Doctors diagnose patients within moments of meeting
December 15th, 2011 - 1:11 pm ICT by IANSWashington, Dec 15 (IANS) Doctors can diagnose illness and infections within moments of their meeting with a patient, say researchers in a study that could help improve diagnostic techniques.
The research led by Marcio Melo from the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, used functional MRI scanning to assess the cerebral activity in doctors while they diagnosed lesions in chest X-rays.
The doctors were able to verbalise the correct diagnosis in an average of 1.33 seconds indicating that this type of diagnosis was swift, the journal Public Library of Science ONE reported.
This is the first ever investigation of the brain mechanisms directly involved in medical diagnosis, according to a university statement.
The neural (brain cell activity) basis of medical diagnosis may contribute to the development of better techniques to improve diagnostic expertise and reduce diagnostic errors.
The results of this study imply that the vast knowledge obtained from cognitive neuroscience studies on the recognition and naming of objects can be brought to bear on the improvement of diagnostic practices.
- First step to developing a test for MND - Nov 05, 2010
- Why meditation makes our brain smarter? - Mar 23, 2012
- Breakthrough in MRI allows brain scans more than 7 times faster - Jan 06, 2011
- Non-invasive MRI effective for diagnosing testicular cancer - Feb 23, 2010
- Space travel impacts eyes, brain - Mar 13, 2012
- New technique diagnoses brain cancers non-invasively - Jan 29, 2012
- MRI scans show structural brain changes in people at Alzheimer's risk - Nov 17, 2010
- Scientists develop MRI for batteries - Feb 13, 2012
- Fuzzy thinking could detect heart disease risk - Sep 16, 2010
- Genetics influence alcohol dependence, brain activity - Apr 13, 2011
- World's largest study shows brain recovery, speech improvement possible after stroke - Sep 29, 2010
- Now, a camera that creates real-time, 3D colour movies of the brain! - Feb 05, 2011
- Why do some musical performances move us? - Dec 19, 2010
- Babies understand words in a grown-up way - Jan 08, 2011
- Ultrasound as effective as CT scans in most cases - May 12, 2011
Tags: brain cell, brain mechanisms, cerebral activity, chest x rays, correct diagnosis, diagnostic errors, diagnostic expertise, diagnostic techniques, doctors, lesions, medical diagnosis, melo, neuroscience studies, public library of science, sao paulo brazil, swift