Seizures In Babies: Cutting-Edge Imaging Technique To Improve Diagnosis

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Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 03 Aug 2012 - 10:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Seizures In Babies: Cutting-Edge Imaging Technique To Improve Diagnosis

A cutting-edge technique, combining brain imaging and monitoring of its electrical activity, could improve early diagnosis and treatment of babies who suffer seizures.

Researchers at The Rosie Hospital, Cambridge, are investigating the new technique with funding from children's charity Action Medical Research.

In the UK over 2,000 newborn babies suffer seizures each year.1 Early diagnosis and treatment is vital, as seizures may cause lasting brain damage. However, seizures sometimes go unnoticed, as babies can have no obvious symptoms.

Dr Topun Austin at The Rosie Hospital was awarded £131,150 by Action Medical Research for the two year project. "Seizures remain a major challenge when caring for newborn babies," explains Dr Austin, "but can be difficult to diagnose as abnormal movements of the baby may be subtle or not even present."

Around two or three babies in every 1,000 born alive also suffer from seizures within a month of birth.2,3 Babies born very prematurely are especially vulnerable, as are babies who suffer from a lack of oxygen during birth.

Babies who are suspected of suffering from seizures are normally referred for specialist tests. "The current diagnostic test is an electroencephalogram (EEG), which measures electrical activity within the brain," explains Dr Austin. "EEG has limitations though, as it can only detect seizures occurring near the surface of the brain. It cannot detect abnormalities deeper within the brain."

Dr Austin is developing a new way to diagnose seizures, which combines existing EEG technology with a new optical imaging system. The technique could also help other people with seizures or epilepsy.

"When babies have a seizure, there is a large amount of electrical activity in the brain, which we are measuring with EEG," explains Dr Austin. "The amount of oxygen in the brain also changes, which we are measuring with the new optical system. This system works by shining near-infrared light into the brain, which is harmless and non-invasive."

Dr Austin hopes the new combined technique will boost understanding of what's happening inside the brain during seizures: "The ultimate aim is to develop the new system for routine use at the cot-side."

This project brings together a team of clinicians and scientists with a proven track record in developing new technologies to study the infant brain. Most of the work is being carried out in a new neonatal unit - one of the largest in the country - at the Rosie Maternity Hospital, Cambridge.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our pediatrics / children's health section for the latest news on this subject. 1. Rennie JM, Hagmann CF, Robertson NJ. Neonatal cerebral investigation. (2008) Cambridge University Press.

2. Panayiotopoulos CP. Chapter 5. Neonatal seizures and neonatal syndromes. The Epilepsies: Seizures, Syndromes and Management. Bladon Medical Publishing (Oxfordshire UK) 2005.

3. Davis AS et al. Seizures in extremely low birth weight infants are associated with adverse outcome. J Pediatr 2010; 157: 720-5.

Source: Action Medical Research

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'Seizures In Babies: Cutting-Edge Imaging Technique To Improve Diagnosis'

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Hospital Room Cleaning Could Be Revolutionized By New Disinfection Technique

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: MRSA / Drug Resistance;  Public Health
Article Date: 12 Dec 2011 - 1:00 PST

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A Queen's University infectious disease expert has collaborated in the development of a disinfection system that may change the way hospital rooms all over the world are cleaned as well as stop bed bug outbreaks in hotels and apartments.

"This is the future, because many hospital deaths are preventable with better cleaning methods," says Dick Zoutman, who is also Quinte Health Care's new Chief of Staff. "It has been reported that more than 100,000 people in North America die every year due to hospital acquired infections at a cost of $30 billion. That's 100,000 people every year who are dying from largely preventable infections."

Dr. Zoutman has also used this disinfection technology to kill bed bugs. A major U.S. hotel chain has already expressed interest in the technology because of its potential to save the company millions of dollars in lost revenue and infected furniture.

Dr. Zoutman worked in collaboration with Dr. Michael Shannon of Medizone International at laboratories located in Innovation Park, Queen's University. Medizone is commercializing the technology and the first deliveries are scheduled for the first quarter of 2012.

