Scientists are heralding a major leap forward in dementia treatment after transforming skin cells into brain cells. The pioneering study raises the hope that doctors could create nerve cells to inject into the brains of Alzheimer’s patients to repair damage. The researchers, who report their breakthrough in the journal Nature, used just three genes to transform mouse skin cells into nerve cells, called neurons. The converted skin cells could also be used to treat Parkinson’s disease or heal damaged spinal cords, it is hoped.

Dr Irving Weissman, from Stanford University in California, said: ‘This study is a huge leap forward.’

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Researchers from the University of British Columbia and Harvard University have co-developed a system that captures on video and barcodes the behavioral responses of zebrafish to chemical compounds on a large scale. The approach could dramatically speed up the discovery of new psychiatric drugs. It can track the behavioral effects of up to 14,000 chemicals at a time and has already identified new chemicals that affect behaviour in fish.

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A new research study led by a team of University of North Carolina researchers shows that choline plays a critical role in helping fetal brains develops regions associated with memory. Choline is found in meats, including pork, as well as chicken eggs. Two groups of pregnant mice were fed different diets during the window of time when a fetus develops its hippocampus, that part of the brain responsible for memory.

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Virtual Radiologic Corporation has completed the deployment of vRad® PACS, its proprietary picture communications and archiving system for radiologic case processing. Replacing previously used commercial software, vRad PACS is now being used by all of the Company’s 140 affiliated radiologists to perform clinical interpretations on radiologic cases transmitted in real-time from over 7,400 different image sending devices located at more than 1,150 medical facilities across the United States.

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Medisch Spectrum Twente Hospital (MST) researchers have developed several quantitative EEG techniques for the purposes of EEG monitoring, one of them being the Brain Symmetry Index. BSI extracts the essential data from an EEG and converts it into a clear signal, or even into written text. An initial prototype is already undergoing evaluation in an intensive care setting. Further development will take place in close collaboration with MST and the University Medical Centre in Nijmegen.

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XenoPort Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline PLC have said that the FDA needs three more months to review an application to a neuropathic pain drug being developed by them. The FDA should complete its review of the drug, called gabapentin enacarbil, by Feb. 9, 2010 said the companies. The FDA wanted the companies to develop a strategy to evaluate the drug’s risks, and after GlaxoSmithKline submitted that strategy, the agency needed additional time to review it.

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Toshiba’s Aquilion® ONE dynamic volume CT system has the ability to improve the quality of life for patients with neurological symptoms, by reducing diagnosis time to minutes. Highlighting these capabilities, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. featured the Aquilion ONE at this year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting. The Aquilion ONE allows physicians to reduce diagnosis time for life-threatening conditions such as a stroke from hours or days to minutes.

K2M, Inc. has announced the launch of the TERRA NOVA^® Minimally Invasive Access System and the SERENGETI^® Disposable Kit at the North American Spine Society (NASS) 2009 Annual Conference. TERRA NOVA is a minimally invasive spine-based access system used in conjunction with K2M’s revolutionary SERENGETI percutaneous retractor. TERRA NOVA has the potential to minimize tissue disruption by utilizing a small incision and muscle splitting technique.

Integra LifeSciences has announced that it is featuring the Paramount(R) Pedicle Screw Fixation System for minimally invasive spine surgery at the annual North American Spine Society (NASS) Meeting, in San Francisco, California. Integra acquired the Paramount(R) system in September 2009 as a result of the acquisition of certain assets of Innovative Spinal Technologies, Inc. The Paramount(R) System will be made available to a select group of surgeons, following the introduction at NASS.

Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corporation has announced the launch of the CUSA ShearTip(TM) for its CUSA EXcel(R) Ultrasonic Surgical Tissue Ablation platform that includes the CUSA EXcel(R) and the CUSA EXcel(R)+ systems. The CUSA ShearTip(TM) has received 510(k) clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and CE Mark Certification in the European Union. The new tip design will expand the use of the CUSA EXcel(R) platform in neurosurgical applications and beyond.