SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Polycom, Inc. (PLCM), the global leader in open standards-based unified communications, today announced that Orlando Health is responding much more quickly to stroke alerts by using Polycom RealPresence Mobile and other Polycom video collaboration solutions. Time is of the essence when a patient has suffered a stroke, and treatment must be administered within a narrow window of time to minimize the likelihood of brain damage. Polycom video collaboration allows neurologists working offsite, whether in another hospital or at home, to conduct thorough assessments of stroke victims and initiate treatment faster. Polycom RealPresence Mobile just made it even easier with its new remote, far-end camera control feature that equips neurologists with a way to examine patients in closer detail by controlling what they can see on the patient directly from their tablet or device, such as the pupils of the patients eyes. (Watch the related video; see related RealPresence Mobile 1.3 press release; and see announcement on significant enhancements to the Polycom RealPresence Platform for enterprises.) Treating Stroke Patients Sooner Improves Outcome According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. Someone in the U.S. suffers … Continue reading →

REDWOOD SHORES, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/16/12 -- Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) News Facts To support its vision of beating cancer in the United Kingdom, Cancer Research UK, the world's largest not-for-profit cancer research organization, will be working with Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center as the foundation for a new analytical environment that will help the charity combine the genetic and clinical data from its Stratified Medicine Programme. Together with AstraZeneca, Pfizer and the UK government's Technology Strategy Board, Cancer Research UK is working to demonstrate a national service that will provide standardized, high-quality and cost-effective genetic testing of tumors linked to clinical data. This system has already tested two thousand tumors from patients across 24 clinical sites, and set up data capture covering diagnostics, genetics, treatment and outcomes. Cancer Research UK will use Cohort Explorer which is part of the Oracle Health Sciences Translational Research Center to create a flexible, web-accessible analytical platform and interface that enables program affiliates to effectively and rapidly search and retrieve anonymized diagnostic, treatment and outcome data to accelerate research. The platform will enable researchers and physicians to gain the insight needed to identify patient populations with similar characteristics and advance personalized cancer treatments. … Continue reading →

CARLSBAD, Calif., July 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) today announced the acquisition of Navigenics, Inc. This acquisition represents Life Technologies' first step in executing against a strategy to build out its molecular diagnostics business through internal development, partnerships and select acquisitions. "Genetic analysis is becoming increasingly accessible, cost-effective and a critical part of patient clinical management," said David Agus, M.D. co-founder of Navigenics, professor of Medicine and Engineering at the University of Southern California, and author of The End of Illness. "As a result, physicians have more complete and accurate information about the patient than ever before, which is translating into more effective, individualized care programs for patients." "The advent of personalized medicine will require a combination of technologies and informatics focused on delivering relevant information to the treating physician," said Ronnie Andrews, president of Medical Sciences at Life Technologies. "Navigenics has pioneered the synthesis and communication of complex genomic information, and we will now pivot the company's effort to date and focus on becoming a comprehensive provider of technology and informatics to pathologists and oncologists worldwide." Navigenics' multidisciplinary expertise, including its technology infrastructure, user interfaces, online platforms, genomic support services, and an experienced team, will play … Continue reading →

(Phys.org) -- University of Florida researchers have moved a step closer to treating diseases on a cellular level by creating a tiny particle that can be programmed to shut down the genetic production line that cranks out disease-related proteins. In laboratory tests, these newly created nanorobots all but eradicated hepatitis C virus infection. The programmable nature of the particle makes it potentially useful against diseases such as cancer and other viral infections. The research effort, led by Y. Charles Cao, a UF associate professor of chemistry, and Dr. Chen Liu, a professor of pathology and endowed chair in gastrointestinal and liver research in the UF College of Medicine, is described online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This is a novel technology that may have broad application because it can target essentially any gene we want, Liu said. This opens the door to new fields so we can test many other things. Were excited about it. During the past five decades, nanoparticles particles so small that tens of thousands of them can fit on the head of a pin have emerged as a viable foundation for new ways to diagnose, monitor and treat disease. Nanoparticle-based … Continue reading →