Archives: 3/2010

Orthopedic Surgery

Updates on BrainLab’s iPhone Integrated System

by Dan Buckland on Mar 31, 2010 • 12:03 pm

55533322 Updates on BrainLabs iPhone Integrated System
We recently mentioned the BrainLab system for identifying bony landmarks on the knee that utilizes an iPhone/iPod touch as a major component. BrainLab’s Marc Mackey has since contacted us and clarified a few points.

The iPod-based system is a stand alone computer assisted surgery system that will initially be available with apps for total hip and total knee replacement. The top target for this project was efficiency, with
a goal of being faster or time neutral to procedures using conventional instruments while achieving the benefits of improved alignment. We expect the 510(k) soon.

uuu4nn4nn Updates on BrainLabs iPhone Integrated System

Digital Lightbox could be called a “giant iPhone”, but BrainLAB did develop the multi-touch capability BEFORE the iPhone was launched! The idea is that you can hang it on the wall and interact with any medical images or information easily and quickly, rather than sit hunched over a desktop monitor.

Thanks to BrainLab for getting back to us with the above information and images.
Flashback: BrainLab Takes iPhone-like Digital Lightbox to Next Logical Step

Art

Nucleus Medical Showing Off Its Animation Prowess

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 31, 2010 • 10:43 am

Nucleus Medical Media out of Kennesaw, Georgia has released a new video reel showing off the the latest animations the company has been working on.


Link: Nucleus Medical Media: 3D Medical Animations…
Flashbacks: 3D Animations from Nucleus Medical; Nucleus Medical Art in CG ChannelNucleus Medical Art in CG Channel; World’s Most Popular Medical Animation?

Medicine

New Pills Send Messages When Swallowed

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 31, 2010 • 10:42 am

444233333 New Pills Send Messages When SwallowedUniversity of Florida researchers have developed a signaling technology that can be embedded into drug tablets to notify clinicians and caretakers that a pill has been ingested. Although a bit of electronics is going to be moving through the digestive system, the researchers believe that it will pass safely without causing side effects to the patient. If the technology proves itself, we may soon be using it to confirm compliance in clinical trials or to monitor patients under a strict drug regimen.

One part is the pill, a standard white capsule coated with a label embossed with silvery lines. The lines comprise the antenna, which is printed using ink made of nontoxic, conductive silver nanoparticles. The pill also contains a tiny microchip, one about the size of a period.
When a patient takes the pill, it communicates with the second main element of the system: a small electronic device carried or worn by the patient – for now, a stand-alone device, but in the future perhaps built into a watch or cell phone. The device then signals a cell phone or laptop that the pill has been ingested, in turn informing doctors or family members.
Bashirullah [Rizwan Bashirullah, UF assistant professor in electrical and computer engineering] said the pill needs no battery because the device sends it power via imperceptible bursts of extremely low-voltage electricity. The bursts energize the microchip to send signals relayed via the antenna. Eventually the patient’s stomach acid breaks down the antenna – the microchip is passed through the gastrointestinal tract — but not before the pill confirms its own ingestion.
The team has successfully tested the pill system in artificial human models, as well as cadavers. Researchers have also simulated stomach acids to break down the antenna to learn what traces it leaves behind. Bashirullah said those tests had determined the amount of silver retained in the body is tiny, less than what people often receive from common tap water.

Press release: Rx for health: Engineers design pill that signals it has been swallowed…

Informatics

Canon’s New DICOM Compliant Medical Projector

by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 31, 2010 • 10:00 am

d344433j Canons New DICOM Compliant Medical Projector
Canon is releasing a new video projector aimed at medical schools, hospitals, and anywhere else that DICOM images need to be shown. The REALiS SX7 Mark II D features a DICOM simulation mode that utilizes a built-in light meter to adjust the greyscale image to the environment that it’s being projected in.
From the press release:

The DICOM Simulation Mode on the REALiS SX7 Mark II D simulates the results of devices compliant with the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) Part 14 standardized display function for display of grayscale images. This special mode allows users to calibrate directly on the projector using 21 different levels of gamma adjustments. This flexibility is significant as calibrating in a classroom, conference room or any other environment can be challenging when ambient light varies. While not cleared or approved for medical diagnosis, this projector is ideal for medical educators who need to display large images to properly train students and conduct lectures/conferences.
Like all REALiS Projectors, the SX7 Mark II D offers Canon’s advanced LCOS technology which is best known for producing film-like images and video. This state-of-the-art technology, combined with the projectors native SXGA+ high resolution (1400×1050) and impressive 4000 lumens of brightness, helps deliver images with exceptional color reproduction, fine lines and crisp small text (even as small as 7 point). Additional key features include:

  • Genuine Canon 1.7x Powered Zoom/Focus Lens for ease of projector placement
  • DVI-I Terminal ensures a true digital connection for high quality images and video
  • Quiet Operation as this model produces only 31db (in Quiet Mode)
  • Support of both Adobe RGB and sRGB color spaces

    • Press release: CANON U.S.A. STRENGTHENS ITS LINE OF MEDICAL EDUCATION PROJECTORS WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE REALiS SX7 MARK II D…
    Product page: REALiS SX7 Mark II D…

    Nanomedicine

    Nanoparticles Harnessed for Early Disease Detection

    by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 31, 2010 • 9:56 am

    nnnrerrre Nanoparticles Harnessed for Early Disease Detection
    Molly Stevens and colleagues at Imperial College London have been developing a new type of enzyme test that could aid in the early detection of many diseases, such as HIV and some types of cancer. The test, which uses nanoparticles linked together by peptide groups, is extremely sensitive and can almost detect a single enzyme.
    Stevens tells Nature News:

    “Normally when you detect a biomarker related to a disease, you’re detecting the presence of that protein, but we’re actually using the protein itself as an inherent amplification step, because each enzyme will cut through many molecules time and time again so you’re getting an amplification of the signal. We can go down to zeptograms per milliliter.”

