Measures that help improve clinical trial outcomes by increasing the likelihood of a clear, interpretable signal and avoiding unnecessary trial failure are therefore of great potential value.

TORONTO (PRWEB)
May 31, 2023

Clinical trials have a high failure rate, even for those compounds that have demonstrated efficacy in Phase 2 in the target population. CNS trials are associated with some of the highest failure rates and pose unique challenges. Clinical trials in CNS/neuroscience are complex and prone to producing uninterpretable or ambiguous results. This can have grave effects on the development of potentially effective treatments — leading to program delay or cancellation, as well as company failure. Measures that help improve clinical trial outcomes by increasing the likelihood of a clear, interpretable signal and avoiding unnecessary trial failure are therefore of great potential value.

Top reasons for trial failure are the inability to demonstrate efficacy as well as safety issues that arise during the trials. While protocols are carefully designed to enroll the appropriate subject pool, Syneos Health has found that about 10 percent of subjects considered appropriate by sites for trial inclusion, did not meet protocol criteria. The enrollment of unsuitable subjects has the potential to have a significant financial cost to sponsors as well as risk signal detection.

So how can an eligibility review enhance clinical trial outcomes?

Join experts from Syneos Health and Karuna Pharmaceuticals as they discuss their strategy implemented by Syneos Health CST (Clinical Surveillance and Training) to help sites identify suitable subjects, minimize noise, protect study investment and help obtain clearer results.

Join Dr. Stephen Brannan, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Karuna Therapeutics; Beth Eisenberg, PhD, Director, BU Ops (Scientific Director), Clinical Surveillance & Training (CST) Neurosciences, Syneos Health; Dr. Leslie Moldauer, MD, MBA, Vice President, Medical Director, Syneos Health; and Zelma Gandy-Don Sing, PhD, Lead Clinical Scientist, Syneos Health, for the live webinar on Monday, June 19, 2023, at 11am EDT (4pm BST/UK).

For more information, or to register for this event, visit How Eligibility Review Can Enhance Clinical Trial Outcomes.

ABOUT XTALKS

Xtalks, powered by Honeycomb Worldwide Inc., is a leading provider of educational webinars to the global life science, food and medical device community. Every year, thousands of industry practitioners (from life science, food and medical device companies, private & academic research institutions, healthcare centers, etc.) turn to Xtalks for access to quality content. Xtalks helps Life Science professionals stay current with industry developments, trends and regulations. Xtalks webinars also provide perspectives on key issues from top industry thought leaders and service providers.

To learn more about Xtalks visit http://xtalks.com

For information about hosting a webinar visit http://xtalks.com/why-host-a-webinar/

Contact:

Vera Kovacevic

Tel: +1 (416) 977-6555 x371

Email: vkovacevic@xtalks.com

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Colleen Reid, Carson Valley Health CFO

We chose Sixth Sense and Impensa® for their sophisticated service line and profitability reporting. We also really appreciate how affordable the SMaRT Analytics™ platform is given our expected ROI, and how fast it will be implemented.

NORTHFIELD, Ill. (PRWEB)
May 31, 2023

The operational intelligence platform will provide service line profitability and analytics that will enable service line leader accountability, new cardiac program cost management, and more.

Sixth Sense Intelligence announced recently that Carson Valley Health, a comprehensive community healthcare system in Gardnerville, Nevada, is implementing the company’s SMaRT Analytics™ platform integrated with cost accounting data services provided by Impensa®. Outsourcing analytics to Sixth Sense Intelligence will enable Carson Valley Health to optimize processes, reduce costs, and make data-driven decisions despite minimal reporting staff.

User friendly dashboards highlighting profitability and cost analytics will support an initiative to hold service line leaders accountable for financial performance and help leadership effectively understand and manage costs for new and existing programs, including an expansion project planned for 2024 that will double their square footage.

“We chose Sixth Sense and Impensa® for their sophisticated service line and profitability reporting,” said Colleen Reid, chief financial officer at Carson Valley Health. “We also really appreciate how affordable the SMaRT Analytics™ platform is given our expected ROI, and how fast it will be implemented.”

