The Certification Commission for Health IT (CCHIT) will be collecting input from the vendor and developer community on the details and timing of its planned new paths to certification of EHR technologies, with the goal of supporting more widespread adoption and meaningful use under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland has received a $4 million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) to fund its Case Center for Synchrotron Biosciences

The FDA has granted 510(k) marketing clearance to therapeutic ultrasound developer EDAP TMS for its Sonolith I-Sys device.

David Blumenthal, MD, head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, has been given authority over most of the health IT funding sections in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill., and the University of Chicago's Brain Tumor Center have developed a way to target brain cancer cells using titanium dioxide nanoparticles bound to biological material. The nano-bio technology may eventually provide an alternative form of therapy that targets only cancer cells and does not affect normal tissue.

Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Clinical Center is hoping to safeguard its clinical research patients from radiation exposure by requiring CT and PET/CT equipment purchased by the NIH Clinical Center to be routinely record exposure dose in a patient's hospital-based EMR.

The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) has issued a response to "meaningful use" EHR recommendations presented last month by the Health IT Policy Committee, and urged Health and Human Services (HHS) to quickly present an EHR transition plan.

The National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC) has formed a Health IT Work Group with a focus on national efforts to develop EMRs, health IT exchange and promote interoperability to enhance patient care.