    In a test developed by Stevens for the detection of PSA in men after radical prostectomy, peptide chains were attached to gold particles 10 nanometers wide. The peptide chains link the gold nanoparticles together and the nanoparticle-peptide aggregates are blue in solution. After the addition of nACT-PSA to the solution, peptide bonds are cleaved leaving a positive charge at the end of the peptide chain. Electrostatic repulsion disperses the nanoparticles resulting in a color change, in the case of this test, from blue to red.
    Additional peptide chains could be developed for the detection of enzymes associated with other disease states. Stevens and colleagues have already developed peptides specific for HIV proteases and are currently working to find markers of oral cancer in saliva.
    The work was presented by Molly Stevens at the American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco on March 21st.
    More from Nature: Nanoparticle kit could diagnose disease early…

    Net News / Rehab

    Camera Phone Lends an Eye to Blind

    by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 31, 2010 • 7:51 am

    lookingaid recognize objects Camera Phone Lends an Eye to BlindVisually impaired folks were never thought of as potential customers of camera enabled smartphones. A camera that sees better than your eyes, though, can be an incredible tool when paired up with a bit of computing horsepower. LookTel, an app previewed a year ago and now available for HTC Touch Pro with Windows Mobile, was created by IPPLEX in partnership with National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute, and Veterans Administration to simply read out what the phone’s camera is seeing.
    Check out this demo:


    Link: LookTel…
    Flashback: Camera Phones to Interpret Visible World for Blind
    (hat tip: Gizmodo)

    Uncategorized

    New AQUACEL Ag SURGICAL Cover Dressing Improves Post-Operative Healing Process

    by Smit Shah on Mar 31, 2010 • 7:18 am

    yyy5566 New AQUACEL Ag SURGICAL Cover Dressing Improves Post Operative Healing Process
    ConvaTec has announced the launch of their new AQUACEL Ag SURGICAL cover dressing, which has shown reduced incidence of post-operative surgical site infection, skin blistering, and delayed discharge when compared to non-woven dressing regimens. The new dressing utilizes ConvaTec’s Hydrofiber technology, which locks in fluid and contours to the wound bed. The dressing also releases ionic silver, which provides antimicrobial activity, thereby reducing the risk of infection.
    From the press release:

    In a prospective study, involving 428 patients undergoing hip or knee surgery, a hospital’s then standard non-woven post-operative dressing regimen (Mepore™ dressing covering AQUACEL® dressing) was compared with a new dressing regimen of AQUACEL® dressing covered with DuoDERM® Extra Thin dressing (the main components of AQUACEL® SURGICAL cover dressing) after application of a liquid film-forming acrylate. The new dressing regimen demonstrated a reduction in superficial surgical site infection of 67 percent (p<0.03), a reduction in blistering of 88 percent (p<0.001) and a reduction in delayed discharge of 80 percent (p<0.02).

    Press Release: ConvaTec Introduces AQUACEL(R) Ag SURGICAL Cover Dressings With Hydrofiber(R) Technology
    Product Page: AQUACEL Ag SURGICAL cover dressing

    Emergency Medicine / Net News

    ERtexting Provides Live ER Status to Any Mobile Phone

    by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 30, 2010 • 11:52 am

    innn42333 ERtexting Provides Live ER Status to Any Mobile PhoneErtexting out of Miami, Florida is a new company that’s offering a mobile phone service to provide patients wait times at their local emergency rooms. The idea is very simple: in an emergency, patients send a text message with their zip code to 4ER411 (437411), and the system replies with a text message containing how many minutes you should expect to wait in nearby ERs. The service wants ER staff to provide live updates on the status of their departments in hopes that this will reduce the load by having patients triage themselves.


    Link: ERtexting…

    Ophthalmology

    New Prototype of Australian Bionic Eye Announced

    by Gene Ostrovsky on Mar 30, 2010 • 9:41 am

    599955 New Prototype of Australian Bionic Eye Announced
    A collaboration of Australian institutions has unveiled a prototype of a bionic eye that may soon enter clinical trials. The news was ushered in with the help of Kevin Rudd, the Prime Minister of Australia, who is taking a victory lap for issuing around $40 million to the project only a few months ago. Bionic Vision Australia, the consortium that developed the eye, isn’t providing much detail about the new prototype, but we do know that a camera built into a pair of eye glasses transmits what it’s seeing to an implanted electrode that stimulates the optic nerve.


    More from The Age: Prototype bionic eye has vision for the future…
    Link: Bionic Vision Australia…
    Image: Schematic of an earlier version of the bionic eye.

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