Cleveland Clinic names top medical innovations

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Clinic predicts an outpatient method for diagnosing sleep-related breathing disorders will have a major impact on health care next year.

The treatment was one of 10 top medical innovations for 2010 identified by the research hospital today as it wrapped up a three-day summit on what’s next in medicine.

The outpatient method for diagnosing sleep-related breathing disorders involves self-contained, at-home sleep-monitoring devices for screening and diagnosis.

The innovation list also includes an improved drug to boost the body’s production of blood platelets, and better technology for freezing a woman’s eggs to await fertilization.

It was the fourth time the clinic had released a list of top medical innovations.

Two innovations emerged from the Cleveland Clinic’s own work: device alternatives to long-term use of an anti-clotting drug to reduce stroke risk and research on how cycling on a tandem bike can improve motor function of Parkinson’s disease victims.

The factors used by clinic doctors and researchers in selecting innovations included a high probability of success and whether they were ready, or close to being ready, for use.