“In addition to their focus on Orthopedics, Carson Valley Health is also launching a cardiac program and needs to clearly understand their true costs,” says Les Rescorl, CEO at Sixth Sense Intelligence. “Impensa® provides an innovative, streamlined process for capturing the actual cost of a patient with seamless integration into our SMaRT Analytics™ platform. This provides transparency and a detailed understanding of cost to support service line profitability analytics”.

By partnering with Sixth Sense Intelligence, Carson Valley Health joins a growing list of healthcare providers who are gaining fast ROI with SMaRT Analytics™. To learn more about how SMaRT Analytics™ can benefit your organization, contact Sixth Sense Intelligence for a demonstration.

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About Sixth Sense Intelligence

Sixth Sense Intelligence provides actionable operational intelligence, enabling quick answers to the most pressing problems facing healthcare organizations today. The company’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) SMaRT Analytics™ platform and expert consulting services help healthcare executives quickly standardize and streamline data to identify substantial revenue and cost savings.

About Impensa®

Impensa® is a healthcare data-as-a-service (DaaS) partner specializing in providing supply chain standardization, product benchmarking, and cost accounting data services. Their cost management platform provides seamless integration with Sixth Sense Intelligence SMaRT Analytics™ to provide easy access to transparent, accurate cost data.

About Carson Valley Health

Located in Gardnerville, Nevada, Carson Valley Health (CVH) is a comprehensive community healthcare system, providing quality care to the residents of Carson Valley and surrounding areas. A joint partnership of Barton HealthCare System of South Lake Tahoe and Renown Health of Reno, CVH is a non-profit, state-accredited healthcare organization with a critical access hospital (23 licensed patient beds), emergency department and outpatient/inpatient surgical services on its main campus in Gardnerville, in addition to five off-site primary care clinics, an urgent care and a host of outpatient and complimentary services.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT

Dave Beto, CEO

Impensa®

847-778-6513

dbeto@impensa-advisors.com

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Our research underscores the necessity of putting patients first when designing self-reporting apps. Meeting patients where they are will enable vast improvements in healthcare, and open clinical research to a massive, diverse patient population. –uMotif Co-founder & Chief Design Officer Ben James

BOSTON and LONDON (PRWEB)
May 31, 2023

How people identify and report pain varies based on ethnicity, according to a University of Manchester study. The study, in collaboration with uMotif, was based on the novel Manchester Digital Pain Manikin self-reporting app which was used by participants to record their pain.

Chronic pain, which affects approximately 28 million people in the UK alone, can create a personal and economic burden. It is essential to accurately measure pain, know its causes, and estimate its impact on people’s lives.

As the study report, Exploring the Cross-cultural Acceptability of Digital Tools for Pain Self-reporting: Qualitative Study, published August 2, 2023 in Volume 10 of the open-access journal JMIR Human Factors describes, researchers aimed to inform the development of cross-culturally acceptable digital pain self-reporting tools by better understanding the similarities and differences between ethnic groups in pain experiences and self-reporting needs.

Professor Will Dixon, Chair in Digital Epidemiology at the University of Manchester, explained, “We are hopeful this study will lead to improvements in accurate and acceptable self-reporting of pain across cultures, so people of different ethnic groups can be assured of actively contributing to better future clinical care and research about their pain, regardless of their background.”

Study participants self-identified as Black African, South Asian, or White British. The researchers demonstrated uMotif’s Manchester Digital Pain Manikin app as a self-reporting tool. Participants used the app to report overall pain intensity on a scale from 0-10; location-specific pain intensity on a 2D gender-neutral body manikin; and a free text pain diary to elaborate on the manikin drawing.

Four main themes emerged from the interpretive analysis: perceived causes of pain; approaches and attitudes to self-treatment and management; frustration and embarrassment in communicating about pain with others; and, lack of experience with formal pain assessment tools.

