When Used In Surgery, Robots Can Hasten Recovery; Biotech Startups See Promise In Sweat
Also in the news, a new breast cancer test -- molecular breast imaging -- when paired with traditional mammograms is effective in identifying cancer that otherwise would have be missed in women with dense breasts.
The Journal News:
Robotic Surgery Speeds Recovery
Dr. Jason Hochfelder, an orthopedic surgeon affiliated with Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow, performed the Lower Hudson Valley’s first robotic-assisted total knee replacement operation at Phelps early this year. And in 2015, an advanced Navio-robotic-assisted partial knee replacement surgery was performed for the first time in New York state at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, according to Dr. Victor Khabie, chief of the department of surgical services and co-director of the Orthopedic and Spine Institute at the hospital. (Sowder, 9/15)
Bloomberg:
Why Sweat Is The Future Of Biotech
Commercially, sweat holds enormous promise for some biotech startups that see in sweat glands the same kind of foundational technology that could spark new health-monitoring applications, much as silicon chips helped pioneer a profusion of electronic gadgetry. The possibilities of sweat are clear: Strap a sophisticated sweat-detector patch on your arm and watch detailed data on your biochemistry gush forth on a tablet or smartphone, alerting you to a medical peril before illness or injury strike. Dehydration, stress, muscle cramping, and depression, for example, are just four of numerous maladies that reveal their presence with chemical markers in blood—and sweat. (Bachman, 9/16)
Miami Herald:
New Breast Cancer Test Could Save More Lives Than Mammograms
Mammograms have been responsible for alerting thousands of women of the presence of breast cancer, but a new test is even more effective for women with dense breasts. The process, called molecular breast imaging, is performed in conjunction with a traditional mammogram and helps identify cancer that test may have missed. It is estimated that half of all women have dense breasts, and in their mammograms tissue shows up white, the same color as a tumor. (Welsh, 9/15)
