A. The Magic Wand Of
The Future
Narrator: This is Science Today. Imagine
a surgical future without stitches or scarring?
Well, researcher Luiz Da Silva of the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory says such an idea has been in
the works a while.
Da Silva: It's kind of the vision we all
have. You walk into the emergency room with a big
cut, the doctor pulls out a magic wand, waves it
over the cut and you walk away healed.
Narrator: The magic wand would be a laser
which would seal tissues together with a strong
solder made of human proteins.
Da Silva: The consistency is like egg white.
It does a better mating of the two surfaces - that's
important in the whole healing and welding process.
The solder just basically acts, we hope, for a week
or two weeks, eventually the body takes over and
starts to really put in the correct bonding and
welding.
Narrator: The main problem now is the strength
of the solder, which Da Silva is working to improve.
Da Silva: Until it's 100 percent and has
comparable strength to sutures, there's going to
be a real barrier to getting it into the clinical.
Narrator: Once that barrier is overcome,
Da Silva says the potential market is huge. For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B. How To Reduce
Radiation Exposure At The Dentist
Narrator: This is Science Today. Dental
x-rays, are key to diagnosing and treating a patient's
condition. But Dr. Stuart White, who heads UCLA's
Oral Radiology Department, says patients should
work with their dentist to minimize their radiation
exposure.
White: The name of the game is getting the
most diagnostic information with the least amount
of radiation. The amount of radiation one gets from
a dental x-ray exposure is very low. But it's not
zero.
Narrator: White recommends patients bring
records of old x-rays to new dentists and be aware
of tools of the trade, such as film speed..
White: Dentists have been using D speed
film, but for about the last ten years, there's
a new type of film called E speed film, and it requires
only half the exposure of D speed film.
Narrator: Another tip, is to ask if your
dentist uses rectangular collimation, which reduces
radiation exposure.
White: You know your dentist is using rectangular
collimation when the shape of the tube coming from
the x-ray machine pointed towards your jaw is a
rectangle, rather than a large circle.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
C. Better Ways To
Treat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Narrator: This is Science Today. A more
efficient, less-invasive technique to treat carpal
tunnel syndrome is being worked on at the Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory. Engineer Robert Van
Vorhis (VORS) says the new technique involves endoscopes.
Van Vorhis: Endoscopes are like little telescopes
that you go into the body with and traditionally,
they've been used in the abdomen and in the abdomen
all the organs are different colors.
Narrator: But in joint spaces, the tendons,
ligaments and nerves are the same white color, which
make visualization a problem and can impede the
success rate of surgery. So, Van Vorhis and his
colleague, Lee Haddad (HUH-DAD), are using advanced
optics to get a clearer picture without all the
glare.
Van Vorhis: You can think of it as image
processing at the speed of light. The optic solution
will become potentially part of the endoscope itself
and the physician may never even know about this
part in specific, but they'll be able to benefit
from it's function.
Narrator: And so will patients. The Lab
is currently working with an industrial partner
to create a cost-effective prototype. For Science
Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D. Treating The Mind,
Body & Spirit
Narrator: This is Science Today. A recent
survey published in a major medical journal reported
up to half the patients interviewed participated
in some type of alternative or complementary therapy.
Dr. Jason Tokumoto, an AIDS specialist at the University
of California, San Francisco, says these statistics
are hard to ignore.
Tokumoto: I think that for the medical profession
to dismiss that, it's a real big mistake. because
I think that it is something that's going to continue
to expand and grow.
Narrator: Among his HIV-positive patients,
Tokumoto is finding good results combining standard
treatment with spirituality support.
Tokumoto: For different people it means
different things and I think just the word Aspirituality@
often can turn off people. I've always felt that
the spiritual aspect of a person to be very critical
in maintaining good health.
Narrator: Tokomuto says that's because maintaining
hope can boost the will to live. For Science Today,
I'm Larissa Branin.
E. The Facts About
Fibroids
Narrator: This is Science Today. Every year,
nearly six hundred thousand women have hysterectomies,
making it the country's second most common major
surgery after cesarean. Dr. Scott Goodwin, an interventional
radiologist at UCLA, says one of the most common
reasons for a hysterectomy is fibroids.
Goodwin: Fibroids are benign tumors of the
muscle of the uterus. They tend to affect women
who are in their forties or are approaching menopause.
No one knows for sure why some women get fibroids,
although there does seem to be some genetic component.
Narrator: Goodwin has been treating patients
with a non-operative alternative to hysterectomy
called embolization, in which the blood flow to
the fibroid is blocked off and essentially dries
up.
Goodwin: The way it's done is to put a small
plastic tube or catheter in the arteries to the
uterus and then inject some small plastic particles
and they float out in the bloodstream and they mechanically
block the blood flow.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa
Branin.
