Surgeons and dentists often use Gelfoam sponges to mop up blood and help stop bleeding. Could they act as drug-eluting devices to grow new heart tissue? While current heart-attack treatments mainly try to preserve healthy heart tissue, scientists have been finding ways to stimulate growth of new tissue to replace the tissue that’s damaged. They’ve [...]
The Gutenberg press disseminated ideas to a wider society. But in the clinical world, much information is still on "lockdown." (Wikimedia Commons) The best things in life are free: friends, sunny days, beautiful vistas. Wouldn’t it be nice if knowledge were also free? Historically, libraries promulgated knowledge sharing because it was for the public good. [...]
Small interfering RNAs, or siRNAs, could be great targeted treatment tools for breast and other cancers. The problem is making sure they get packaged and delivered to where they need to go. (pscf11/Flickr) Breast cancers whose cells carry the HER2 protein are pretty tough customers. They only account for about 20 percent of all breast [...]
Excess brain electrical activity at night can disrupt development — but if found, may be treatable. This is the second post in a series about new approaches for seizures and epilepsy. Read the first post here. When a 2- or 3-year-old child begins losing milestones like language, walking skills and fine motor abilities, or is [...]
This comfy wristband can sound an alarm when a child is having a seizure, and can help doctors better time medication dosing. This is the first post in a series about new approaches for seizures and epilepsy. Seizures are often hard to track in children with epilepsy, making it difficult for doctors to optimize their [...]
As finals approach and the lure of summer vacation beckons, just about everyone wants to be somewhere–anywhere–else. It’s the perfect time of year to celebrate a children’s classic and explore some times and places other than our own. Madeleine L’Engle’s Newbery Award-winning novel, A Wrinkle in Time, was published 50 years ago in 1962. Her [...]
Naomi Fried, PhD, is Boston Children’s Hospital’s chief innovation officer. This post is adapted from her opening keynote address this week at the Institute for Health Technology Transformation (iHT2) annual conference in Atlanta. Fried giving the opening keynote at iHT2 CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE KEYNOTE Innovation is one of the most talked-about subjects in [...]
IDEO's Rodrigo Martinez believes we all have the power to improve people's lives by gleaning small insights from everyday interactions “What is the purpose of healthcare?” To a room full of doctors, nurses and other healthcare experts at Boston Children’s Hospital, it was a startling question—justifying why they save lives was not part of their [...]
Nestled in the pons (the red area above), the area that controls breathing, DIPG tumors have been impossible to biopsy and analyze for therapeutic insights. Until now. (MEXT Integrated Database Project/Wikimedia Commons) Brain tumors can be very difficult to treat, but at least we know what to do about them. For years, a mix of [...]
Lewis Silverman, MD, thinks he may have a powerful new tool for treating children with relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia. (VashiDonsk/Wikimedia Commons) The news that your child has cancer always comes as a shock, but for one cancer, acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), parents can take comfort in the fact that doctors are really good at treating [...]