The inequalities in pain may be partly explained by the influence of culture and ethnicity, which may affect the way people perceive, experience, and communicate pain. People from non-White ethnic backgrounds had different beliefs and perceptions on pain compared to those from White backgrounds, which resulted in internalizing stigma and developing a negative attitude toward medication and pain reporting. People from a South Asian background were less likely to receive pain medication than White patients, and Black individuals may have different pain management preferences and expectations. Despite these differences, all participants agreed on which aspects of pain reporting were important to self-report, such as pain quality, pain causes, feedback of previous pain reports, and availability of a digital device for pain management.

uMotif Co-founder and Chief Design Officer Ben James (LinkedIn) said, “It was an honor for the Digital Pain Manikin app to be used in such an important study. Once again, our research underscores the absolute necessity of putting the patient first when designing self-reporting apps. Making the effort to understand and meet the patient where they are will enable vast improvements in healthcare, and will open clinical research to a massive and diverse patient population.”

The study was led by Syed Mustafa Ali of the University of Manchester. Also participating from the University were Dr. Rebecca R. Lee, Versus Arthritis Research Fellow, Division of Musculoskeletal & Dermatological Sciences; Professor William G. Dixon, Chair in Digital Epidemiology, Director of the Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis; John McBeth, Professor of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Division of Musculoskeletal & Dermatological Sciences; and Dr. Sabine Van Der Veer, Senior Lecturer in Health Informatics, Division of Informatics, Imaging & Data Sciences. Completing the team were uMotif Co-Founder and Chief Design Officer Ben James, and Lead Product Designer Sean McAlister; and Dr. Alessandro Chiarotto, Assistant Professor at the Department of General Practice, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam.

About uMotif

Putting patients first is in uMotif’s DNA. The uMotif eCOA/ePRO platform delivers faster, quality clinical trials and real-world studies by putting patients at the core of research. Through cloud-hosting in the US, Europe and China, the GCP, 21 CFR Part 11 and GDPR-compliant platform supports any study or trial, from Clinical Phase I, II and III studies through to decentralized or virtual real-world studies. Find out how uMotif can improve your clinical research programs and real-world studies at http://www.umotif.com

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Greer Dental Studio in Greer, SC

We are committed to providing our patients with the highest quality of care. We are always looking for ways to improve and make the experience more comfortable for our patients.

GREER, S.C. (PRWEB)
May 31, 2023

Greer Dental Studio is pleased to announce the opening of its new state-of-the-art adult and pediatric dentistry clinic in Greer, SC. The practice is located at 455 S. Buncombe Road and serves patients of all ages. The whole team of staff at Greer Dental Studio is committed to providing high-quality service in a friendly environment where patients feel comfortable discussing their dental needs.

The practice is also launching a new website to provide patients with a convenient resource for learning more about the staff, the services offered, and general information on dental health. It also features a convenient online booking tool, insurance and payment information, and easy access to patient forms. Potential patients can also find reviews and testimonies from prior patients to help them make informed decisions. The new website can be found at https://www.greerdentalstudio.com.

Greer Dental Studio is committed to providing the highest quality of care to its patients and offers a wide range of services, from preventive care to complex dental surgery. The practice is led by Dr. Georgea Thekkethottiyil, DDS (Dr. T), an N.Y.U. College of Dentistry Summa Cum Laude graduate and an active member of the American Dental Association, the South Carolina Dental Association, and the Greenville County Dental Society.

“We are committed to providing our patients with the highest quality of care. We are always looking for ways to improve and make the experience more comfortable for our patients, said Dr. T. “Our team is dedicated to creating a welcoming and relaxing environment where people feel comfortable coming in for routine cleanings or major restorative procedures.”

