Patients that receive a computed tomography scan can track their cumulative health care-related radiation exposure with the help of Valkyrie. Valkyrie is a computer-based system that can automatically track patient-specific radiation dose exposure.
“The purpose of the computer-based system, called Valkyrie, is to extract the radiation dose information from CT dose reports so as to eventually perform automated quality control, promote radiation safety awareness, and provide a longitudinal record of patient health care-related radiation exposure,” said George Shih, MD, lead author of the study.
During the study, performed at Weill Cornell Medical …

Eating grapes may reduce the risk factors known as the metabolic syndrome, according to researchers at the University of Michigan Health System. These risk factors include obesity and hypertension that often lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
To test the effects of grapes on the development of heart disease and metabolic syndrome researchers used a breed of rats prone to develop metabolic syndrome.  They divided the rats into two groups and fed a high-fat diet to one of the groups, while the other group received the same diet but supplemented with …

Melanin nanoparticles may help cancer patients by protecting them against the harmful effects of radiation therapy. Melanin nanoparticles are made of tiny sand particles coated with several layers of synthesized melanin pigment, the same pigment that protects our skin from the solar UV radiation.
Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine successfully tested the melanin-covered nanoparticles on mice by dividing them into two groups and injecting one of the groups with nanoparticles. After three hours both groups were exposed to whole-body radiation. After monitoring both groups for 30 days the scientists …

Cocaine esterase (CocE) is an engineered enzyme who shows promising results in treating cocaine toxicity. The CocE enzyme is isolated from a soil bacterium found around the roots of the coca plant and  works by breaking down cocaine into inactive products more rapidly than the human body.
Researchers at the University of Michigan in collaboration with Columbia University and the University of Kentucky have been researching the potential of the enzyme to block cocaine toxicity by eliminating cocaine. They found out the CocE enzyme effectively degraded cocaine even in the presence …

AlloMap, a blood test made by XDx Inc 1), works as well as a heart biopsy when it comes to checking for signs of rejection in patients with heart transplants, according to researchers at Stanford University. The AlloMap test is also cheaper than a heart biopsy by almost 1000$.
The AlloMap test works by checking the blood to see if specific genes associated with rejection are turned on or expressed. Compared to a heart biopsy in which  a surgical cut is made to the neck or arm and a tube is …