Word: ultrasounds
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...variety of reasons, radiologists in the U.S. tend to err on the side of caution. That is, they identify lots of "abnormalities," of which only 2% to 11% prove to be cancerous--either DCIS or an invasive tumor. Sometimes a second mammogram or an ultrasound provides the necessary reassurance. Other times, a biopsy--which entails the removal of some breast tissue--is required to resolve any ambiguity. Here the odds of finding cancer rise to about 25%, which means that 75% of biopsies come back negative...
Eventually, women may be able to forgo surgery entirely. Doctors at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas in Houston and the Weill Cornell Center in New York City are experimenting with high-frequency radio waves that can literally cook tumors from the inside. Using ultrasound to guide them, doctors insert a multipronged probe into a tumor. The prongs open up like the spokes of an umbrella and melt malignant cells without burning surrounding breast tissue. So far, the procedure has been performed only on women who were planning to get a mastectomy or lumpectomy anyway...
...Hospital in Boston. “We work as an escort service. Not escorting nurses,” he says, almost automatically, without pausing in his narrative to see if anyone will give him an appreciative chuckle. Griffin’s job actually entails escorting patients from ultrasound rooms to hospital rooms and anywhere else they need to be. With the floppy white hair and stream of self-deprecating and ridiculous humor, Steve Griffin seems like he would be a comforting person for a sick and scared child to look up at from a wheelchair. Or, for that matter...
Langer has also pioneered remote-control systems in which the rate at which the drug is released can be varied using ultrasound, electric pulses and even magnetic fields. This team has recently developed the prototype of an implantable "pharmacy-on-a-chip" that they hope someday will not only monitor a patient's blood chemistry but also prescribe a carefully measured dose of the proper medicine precisely when it's needed...
Doctors are already exploring ways to make bypass operations easier on the brain. Some surgeons, for example, try to minimize the risk of shaking loose a clot by scanning the aorta with ultrasound for plaque-free regions at which to attach the heart-lung machine. Another option being tested in the U.S. is to stick a filter into the aorta to catch any wayward debris...