Ferring
AF is a highly heterogeneous disease, with significant variation in symptoms both between and within individual patients. While the precise pathophysiological processes underpinning the development and progression of AF remain under investigation, it is believed to arise from anomalies in the cardiac tissue, altering the propagation of electrical impulses through the heart. This results in dysfunctional stimulation of the myocardium and arrhythmic contractions.
For people with kidney failure, dialysis is crucial, but it is an enormous drain on their quality of life. From the perspective of the health service, delivering dialysis services is expensive. In a world in which budgets are coming under pressure, managers are keen to find solutions which can simultaneously reduce workloads and ease the pressure on budgets, while also improving outcomes for patients. New technology has the answer. Peritoneal dialysis represents a more flexible option which allows patients to perform their own dialysis without having to go to a clinic three times a week.
IVF is not always successful, and it has risks. Amongst the risk areas is hyper stimulation of the egg numbers. Egg numbers need to be boosted as a matter of fact for success, but too many is harmful, painful and risks the chance of successful conception. So, the question arises of how to stimulate eggs enough for success but not too many for problems?
Advances in Lung Function Assessment Technology – Thorasys
Improving Patient Outcomes in Spinal Surgery and the Role of 3D Printed Devices
– K2M Medical
An ageing population, pollution, unhealthy lifestyles – whatever the cause, the modern world is making the battle against chronic respiratory disease more difficult. Despite advances in medical techniques, mortality rates continue to rise. The question is: what’s the best way to reverse this trend?
A significant proportion of back problems result from Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD), a condition that can be painfully debilitating but is manageable and treatable by a range of interventions including surgery. This often involves inserting a cage or spacer between vertebrae where the original intervertebral disc has deteriorated and lost enough of its function to warrant removal.
Diagnosing Bladder Cancer During Cystoscopy
– Olympus
The cystoscope is the front-line tool for the detection prior to diagnosis of bladder cancer and for the surgery with which most bladder cancer is treated. A lot rests on this device being able to do its job as well as the best technology will allow. In this Report we consider not only the device itself but also at patient experience, the system within which it works and at the levels of expectation or otherwise which could be enhanced by the use and improvement of the cystoscope.
Expanding Treatment Options in Hemophilia B – Novo Nordisk
This report will discuss haemophilia B, a very rare condition that affects about 1,200 patients in the UK. We’ll look at what it is, how it can be diagnosed and treated and what the future might hold for patients living with haemophilia B.
Determining Treatment Options for Cancer Patients – OncoDNA
Despite the advances made in its treatment and management, cancer remains a prime health concern for most people. There exists a near mystical perception of this disease and many patients will struggle to know what to do when faced with the choice of treatment options available to them. Because cancer itself is a complex condition, the options with which to treat it are similarly diverse.
Enabling Personal Digital Microscopy
– Grundium Ltd
It is 20 years since the first commercial whole slide imaging devices became available, but digital microscopy is still struggling to gain a foothold. Practicalities stand in the way of adoption, but smaller, personal digital microscopy promises to provide a link which solves many of the problems.
Reducing the Recurrence of Episodes of Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy in Adult Patients – Norgine
Improving Diabetes Management – Abbott
Improving Education in Wound Care
– Activheal
The brain is a complex organ protected by the skull and a blood-brain barrier that acts as a gateway to stop noxious substances getting to the brain. The healthy liver ensures that the blood-brain barrier is not overexposed to ammonia compounds but once the liver fails these compounds overwhelm the brain and hence lead to encephalopathy. Because of this it is vital to identify cases of liver damage as early as possible, stop liver damage where we can and where, we cannot stop it, mitigate its effects with medications to reduce hepatic encephalopathy.
Continuous glucose monitoring is perhaps the most significant breakthrough in diabetes management in the past 40 years which, in addition to providing the glucose level, provides the direction and rate of glucose change with the push of a button and alerts users when glucose is too low or too high. It is now available in various forms and formats but, as with any large amount of data, it needs to be interpreted and this is the benefit of specific algorithms designed to make sense of this data.
Around 4.5% of the population is living with a wound at any one time in the UK and, that has a significant social and economic burden. The cost to the NHS of treating wounds is comparable to that of managing obesity. However, with better education and a greater focus on wound care, this could change.
Improving Infection Prevention in Endoscopy
and the Role of Single-Use Technologies
– Boston Scientific
The utility of endoscopy and clinical outcomes related to endoscopic procedures continues to evolve with new technologies, improved imaging, artificial intelligence and safety innovations have taken endoscopy into new interventional realms and improved diagnostic yield. Safety in regard to healthcare-acquired infection has recently been an area of concern, particularly that involving multidrug-resistant organism transmission during endoscopy.
The Value of Leadless Pacing Technology
– Medtronic
Cardiac pacing is a necessity in approximately 1 million patients annually worldwide. Complications that can occur during and after pacemaker implant, such as lead fractures, pocket erosions and infections, have led to the introduction of technologies that mitigate these risks.
Optimising Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion
(LAAO) Procedures For Patients at Risk of
Stroke – Abbott
Atrial fibrillation and cardiac arrythmias are a significant cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and the number of men and women affected is expected to double over the next 20 years in developed nations. The resulting socioeconomic burden is felt not just by healthcare systems that must pay the additional costs associated with treatment, but also by patients with increased risk of stroke or systemic embolism, who experience the morbidity and mortality associated with this condition.
Advancing the Treatment of Brain Tumors and
the Role of Intraoperative Radiotherapy
– Carl Zeiss Meditec
Few areas of medicine have challenged clinicians and their patients more than tumours of the central nervous system. A diagnosis of brain metastases, spine metastases, or glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) often means a sobering prognosis accompanies by major surgery and systemic therapy. This report examines one such advance: intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) for the treatment of CNS tumours – through a variety of perspectives.
Advancing the Treatment of Myopia in
Children – Cooper Vision
Myopia is the most common cause of distance vision impairment in the world and has gained attention over the last few decades due to its alarming rate of increased prevalence, reaching epidemic levels in many countries, notably, but not limited to Far East Asia. Indeed, the Northern Ireland Childhood Errors of Refraction (NICER) study conducted on school children identified a doubling of myopia in UK children over the past 50 years.