CT and ultrasound imaging do not have a meaningful impact on the negative appendectomy rate for boys older than five years, according to a study published in the May issue of Pediatrics. The findings led the authors to recommend use of a decision algorithm that incorporates age and gender.

Citing the explosive growth of wireless medical devices and smartphone applications, six House Republicans have written the heads of the FDA and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to urge acceleration of regulatory processes and request a detailed progress report.

Although the number of overall colorectal cancer cases has dropped in the U.S. in the last decade, one group, young adults, has seen an increase in the colorectal cancer rate. Every year since 1992, the number of people diagnosed with the disease before age 50 has increased by 2 percent, and cancer experts dont yet understand why.

Treatment of localized prostate cancer with intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) may provide improved disease control with less morbidity than conformal radiation therapy, according to an analysis published April 17 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. However, proton therapy did not appear to provide additional benefits for these patients.

Use of florbetaben, a PET tracer, to detect beta-amyloid plaques in the brain may help doctors diagnose Alzheimers disease (AD) earlier, according to research to be presented as part of the emerging science program at the American Academy of Neurologys 64th annual meeting in New Orleans, April 21-28.

The U.S., as has been well documented, spends more on healthcare than other developed nations, with some arguing that patients arent getting their moneys worth. When it comes to cancer care, however, U.S. cancer patients experience greater survival gains than their European counterparts, even when factoring in higher costs, according to a study published in the April issue of Health Affairs. Some experts, though, have criticized the research as misleading.

Clino, a venture by Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, has entered into a research collaboration with GE Healthcares medical diagnostics division to discover in vivo imaging tracers for tau proteins that accumulate in the brains of patients with Alzheimers disease.

NeuroLogica has partnered with Stryker Navigation, a business unit of Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker, to develop an integrated surgical navigation unit for NeuroLogicas portable BodyTom 32-slice CT scanners.