Dermatology Archives

Blown Away by Triton

by Nicholas Genes on Mar 30, 2006 •

triton sm Blown Away by Triton

We’re going to call the Triton Luxury Body Dryer a medgadget, because they claim blow-drying your body is more hygienic than towels. And because the pretty lady and the letters falling from the sky amused us (Triton’s demo movie actually has a few moments that are NSFW, although, as they say, can be “great fun.”)
This abstract is the best literature we could find that gave support to Triton’s claims, but it’s about hand-drying, and it compares air to paper towels. Also, this paper suggests the act of towel-drying stimulates immune cells. But then again, the Triton spokeswoman looks very healthy.
More from Triton, UK…

Dermatology / Diagnostics

Skin Galvanometry for the Masses

by Nicholas Genes on Mar 24, 2006
Skin Galvanometry for the Masses

When we were kids, legos were blocks. Now people can take lego building blocks and add some off-the-shelf items to make all kinds of medgadgets:

It is just a cut 9V LEGO motor wire and some aluminum foil wrapped around your fingers with tape. I was inspired by talks by Mindfest panelists Karen Wilkinson and Mike Petrich who talked about using this type of sensor. I’ve also found out that the Media Lab at MIT has a program called the Affective Computing Research Project that also uses this sensor.

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Dermatology

iPledge Allegiance Required for Accutane

by Nicholas Genes on Feb 28, 2006
iPledge Allegiance Required for Accutane

On March 1, the FDA begins the iPLEDGE program. Women of childbearing age who wish to receive Accutane must register with the program, as do physicians who wish to prescribe it. The goal is to minimize devastating birth defects that can occur, should women get pregnant on Accutane:

The FDA has spent more than 20 years attempting to eliminate the use of isotretinoin by pregnant women since it can cause birth defects. Still, since Accutane sales began in 1982, the FDA has received reports of more than 2,000 pregnancies among users. Most ended in abortion or miscarriage, but the FDA counts more than 160 babies born with drug-caused defects.

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Dermatology

The SolarScan®

by Gene Ostrovsky on Dec 1, 2005
The SolarScan®

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that an “Australian-developed instrument designed to automatically diagnose melanomas on patients in the doctor’s surgery is more accurate than general practitioners, a study suggests.” The study published at the Archives of Dermatology looked at the SolarScan, a device by Sydney-based Polartechnics Ltd.
Some details on the workings of the device, from the company itself:

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Dermatology

Gemini Laser for Acne Rosacea

by Nicholas Genes on Nov 28, 2005
Gemini Laser for Acne Rosacea

The Gemini Laserscope is now being used to treat acne rosacea, and facial telangectasias. It’s supposedly a step up from traditional pulsed-dye lasers. From Laserscope’s press release:

Patients undergo a series of quick, painless and safe in office procedures resulting in an immediate reduction in facial redness, flushing and pain. The lasers target superficial vessels (spider veins) collapsing them and preventing their dilation. Although not a cure for the disorder, the laser represents a significant advancement in the management of rosacea. Most patients undergo a series of three treatments, each one separated by 2-4 weeks. After the series most patients feel that their rosacea is controlled for an extended period of time. Best results are maintained if the after the treatment sun avoidance is practiced. A typical treatment cost around 250-300 dollars.

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Dermatology

We’re Doing Five Blades

by Nicholas Genes on Sep 16, 2005
We're Doing Five Blades

Sometimes, the editors of Medgadget stretch the definition of medical devices to include somewhat ordinary items — eyeglasses, tanning booths, etc.
With this in mind, we turn to the new Gillette Fusion. With batteries and LEDs and five pulsating razors, it better well be classified as a medical device.

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Dermatology

CAGE for Assessing Tan Addiction

by Nicholas Genes on Aug 29, 2005
CAGE for Assessing Tan Addiction

Is excessive tanning an addiction? Does tanning have anything in common with diseases like alcoholism? Medicine may be moving in this direction with the recent definition of “tanorexia” and now, a new diagnostic test for tanning dependence.
First, a little background on the infamous CAGE questions, used by clinicians to assess for alcoholism:

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Dermatology / Surgery

MelaFind® System

by Gene Ostrovsky on Aug 18, 2005
MelaFind® System

MelaFind® System, designed by Electro-Optical Sciences, Inc., is thought to improve early diagnosis of melanoma. The company believes that once approved by the FDA, with “the assistance provided by MelaFind®, physicians could diagnose more melanomas at the earliest, curable stage, which would reduce both treatment costs and the number of unnecessary biopsies, and improve quality of life.” The technology is internet based:

The MelaFind® system is comprised of a point-of-care, hand-held imaging device that, in commercial use, is intended to be connected via the internet to a central server in our offices. MelaFind® employs multiple wavelengths of light to obtain data from images of suspicious pigmented skin lesions; the data are analyzed against our proprietary database of melanomas and benign lesions using our sophisticated algorithms. When marketed, a report will be transmitted to the physician’s office containing MelaFind®’s recommendation of whether the lesion should be biopsied.

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Dermatology

GentleYAG Laser for Skin Tightening

by Nicholas Genes on Jul 25, 2005
GentleYAG Laser for Skin Tightening

This technology has apparently been around for a few years, but seems timely to us because 1) some of us have been spending too much time in the sun this summer and 2) just heard about its new use.
Lasers can Read More

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