High-energy clamp simplifies heart surgery for atrial fibrillation

This illustration of the Cox-Maze procedure shows the ablation lines in the left atrium.Heart surgeons at the School of Medicine have helped usher in a new era in the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation. Using radiofrequency devices — rather than a scalpel — they’ve greatly shortened the surgery and made it significantly easier to perform. WUSM surgeon Ralph J. Damiano Jr. and colleagues have played a vital role in developing the devices, which deliver high-energy waves to heart tissue and very quickly create scars or ablations.

Teenager moves video icons just by imagination

Photo by David Kilper / WUSTL PhotoResearchers enabled a 14-year-old to play a video game using signals from his brain.Teenage boys and computer games go hand-in-hand. Now, a St. Louis-area teenage boy and a computer game have gone hands-off, thanks to a unique experiment conducted by a team of neurosurgeons, neurologists, and engineers at Washington University in St. Louis. The boy, a 14-year-old who suffers from epilepsy, is the first teenager to play a two-dimensional video game, Space Invaders, using only the signals from his brain to make movements.

Metro survey

WUSTL and Metro hope to determine the usage level of public transportation in the University community.

It’s Your Benefit

The Office of Human Resources has released the Fall 2006 edition of It’s Your Benefit, highlighting benefits information for all WUSTL employees.

Rhythms for Rebuilding

Rhythms for Rebuilding is an a cappella benefit concert for Gulf Coast rebuilding, sponsored by Project SOS, the Office of Community Service and the WUSTL a cappella community. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in Graham Chapel. All proceeds will benefit Common Ground, a New Orleans organization working to rebuild minority and disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Trustees consider strategic planning initiative

The Board of Trustees of Washington University in St. Louis met Oct. 6 to discuss strategic planning, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. Three topics were considered: 1.) societal challenges that the University should address in the future, 2.) University constituencies and how well they are being served, and 3.) undergraduate enrollment issues.

Poll workers needed

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006. At the request of the Missouri Secretary of State’s office, Washington University is encouraging interested faculty, staff and students to consider becoming volunteer poll workers.

Location, location, location

A WUSTL initiative is bringing Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) technology to students, faculty and staff and is responsible for offering the first formal introductory and follow-up GIS courses open to any major.

Nuremberg remembered

Photo by Mary ButkusM. Cherif Bassiouni (left), a world-renowned authority on international criminal justice, discusses the legacy of the Nuremberg trials with second-year law students.
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