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The Tumor
"The Tumor" is a short story by John Grisham, telling about the focused ultrasound process through the case of a fictional character named Paul. This story was not released through Grisham's usual publisher, but instead was published for a free eBook on the website of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation, on whose board Grisham serves. Grisham's purpose in writing this short story was to increase awareness about the promising new medical therapy. The use of focused ultrasound is not yet approved for use on brain tumors, but ''The Tumor'' takes place in a time when the therapy is in regular use. Unlike most short stories, the story is as much informational as narrative, and includes medical illustrations and brain scan images. The book's cover includes the subtitle ''A Non-Legal Thriller''. On Grisham's website, in a letter introducing ''The Tumor'', Grisham states "It's the most important book I've ever written." Plot Paul is a 35-year-old man with a family, who is in good health. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Grisham
John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 consecutive number-one fiction bestsellers, and his books have sold 300 million copies worldwide. Along with Tom Clancy and J. K. Rowling, J.K. Rowling, Grisham is one of only three anglophone authors to have sold two million copies on the first printing. Grisham graduated from Mississippi State University and earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1981. He practiced criminal law for about a decade and served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990. Grisham's first novel, ''A Time to Kill (Grisham novel), A Time to Kill,'' was published in June 1989, four years after he began writing it. It was later adapted into the 1996 feature film of the A Time to Kill (1996 film), same name. Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Focused Ultrasound
High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), or MR-guided focused ultrasound surgery (MR-guided focused ultrasound ablation), is an incisionless therapeutic technique that uses non-ionizing ultrasonic waves to heat or ablate tissue. HIFU can be used to increase the flow of blood or lymph or to destroy tissue, such as tumors, via thermal and mechanical mechanisms. Given the prevalence and relatively low cost of ultrasound generation mechanisms, the premise of HIFU is that it is expected to be a non-invasive and low-cost therapy that can at least outperform care in the operating room. The technology is different from that used in ultrasonic imaging, though lower frequencies and continuous, rather than pulsed, waves are used to achieve the necessary thermal doses. However, pulsed waves may also be used if mechanical rather than thermal damage is desired. Acoustic lenses are often used to achieve the necessary intensity at the target tissue without damaging the surrounding tissue. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Focused Ultrasound Foundation
The Focused Ultrasound Foundation (FUSF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, that promotes the use of image-guided focused ultrasound. The foundation is primarily funded through philanthropic donations. History The Foundation was formed on the third of January in 2005, and received charity status in November of the same year. In October 2005 the Foundation hosted the 5th International Symposium on Therapeutic Ultrasound, at Harvard Medical School, which resulted in the largest-ever gathering of world experts in the use of ultrasound for the treatment of cancer and other disorders. Under the Foundation's charter it operates as an unincorporated association. Formerly known as Foundation for Focused Ultrasound Research and Focused Ultrasound Surgery Foundation. In December 2019, Physics for Medicine Paris was inaugurated as a Center of Excellence, focusing on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medical Illustration
Medical illustration is the practice of creating illustrations or animations to visually represent medical or biological subjects that may be difficult to explain only using words. History Medical illustrations have been made possibly since the beginning of medicine in any case for hundreds (or thousands) of years. Many illuminated manuscripts and Arabic scholarly treatises of the medieval period contained illustrations representing various anatomical systems (circulatory, nervous, urogenital), pathologies, or treatment methodologies. Many of these illustrations can look odd to modern eyes, since they reflect early reliance on classical scholarship (especially Galen) rather than direct observation, and the representation of internal structures can be fanciful. An early high-water mark was the 1543 CE publication of Andreas Vesalius's '' De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septum'', which contained more than 600 exquisite woodcut illustrations based on careful observation of human d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brain Scan
Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Increasingly it is also being used for quantitative research studies of brain disease and psychiatric illness. Neuroimaging is highly multidisciplinary involving neuroscience, computer science, psychology and statistics, and is not a medical specialty. Neuroimaging is sometimes confused with neuroradiology. Neuroradiology is a medical specialty that uses non-statistical brain imaging in a clinical setting, practiced by radiologists who are medical practitioners. Neuroradiology primarily focuses on recognizing brain lesions, such as vascular diseases, strokes, tumors, and inflammatory diseases. In contrast to neuroimaging, neuroradiology is qualitative (based on subjective impressions and extensive clinical training) but sometimes uses basic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glioma