The new technology involves pumping a Medizone-specific ozone and hydrogen peroxide vapour gas mixture into a room to completely sterilize everything - including floors, walls, drapes, mattresses, chairs and other surfaces. It is far more effective in killing bacteria than wiping down a room.

Dr. Zoutman says the technique is similar to what we now know Mother Nature uses to kill bacteria in humans. When an antibody attacks a germ, it generates ozone and a minute amount of hydrogen peroxide producing a new highly reactive compound that is profoundly lethal against bacteria, viruses and mold.

"It works well for Mother Nature and is working very well for us," says Dr. Zoutman

There are other disinfecting technologies that involve pumping gas into a room, but Medizone's method is the only one that sterilizes as well as surgical instrument cleaning. It also leaves a pleasant smell and doesn't affect any medical equipment in the room. The entire disinfection process is also faster than other methods - it takes less than one hour.

Dr. Zoutman says the technology could also be used in food preparation areas and processing plants after outbreaks such as listeria and to disinfect cruise ships after an infection outbreak.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our infectious diseases / bacteria / viruses section for the latest news on this subject. Study results on the process are published in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.
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New Columbia Engineering Technique Diagnoses Non-Periodic Arrhythmias In A Single Heartbeat

Main Category: Medical Devices / Diagnostics
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 12 Dec 2011 - 0:00 PST

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Thanks to a new study from Columbia Engineering School, doctors may now be able to diagnose in their offices non-periodic arrhythmias - noninvasively and at low cost - within a single heartbeat. Non-periodic arrhythmias include atrial and ventricular fibrillation, which are associated with severely abnormal heart rhythm that can in some cases be life-threatening. Using Electromechanical Wave Imaging (EWI), a technique recently developed at Columbia Engineering, the researchers sent unfocused ultrasound waves through the closed chest and into the heart. They were able to capture fast-frame-rate images that enabled them - for the first time - to map transient events such as the electromechanical activation that occurs over a few tens of milliseconds while also imaging the entire heart within a single beat. The Columbia Engineering study was recently published in IOPscience.

"We are very excited about extending the capabilities of our new technique," says Elisa Konofagou, an associate professor of biomedical engineering and radiology at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. "With EWI, doctors now won't have to use electrodes to detect and localize those unpredictable and potentially deadly arrhythmias and they'll be able to do this at the point of care, not only in a dedicated, interventional procedure room."

She adds that, "For the first time, EWI can be implemented without relying on multiple periodic heartbeats for the high temporal resolution imaging required. A single heartbeat, whether periodic or not, will suffice by employing tailored beamforming sequences and signal processing techniques."

Konofagou explains that the heart is essentially an electromagnetic pump that must first be electrically activated in a specific sequence to contract and relax efficiently. Abnormalities in cardiac conduction are a major cause of death and disability around the world and their prevalence is expected to rise with the aging of the population. The number of people in the U.S. with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common arrhythmia, is expected to reach 12 million by 2050. AF causes 15 to 20 percent of strokes and costs $6.65 billion a year to treat.

EWI is a novel ultrasound-based technique that Konofagou and her team developed earlier this year to map electromechanical waves, the transient deformations occurring in immediate response to the electrical application. They were able to map these waves by reconstructing images over multiple cardiac cycles but this method did not allow them to image non-periodic arrhythmia such as fibrillation. In the new study, the researchers developed and applied new imaging sequences based on flash- and wide-beam emissions to image the entire heart at very high-frame rates (2000 fps) during free breathing in a single heartbeat.

"Potential applications of this technique include early, reliable, and electrode-free detection and diagnosis of arrhythmias and localization of arrhythmic origins to guide subsequent ablations," notes Konofagou. "For example, atrial flutter is a condition of arrhythmic activation of the atria. Physicians have to perform radio-frequency ablation to reinstate its function but often they don't know if it's the right or the left atrium. So, they start ablating the entire right atrium only to find out that the left atrium was causing the flutter, administering unnecessary treatment in the process. By pushing the current capabilities of our technology further, we can help doctors make more noninvasive diagnoses and treat the patient more efficiently."

Konofagou's study was funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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