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Tympanic membranes look out, Welch Allyn recently announced that their popular halogen otoscopes and opthalmoscopes are getting longer lasting LED replacements. The LEDs will last three times longer than their halogen counter parts per charge, giving doctors even more time to search for that elusive optic disk in their non-dilated patient before the battery runs out. Other features include a 30 times longer bulb life and SureColor technology, which keeps color output constant regardless of light intensity. The upgrades will be offered as a kit which includes a lamp, lamp removal tool and step-by-step instructions.
From the press release:

Cindy Kuiper, director of physical exam products North America, said “We are excited to offer caregivers our new LED replacement lamps and the opportunity to become more energy- and cost-efficient in their practices. The LED also removes the nuisance of having to deal with burned out lamps when trying to complete a physical exam. But the SureColor™ technology is what we’re most excited about. It allows the color of the light to remain the same even as the light intensity is dimmed, which is something practitioners will appreciate during an ophthalmic exam.”
“The introduction of LED replacement lamps as a complement to our existing halogen lamp offering reaffirms our commitment to deliver new technologies that benefit the delivery of care,” added Kuiper. “It aligns with our strategic decision to focus on medical diagnostics, and we feel it is our responsibility to provide products that help control and reduce operating costs.”

For their next upgrade may we suggest a feature that makes it so that toddlers don’t think they are about to die when you are just trying to examine their ears.
Press release: Welch Allyn Introduces Hassle-Free LED Replacement Lamps for Physical Assessment Instruments

Patients spend a lot of time waiting in the waiting room before they can see a doctor. Fujitsu now has come up with a way for them to spend their time better, as it has launched an electronic paper-based outpatient guidance solution, which tells you your waiting time and alerts you when it is your turn. From the press release:

Through a proprietary wireless communications system, the solution connects electronic card holders (made by Fujitsu General) utilizing electronic paper (e-paper) with both a patient navigation system, which guides patients to examination rooms or diagnostic testing rooms in medical facilities, and an electronic medical record system. This enables detailed guidance information to be delivered to the electronic card holder of an individual patient during their visit, from check-in and calling patients when the doctor is ready to see them, through to payment.

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As we promised you a few weeks ago, here is a review of the recently published The History and Future of Medical Technology, a book that aims to cover the complete history of the evolution of medical technology. It is written by Ira Brodsky, former president of Datacomm Research, who has previously written several books on wireless network technology. The book starts off with the development of the microscope in the late 16th and 17th century by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek. It then goes on to describe which developments were made possible by microscopy, including the whole field of microbiology and the art of vaccination. In continuation of this, the next few chapters cover imaging of the body in every possible way, covering endoscopy and computed tomography, only to get back at magnetic resonance imaging and nuclear medicine later in the book. In the meantime the discovery of the ECG by William Einthoven and the development of pacemakers make their appearance in the chapters in between. The rest of the chapters describe a variety of subjects including organ transplantation and replacement, cochlear implants, opthalmological treatments, and many more. In the final chapter an old habit of the author, networks and connectivity, make their appearance showing what is being done and what can be done using wireless technologies, networks and the internet.
The book is written in clear understandable language which is very enjoyable to read. As any book covering such a broad subject, it cannot cover everything, and I found myself searching Wikipedia and Google to find out more on many of the subjects mentioned in the book. Overall it gives a balanced overview of this part of history.

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2 years ago we reported on a protein folding game called foldit. In brief, the program is a game that allows you to manipulate a protein, and gives you more points the more “correct” your protein 3D structure is. The game then shares your results with other players so they can try and improve your protein structure and earn points themselves.
At Games for Health 2010, one of the foldit concept designers presented a retrospective on how the game has fared over the past couple of years. When looking at the demographics of the user base, a large percentage of players had either no biochemistry training or just a class in high school. Surprisingly, many users are in the business and financial sectors.

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Apple has filed a patent for a seamlessly embedded heart monitor in what looks like an iPhone or iPod touch. The main purpose of the integration appears to be for authorization purposes. Using specific algorithms an EKG tracing can be used to identify individuals. The patent also states that the embedded monitor can be used to predict a user’s mood, a feature of which we’re a bit skeptical.
From the patent:

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The Bionic Handling Assistant (BHA) from Festo of Esslingen, Germany is a working concept inspired by the anatomy of an elephant’s trunk. Festo’s goal of developing the BHA was to study and improve the interaction between humans and robots. Perhaps the impression of elephants as being gentle giants was a big factor in the early stages of development.
From the product page:

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Endra Life Sciences out of Ann Arbor, MI is releasing a photoacoustic computed tomography (CT) scanner, Nexus 128, for routine use in small animal laboratory imaging. Photoacoustic CT combines the sensitivity of optical imaging with the resolution of ultrasound, and does not require the use of contrast agents. It penetrates deeper through biological tissues than other high-resolution 3-D imaging modalities such as confocal microscopy, two-photon microscopy, and optical coherence tomography (OCT). The Nexus system is designed to minimize animal preparation and positioning, and has been showed to image cancerous blood vessels and hemoglobin concentration in less than 2 minutes, and to complete volumetric anatomical scans in as little as 12 seconds.
How photoacoustic CT can be useful in small animal studies:

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Researchers at the University of Michigan have developed tiny generators that can produce enough electricity from random, ambient vibrations to power a wristwatch, pacemaker or wireless sensor. In humans, these vibrations could come from moving muscles or limbs. The generators have demonstrated that they can produce up to 500 microwatts from typical vibration amplitudes found on the human body. That’s more than enough energy to run a wristwatch, which needs between 1 and 10 microwatts, or a pacemaker, which needs between 10 and 50. Although the generators are still in the prototype stage, this is good news for patients with pacemakers, as pacemaker batteries currently in use usually last for 5 to 10 years after which they need to be replaced requiring a surgical procedure.
Press release: Mini generators make energy from random ambient vibrations…

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The New York Times recently ran an article discussing the latest research and development in room temperature plasma devices for hand and instrument sterilization. Because the technology essentially kills any living microorganism the plasma gets to, we may be seeing completely new devices appearing soon near hospital sinks, in nurses stations, and, maybe, even in your favorite restaurant.
A snippet from NYT:

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