Dr. T is joined by a dedicated team that’s passionate about dental health and helping patients achieve the smile they’ve always wanted. Greer Dental Care is equipped with the latest in dental technology, including Shick Digital Scanners and Digital Workflow. The practice is committed to providing the highest quality of care to patients of all ages and offers a wide range of dental services, including:

• 
  Pediatric dentistry: Cleanings, sealants, fillings, fluoride treatments, x-rays, custom mouthguards, and more.
• General dentistry: Oral exams, cleanings, X-rays, oral appliances, and other preventative care
• Restorative dentistry: Fillings, crowns, bridges, and dentures
• Cosmetic dentistry: Teeth whitening, porcelain veneers, cosmetic bonding, and Invisalign
• Periodontal treatment: Gum disease treatment, periodontal surgery, and tooth extractions
• Endodontics: Root canal therapy and endodontic retreatment
• Sedation dentistry: Nitrous oxide sedation and oral conscious sedation
• TMJ treatment: TMJ treatment, TMD therapy, and bite correction
• Emergency dentistry: Knocked out teeth, broken teeth, and treatment for other dental emergencies

About Greer Dental Studio

Greer Dental Studio is a full-service dental practice at 455 S. Buncombe Road in Greer, SC 29650, serving patients of all ages. The office is open Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 8 am to 12 pm. To make an appointment, call 864-259-2590 or request an appointment online at https://www.greerdentalstudio.com.

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Unitek Learning is the parent company of several distinguished learning institutions: Unitek College, Unitek EMT, Unitek Training Healthcare, Eagle Gate College, Provo College, and Brookline College.

We can’t wait to see what they’ll do in their healthcare careers.

BOISE, Idaho (PRWEB)
May 31, 2023

In the spring of 2023, 14 exceptional students will graduate from a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program in Boise, Idaho. These individuals will attend their pinning ceremony alongside graduates of the Practical Nursing (PN) program and the Masters Entry Nursing Program (MEPN) at the Boise campus. Despite the challenges they faced, these graduates rose to the occasion and completed this blended program.

“We have eight BSN instructors that go above and beyond to support their students. Each instructor applies their own unique and effective teaching philosophy to help establish successful students,” said Pete Traxler, the Campus Director at Boise. “Without the security and support that a formal program provides, it can be almost impossible to succeed. We strive to ensure that our students have room to grow, achieve, and live their best professional lives. Our ultimate goal is to produce skilled graduates and help combat the nursing shortage crisis in the United States.”

The BSN program is ideal for anyone looking to earn their nursing degree and advance their career. Since Eagle Gate College offers a blended-online nursing program, BSN students at Boise can complete some of their courses online. While on campus, students learn from experienced instructors and gain hands-on experience at various facilities. From smaller class sizes to a virtual reality laboratory, the BSN program at Boise is designed to provide each student with an enriching experience.

“We are so thrilled for our graduates in Boise,” said Janis Paulson, Chief Executive Officer at Unitek Learning. “Not only did they enroll in a rewarding but challenging program, but they did so amidst a period of global unrest. It shaped their curriculum and learning experiences. Despite the surreal circumstances, these graduates tackled unusual issues and successfully completed their program. We can’t wait to see what they’ll do in their healthcare careers.”

Unitek Learning is the parent company of several distinguished learning institutions: Unitek College, Unitek EMT, Unitek Training Healthcare, Eagle Gate College, Provo College, and Brookline College. Unitek programs teach the clinical practices and theory used in the field today. Equipped with a multitude of sought-after skills, Unitek graduates are prepared to excel in many of the fastest-growing careers in healthcare and nursing.

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By mimicking blood flow patterns in the human body, engineers improve the safety and efficacy of artificial lungs, a potential benefit to critical care patients and combat casualties.

“Here we report on development and demonstration of the first microfluidic respiratory assist device at a clinical scale, demonstrating efficient oxygen transfer at blood flow rates of 750 milliliters per minute, the highest ever reported for a microfluidic device,” said Draper and AREVA.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (PRWEB)
May 30, 2023

A mechanical device for oxygenating blood outside the human body, essentially functioning as an artificial lung, is taking a leap forward fifty years after its debut. The original device in clinical use today, called ECMO, which stands for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, has been reimagined by bioengineers at Draper who took their cues from the way the human body oxygenates blood in the branching circulatory system.

