• Some infertility treatments no better than doing nothing

    Infertility is an issue that leads many couples to seek a means to correct it. There are many approaches; some are expensive and not always successful. A new study published in the August 8, 2008 edition of the British Medical Journal compared two common infertility treatments against doing nothing. The results raised some eyebrows. Dr.…

  • New imaging system highlights cancerous tissue in the body

    Physicians use various imaging technologies to screen, diagnose and follow cancerous tumours. The information they provide will show the gross location and extent of the tumour. However, cancer surgeons today operate “blind” with no clear way of determining in real-time whether they have removed all of the diseased tissue, which is the key to successful…

  • Medical Technology in Canada: What do we have available?

    Canada is slow to adopt the latest medical technology forcing Canadian patients to rely on old and often outdated medical equipment for treatment, says a new study from independent research organization the Fraser Institute. The peer-reviewed study, Medical Technology in Canada, evaluates the availability of medical technology in Canada compared to other nations within the…

  • Constructing the artificial eye

    One of the biomedical engineering bottlenecks in constructing an artificial eye is that the eye is a curved object or hemispherical providing it with the ability to view a wide field of view without distortion. This is a feat that, up to now, electronic microchip technology has not been able to mimic. Researchers at the…

  • New surgical approach for lazy-eye in children

    There is an experimental surgical approach using an implantable lens to prevent lazy eye or amblyopia in children. These particular children have either been diagnosed too late or their lazy eye was too severe for standard treatment. Dr. Paul Dougherty, M.D., medical director of Dougherty Laser Vision, Clinical Instructor of Ophthalmology at the Jules Stein…

  • Fewer Canadian children are being vaccinated

    Ontario’s Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) reported recently that fewer Canadian children are getting the immunizations they need, putting themselves and others at much greater risk of contracting and spreading vaccine-preventable diseases. Interestingly immigrant children’s vaccination rates are better. The study, Immunization Coverage Among Young Children of Urban Immigrant Mothers: Findings from a Universal…

  • Salmonella's molecular trick to make you sick

    Undercooked chicken, eggs sandwiches that have gone bad, contaminated water sources while on vacation and just plain poor sanitation and agricultural practices, all the factors and more can lead to salmonella transmission and infection. What has begged the question for some time is why this particular bacterium can cause so fierce an infection while the…

  • Fast food hospitals

    So you have a hankering for a quick lunch or dinner. The greasy spoon or fast food joint down the street will hit the spot. Its close by and is bustling with people. But there is some competition in the Wild West that wants your business as well to run some of its operations, your…

  • Interview with CMA President Dr. Brian Day

    Although public health care advocates decried the election of Dr. Brian Day to the presidency of the Canadian Medical Association citing the beginning-of-the-end of our public health-care system, none of the foreboding happened. In fact, the next president of the CMA, Dr. Robert Ouellet, will be following a similar program and recommendations for change to…