Surgery

Cutting-edge surgical tools are often made with state-of-the-art technology, which can limit their overall accessibility. In an effort to expand surgical options for tumor removal, a team is developing a compact fluorescence-guided surgery system crafted from cost-effective, off-the-shelf components, an advance that could significantly reduce costs compared with current commercially available approaches. Their frugally designed system was evaluated in a mouse model and was recently reported in Scientific Reports.

Researchers from the Vienna Lung Transplant Program of MedUni Vienna and University Hospital Vienna have published the first prospective, randomized and controlled study on the use of extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) in lung transplantation in the European Respiratory Journal. The findings could significantly change the standard procedure for rejection reactions after lung transplants.

Women are less likely to receive a lung transplant and spend an average of six weeks longer on the waiting list, according to a study published in ERJ Open Research. However, women who receive a lung transplant are more likely than men to live for five years post-transplant. Based on their findings, the researchers encourage changes in regulation and clinical guidelines to address this inequality.