The results, published in the journal Advanced Science, demonstrate a new configuration of an ECMO device that delivers oxygen and removes carbon dioxide in blood that travels through branching microchannels. The study, by researchers at Draper and The Autonomous Reanimation and Evacuation (AREVA) research program and innovation institute of the Geneva Foundation, is a “key step toward translation of this technology to the clinic for treatment of a range of lung diseases,” said Jeff Borenstein, Ph.D., a laboratory fellow at Draper. Critical care patients such as premature infants, transplant and pneumonia patients and others suffering respiratory failure and related conditions may benefit, he added.

ECMO technology was developed in the late 1960s, and its main purpose was to serve as a temporary bypass machine to support gas exchange for patients undergoing heart surgery. The central functional unit of current ECMO systems are a hollow fiber membrane oxygenator (HFMO), a device designed to add oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the blood by passing it over a fiber bundle in a specially designed container. Since its inception, the safety and availability of ECMO has been limited by the complexity of the blood circuit, hemocompatibility of the oxygenator and circuit components and complications such as clotting, bleeding and inflammatory responses.

While only the largest and most specialized medical centers currently offer ECMO, the demand for ECMO spiked during the pandemic, since the conventional means for respiratory support— mechanical ventilation—resulted in poor patient outcomes and high mortality. A safer and simpler-to-use device could bring the life-saving power of heart and lung bypass to civilian patients when ICU beds are limited—and to military casualties on the battlefield. However, current ECMO based on HFMO technology requires a large team of highly specialized personnel to administer the treatment and deal with frequent complications.

Draper addressed ECMO’s challenges by developing a three-dimensional branching network of blood channels that mimic key features of the human body’s microcirculation, an approach that is not possible with conventional HFMO cartridge technology. They focused on scalable operation at clinically relevant flow rates and stable, long-term performance. They used microfluidic technology, a specialty at Draper, to control for flow behavior, fluidic resistance, shear stresses and uniform distribution across the microfluidic device.

“Here we report on development and demonstration of the first microfluidic respiratory assist device at a clinical scale, demonstrating efficient oxygen transfer at blood flow rates of 750 milliliters per minute, the highest ever reported for a microfluidic device,” the authors said. “One of the most promising routes of innovation in ECMO entails the use of microfluidics technology for the design and construction of the oxygenator, with the potential to replace the HFMO with a branching network of microchannels that recapitulates key aspects of the lung vasculature.”

Brett Isenberg, a co-author of the paper and a principal member of the technical staff, said, “One of the most common criticisms of the microfluidic approach is that it will never be capable of operating at clinically relevant flow rates. However, with this study, we have taken the first major step towards demonstrating the viability of microfluidic oxygenators at a scale and duration that is suitable for human patients.”

The research is a collaboration between Draper and the AREVA Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. “AREVA is a pioneer in developing and testing groundbreaking life-saving interventions in critical care and, specifically, for life-threatening injuries leading to lung and multiorgan failure such as seen in combat casualties and severely injured civilians,” said Andriy Batchinsky MD, founding director of AREVA and co-principal investigator in charge of clinically-relevant testing of the microfluidic oxygenator that Draper developed.

“While ECMO has been around for a while, it is not widely adopted in combat scenarios or in the clinical environment,” says Dr. Teryn Roberts, Dr. Batchinsky’s colleague and research partner, and a principal investigator at AREVA and co-investigator on this study overseeing biocompatibility assessment. “Draper’s innovations in solutions for the warfighter, including ECMO, was a natural fit for our work at AREVA where we specifically focus on development and testing of novel biocompatible materials for extracorporeal life support (ECLS), as well as the effects of ECLS on coagulopathy and endothelial damage following trauma.”

Initially launched with internal funding, Draper’s biomimetic ECMO device advanced from lab to bench scale with funding from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and commercial device manufacturers. In 2021, Draper’s advancements received recognition from the American Society for Artificial Internal Organs.

The U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, 820 Chandler Street, Fort Detrick MD 21702-5014 is the awarding and administering acquisition office. This work was supported by The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs endorsed by the Department of Defense, in the amount of $4,9111,476.00, through the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program under Award Number W81XWH1910518. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations contained herein are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense. In conducting research using animals, the investigator(s) adhere(s) to the laws of the United States and regulations of the Department of Agriculture.

Visit Draper.com.

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