A glioma is a type of primary tumor that starts in the glial cells of the brain or spinal cord. They are malignant but some are extremely slow to develop. Gliomas comprise about 30% of all brain and central nervous system tumors and 80% of all malignant brain tumors. They are a few common types that include astrocytoma (cancer of astrocytes), glioblastoma (an aggressive form of astrocytoma), oligodendroglioma (cancer of oligodendrocytes), and ependymoma (cancer of ependymal cells). Signs and symptoms Symptoms of gliomas depend on the part of the central nervous system (CNS) that is affected. A brain glioma can cause headaches, vomiting, memory loss, seizures, vision problems, speech difficulties, and cranial nerve disorders as a result of increased intracranial pressure. Cognitive impairments such as vision loss arise in glioma patients when a tumor arises in or around their optic nerve. Spinal cord gliomas can cause pain, weakness, or numbness in the extremities ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy regimen, regimen. Chemotherapy may be given with a cure, curative intent (which almost always involves combinations of drugs), or it may aim only to prolong life or to Palliative care, reduce symptoms (Palliative care, palliative chemotherapy). Chemotherapy is one of the major categories of the medical discipline specifically devoted to pharmacotherapy for cancer, which is called ''oncology#Specialties, medical oncology''. The term ''chemotherapy'' now means the non-specific use of intracellular poisons to inhibit mitosis (cell division) or to induce DNA damage (naturally occurring), DNA damage (so that DNA repair can augment chemotherapy). This meaning excludes the more-selective agents that block extracellular signals (signal transduction) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiation Treatment
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer therapy to either kill or control the growth of malignant cells. It is normally delivered by a linear particle accelerator. Radiation therapy may be curative in a number of types of cancer if they are localized to one area of the body, and have not spread to other parts. It may also be used as part of adjuvant therapy, to prevent tumor recurrence after surgery to remove a primary malignant tumor (for example, early stages of breast cancer). Radiation therapy is synergistic with chemotherapy, and has been used before, during, and after chemotherapy in susceptible cancers. The subspecialty of oncology concerned with radiotherapy is called radiation oncology. A physician who practices in this subspecialty is a radiation oncologist. Radiation therapy is commonly applied to the cancerous tumor because of its ability to control cell growth. Ionizing radi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible Signs and symptoms of cancer, signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bleeding, prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in defecation, bowel movements. While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they can also have other causes. List of cancer types, Over 100 types of cancers affect humans. Tobacco use is the cause of about 22% of cancer deaths. Another 10% are due to obesity, poor Diet (nutrition), diet, sedentary lifestyle, lack of physical activity or Alcohol abuse, excessive alcohol consumption. Other factors include certain infections, exposure to ionizing radiation, and environmental pollutants. infectious causes of cancer, Infection with specific viruses, bacteria and parasites is an environmental factor cau ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is the most aggressive and most common type of cancer that originates in the brain, and has a very poor prognosis for survival. Initial signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nonspecific. They may include headaches, personality changes, nausea, and symptoms similar to those of a stroke. Symptoms often worsen rapidly and may progress to unconsciousness. The cause of most cases of glioblastoma is not known. Uncommon risk factors include genetic disorders, such as neurofibromatosis and Li–Fraumeni syndrome, and previous radiation therapy. Glioblastomas represent 15% of all brain tumors. They are thought to arise from astrocytes. The diagnosis typically is made by a combination of a CT scan, MRI scan, and tissue biopsy. There is no known method of preventing the cancer. Treatment usually involves surgery, after which chemotherapy and radiation therapy are used. The medication temozolomide is frequently used a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outpatient Procedure
A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care provider. Etymology The word patient originally meant 'one who suffers'. This English noun comes from the Latin word , the present participle of the deponent verb, , meaning , and akin to the Greek verb ( ) and its cognate noun (). This language has been construed as meaning that the role of patients is to passively accept and tolerate the suffering and treatments prescribed by the healthcare providers, without engaging in shared decision-making about their care. Outpatients and inpatients An outpatient (or out-patient) is a patient who attends an outpatient clinic with no plan to stay beyond the duration of the visit. Even if the patient will not be formally admitted with a note as an outpatient, their attendance is s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clinical Trial
Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel vaccines, pharmaceutical drug, drugs, medical nutrition therapy, dietary choices, dietary supplements, and medical devices) and known interventions that warrant further study and comparison. Clinical trials generate data on dosage, safety and efficacy. They are conducted only after they have received institutional review board, health authority/ethics committee approval in the country where approval of the therapy is sought. These authorities are responsible for vetting the risk/benefit ratio of the trial—their approval does not mean the therapy is 'safe' or effective, only that the trial may be conducted. Depending on product type and development stage, investigators initially enroll volunteers or patients into small Pilot experiment, pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
