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How Apple Accidentally Revolutionized Health Care

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By Keith Speights, The Motley Fool

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Apple didn’t necessarily intend to revolutionize health care, but that’s exactly what happened. Health care has changed dramatically since Steve Jobs first stood in front of an audience to introduce first the iPhone then later the iPad. Much of that change can be directly attributed to Apple.

 

Source: 3D4Medical.

Apples and doctors
It used to be said that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. That could still be applicable, but the opposite is true for doctors and Apple. Physicians love their iPhones and iPads.

A study by Manhattan Research in 2011 found that 75% of physicians owned at least one Apple product. Vitera Healthcare‘s 2012 survey of health-care professionals backed up this high number. The company’s study found that 60% of respondents used an iPhone and 45% owned an iPad.

The real revolution, though, has come from how physicians and other health-care professionals are using Apple’s devices. Mobile applications opened the door for clinicians to instantly access a world of medical information at the point of care.

For example, WebMD‘s Medscape application allows physicians to check drug interactions, look up information about procedures, and see medical news updates on the fly. Medscape ranks first among the most frequently downloaded medical apps for iPhones and iPads.

Yale University’s School of Medicine even did away with paper materials for training upcoming physicians. The school provided iPads and wireless keyboards to all of its medical students. Other schools followed suit.

Health eVillages’ experience underscores the transformational impact of Apple’s technology. The not-for-profit organization provides mobile health technology to medical professionals in areas such as Kenya and Haiti. Lives have been saved that otherwise would have been lost, thanks to doctors in remote areas who use an iPad to access needed information.

Use of Apple’s products goes beyond serving as a reference tool, though. An application that allows radiologists to view MRIs as well as CT, PET, and SPECT scans on iPhones and iPads received FDA approval in 2011. More recently, the FDA cleared the way for privately held Welch Allyn to connect its portable ophthalmoscope to an iPhone for doctors to view retinal images using the company’s app.

iPatients
Apple perhaps unwittingly opened new horizons for patients also. By April 2012, the company’s App Store included more than 13,600 health-related applications.

A peek at some of the current top-selling apps shows how much Apple’s technology has empowered patients. One application allows individuals to monitor their sleep cycles. Another provides a detailed guide to help expectant mothers through their pregnancies.

Pharmaceutical companies are getting into the act. For example, Vivus recently introduced an app for iPhones (and Android phones) that complements its weight-loss drug. The app allows patients to record what they eat and track their weight plus receive regular information updates.

Vital Art and Science recently gained FDA approval to sell its myVisionTrack product, which enables people with macular degeneration and other degenerative eye diseases to monitor their

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Preclinical Data Presented at AACR Describe a Mechanism of Action of Cabozantinib in a Prostate Canc

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Preclinical Data Presented at AACR Describe a Mechanism of Action of Cabozantinib in a Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis Model

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Exelixis, Inc. (NAS: EXEL) announced the presentation of preclinical data that provide insight into the mechanism of action of its lead compound, cabozantinib, with respect to its activity against prostate cancer tumors that have metastasized to the bone. Timothy Graham, a researcher at The Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK, presented the data (abstract #3924) today in a poster presentation session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2013, which is being held April 6-10, 2013, in Washington, D.C.

Previously reported clinical findings with cabozantinib in castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients with bone metastases have included a 67% rate of bone scan response, reduced 99Tc-MDP uptake, and reductions in plasma markers of osteoclast activity. In addition, an increase in tumor apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measured using diffusion-weighted MRI was reported in a cabozantinib-treated CRPC patient with a bone scan response. Based on these observations, studies of cabozantinib in preclinical models of prostate cancer bone metastases were undertaken to understand the mechanism(s) of action underlying these effects.

In the poster presented today, the investigators reported on a refined prostate cancer bone metastasis model that develops many of the features associated with bone metastases in CRPC patients. In this model, injection of VCaP prostate cancer cells expressing luciferase (to allow bioluminescent imaging of tumors) into the tibiae of mice induced aberrant bone remodeling and development of tumor bone lesions. Both histological analysis of tissue sections and radiological imaging showed the development of extensive osteosclerosis, with abnormal new bone protruding from the tibiae as well as osteolysis resulting in destruction of normal bone structures. This was accompanied by increased numbers of osteoclasts at the sites of bone remodeling. A large increase in 99Tc-methylene diphosphonate (MDP) uptake was observed at the site of the bone lesions as measured by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging. 99Tc-MDP bone scans are routinely employed in clinical practice to detect bone metastases in CRPC patients.

Treatment of tumor-bearing animals with cabozantinib resulted in rapid and substantial inhibition of tumor growth evident by both bioluminescent and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. Monitoring tumors in cabozantinib-treated animals using diffusion-weighted MRI showed a significant increase in the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) compared to tumors in vehicle-treated animals. Increases in ADC are the result of increased mobility of water molecules in the tumor, and have been shown to correlate with tumor cell death. Consistent with these findings, histological …read more

Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

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Navidea and Collaborator Molecular Neuroimaging Enroll First Subject in NAV5001 Clinical Trial

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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Navidea and Collaborator Molecular Neuroimaging Enroll First Subject in NAV5001 Clinical Trial

Study to investigate [ 123 I] NAV5001 SPECT imaging as a tool to evaluate dopamine transporters in the brain as start of program in Dementia with Lewy Bodies

DUBLIN, Ohio–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT: NAVB), a biopharmaceutical company focused on precision diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, today announced that collaborators at Molecular Neuroimaging, LLC (MNI) in New Haven, CT have enrolled the first subject in a clinical study to investigate the performance of [123I]NAV5001 in a SPECT imaging procedure in connection with Navidea’s program to evaluate NAV5001 in Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB).

“This collaborative investigator-initiated study is an important first step in recommencing a full clinical development program for NAV5001 since our in-licensing this candidate in late 2012,” said Dr. Mark Pykett, Navidea’s President and CEO. “Collaborations such as this are integral to Navidea’s strategy to efficiently and effectively advance the development of our promising radiopharmaceutical pipeline and representative of our focus of being a leader in the field of precision diagnostics.”

“The study is the first leg of our program to evaluate the utility of NAV5001 in DLB, the leading form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease and an important potential indication for NAV5001 medically and commercially,” commented Cornelia Reininger, MD, PhD, Navidea’s Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. “During 2013, we look forward to following this study with the initiation of a Company-sponsored Phase 2b study of NAV5001 in DLB as well as the anticipated start of the Company’s pivotal parallel Phase 3 registration studies of NAV5001 as an aid in the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonian syndromes.”

The goal of this single center, open-label, investigator-initiated study will be to assess the distribution, safety and tolerability of NAV5001 as an agent to evaluate the integrity of the dopamine transporters in the brain, using healthy volunteers. NAV5001 is an investigational radiopharmaceutical imaging agent being developed as an aid in the differential diagnosis of Parkinsonian syndromes, including Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders, as well as Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). Danna Jennings, MD, Clinical Research Director at MNI will lead the investigator-initiated clinical study.

About NAV5001

[123I]NAV5001 is a patented, novel, small molecule radiopharmaceutical used with single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging to identify the status of specific regions in the brains of patients suspected of having Parkinson’s disease. The …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance