OTC Archives

DLH, Inc., based in Red Bank, New Jersey, has developed an audio based first aid instruction kit that features flash cards with built-in voice instructions, effectively freeing up hands that may otherwise be fumbling with a booklet.
From the product page:

The kit is separated into individually labeled and color-coded injury packs so the user has all the supplies and easy to follow instructions for managing a specific injury. The audio module in each injury card takes the technology a step further. By the squeeze of a button, the module narrates step-by-step instructions to manage the injury, pausing and repeating when necessary for accurate response.
By combining the necessary supplies with the new audio technology, the IntelligentFirstAid Kits are the most dependable tool for providing rapid and accurate first aid guidance in the event of an injury.
The case includes a guidebook, with first aid instructions for additional medical emergencies, such as choking, frost bite, heatstroke, asthma. Also included is a product manual with audio instructions, a book light/flashlight and a shoulder strap.

Product page: Talking Kits …
(hat tip: CoolestGadgets)

The FDA has given approval to market American Bio Medica‘s Rapid TOX Cup for detecting the presence of illicit drugs in urine, and the customer can decide what drugs to screen for.

Available in multiple combinations according to the customer’s needs, the Rapid TOX Cup is an accurate, easy-to-use drug screen. The Rapid TOX Cup doesn’t require any manipulation of the device; the donor simply voids into the cup. Its wide mouth and larger cup allow for easier specimen collection. A temperature strip is affixed to the cup to ensure specimen integrity, with the option to add a specimen validity test strip. Results obtained with the Rapid TOX Cup can also be photocopied for record-keeping purposes. Its fully integrated design permits collection, testing and shipment for confirmation in one device.

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Impersonating a cell phone, this device features an ultraviolet light emitting bulb that will supposedly disinfect everything it lays its eyes on. Anal retentive obsessive compulsives rejoice!
Claims from the Sharper Image product page:

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Folks susceptible to a dry air environment that is awfully common in hotel rooms can now bring their own personal humidifier while traveling. Featuring a standard size plastic bottle connection, the unit will work anywhere water bottles are sold (don’t forget to check the local line voltage too).
Features from the product page:

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Tanita Corp of Japan is about to start selling the pictured urine glucose meter in the country.
From Tech-On, a Nikkei Business Publication:

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This is a prototype device idea from designer Lifeng Yu, that promises to improve the lives of people with color blindness by empowering them.

Here’s what one person at Yanko Design, an excellent design blog, tells Medgadget:

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Japanese firm Bio International Japan is selling nose filter plugs for people suffering from hay fever, and other environmental allergies. The little pliable filters, being sold in Japan for about $15, are almost invisible save for the little connecting string used to remove the devices. Our take on it? This stuff probably does not work.
Japanese product page…

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