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October 2015

 

 

academics

 

Clinical research courses

A preliminary research presented at a US medical conference suggests that cancer drug may be helpful in improving memory and motor skills in patients with Parkinson's disease. The trial at Georgetown University involved 12 people who had Parkinson's or a related condition called Lewy body dementia.

Johnson & Johnson's Stelara was significantly better than placebo at inducing clinical response and remissions in patients with moderate to severe Crohn's disease. Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract that affects about 700,000 Americans and 250,000 Europeans. Symptoms can include frequent diarrhea, abdominal pain and rectal bleeding. Stelara, a biotech medicine that blocks inflammation, is approved to treat the skin condition scaly plaque psoriasis and a type of arthritis associated with psoriasis.

Orfit Industries has received CE and FDA clearance for its “HP PRO Solution” an innovative immobilization system for use in proton therapy. Orfit’s HP PRO Solution patient immobilization system has been designed to meet the very specific requirements associated with proton therapy. It includes a homogeneous low-density immobilization device with a narrow carbon fiber patient board in the head and neck area, allowing for closer range positions of the head of the proton machine. The board is a lightweight carbon fiber structure with good dosimetric properties. Nanor® thermoplastic mask are used to immobilize the head and neck of the patient.

Orfit Nanor® masks softly mold around the face, fitting like a glove. Comparison shows that immobilization masks developed by its competitors tend to be tighter and therefore less comfortable. The Nanor® material is less sensitive to shrinkage, an important feature for patients undergoing this type of lengthy treatment. However, thanks to the use of nanotechnology the masks offer a similar stability and reproducibility as the standard Orfit Efficast masks.

Orfit provides thermoplastic masks to be molded over the patient and securely and easily fastened to the patient board. Besides being thin and stable, the new thermoplastic material is very light, and contributes positively to the patient’s comfort. Like all other radiotherapy devices made by Orfit, the thermoplastic material is fully biocompatible and environmentally sustainable. Besides its reduced shipping costs because of a substantial gain in weight, its production requires less energy and the product can be recycled.

An important reason why more than average attention is paid to patient comfort is that proton therapy is increasingly being used in pediatric treatment. Comfort is imperative, considering that proton therapy sessions can take up to one hour whereas conventional radiation therapy sessions usually last only 10 to 15 minutes. With its specially designed and compatible fixation systems, the Orfit HP PRO Solution offers maximal immobilization required for the treatment to be successful.


It is not the first time that sophisticated Orfit technology is applied in high performance medical treatment. Elekta, a Swedish company and market leader in brain radiosurgery, selected Nanor®-reinforced masks and fixation systems developed by Orfit for treatment with its newest Gamma Knife, a high-precision irradiation machine for radiosurgery, ensuring extremely low levels of stress for the patient.


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Children who receive antibiotics throughout the course of their childhood gain weight significantly faster than those who do not, says a new study. The findings suggest that early antibiotics use may have a compounding effect on body mass index (BMI), a measure often used to determine whether someone is at a healthy weight.

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The contract development and manufacturing organisation, Recipharm AB (publ) entered into an agreement whereby it will acquire a majority stake in Nitin Lifesciences Limited (“Nitin”), an Indian sterile injectables CMO, currently owned by the Sobti family.