Thursday, July 16, 2009
Pressure Alert for ETTubes
Filed under: Anesthesiology
, Critical Care
, ENT
, Emergency Medicine
Another medically related entry to the James Dyson Award contest is the Pressure Alert for endotracheal tubes, a device intended to prevent the overinflation of the cuff balloon. Currently anesthesiologists and others have to use either their fingers to feel for pressure in an external balloon, or to use a specialized manometer that measures an internal pressure. The proposed system aims to take any guessing out of the process. If proven feasible, the same device, of course, can be used for trachs, double lumen endotracheal tubes, or even for endobronchial blockers.
The “Pressure Alert” is a unique adaptation for a medical device called an Endotracheal Tube, which is inserted into the patient’s airway allowing them to breathe during anaesthesia. The airway is sealed to prevent leaks by inflating a balloon called a “Cuff”. If the “Cuff” pressure is too high, it could bruise/split the trachea. Currently, a safe pressure is judged by feeling a “Pilot” balloon, but even seasoned anesthetists can misjudge this delicate procedure. “Pressure Alert” is the first device that gives a “pop-up” warning (patent pending), integrated into the pilot balloon to alert the user that pressure is too high, both at the start and during the operation. Additional USPs 1. The familiar mechanism helps user improve existing technique 2. The device offers instant recognition of potential danger 3. Requires no retro-fitting 4. Cost-effective production and lower environmental impact 5. Reduces patient recovery-times & risk of injury
Video showing off the prototype device:
Link: Pressure Alert for an Endotracheal Tube ...
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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Ins and Outs
Filed under:
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The Access: Inclusive Fitness Equipment
Filed under: Rehab
, Sports Medicine
The James Dyson Awards have introduced this year a "People's Choice" component of the judging process to determine the best in contemporary design. One of the entries we found interesting is The Access, an exercise machine designed for people with and without disabilities to work out the upper body. The features include push button weight selection, adjustable arms for different size people to get proper leverage, and controls that require little manual dexterity.
Here's a description from the contest entry:
The Access is universal fitness equipment that accommodates those with various disabilities and able-bodied users alike. It bridges the gap between segregated users and provides an equal platform of fitness for all. Comprised of a central tower with two arms extending laterally, each arm rotates 180 degrees independently. Additionally, each arm contains a cart that travels the length of the arm. This configuration allows any user, regardless of their size, shape, or mobility levels to achieve a personalized workout catered to their body type. No longer does the user adapt to the equipment, but the equipment adapts to its user. The Access provides an non intimidating, seamless interaction between user and machine. No longer does the user need to pull pins, pinch fingers, and contort their body in awkward positions. All of the touch points are designed in which even the most limited user, an incomplete quadriplegic, can perform an independent workout with ease.
Link: The Access: Inclusive Fitness Equipment...
(hat tip: Core77)
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Latest State of Equine Stem Cell Therapies
Filed under: in the news...
Thanks to good intentions government regulation, one can sometimes feel jealous of the lives of domesticated animals. At least in the field of veterinary medicine, one can release a product without too much intervention, leading to therapies being available to animals years before they are to humans. MIT Technology Review profiles the latest work from University of California, Davis, VetCell (Cambridge, England), and Vet-Stem (Poway, California) in using stem cell therapies to help injured horses recover from soft tissue damage.
A snippet:
A handful of studies in animals have shown that these stem-cell therapies are effective, allowing more animals to return to racing, reducing reinjury rates, and cutting healing times. VetCell, a company based in the United Kingdom that derives stem cells from bone marrow, has used its therapy on approximately 1,700 horses to date. In a study of 170 jumping horses tracked through both treatment and rehabilitation, researchers found that nearly 80 percent of them could return to racing, compared with previously published data showing that about 30 percent of horses given traditional therapies could return to racing. After three years, the reinjury rate was much lower in stem-cell-treated animals--about 23 percent compared with the published average of 56 percent, says David Mountford, a veterinary surgeon and chief operating officer at VetCell.While scientists still don't know exactly how the cells aid repair of the different types of injuries, for tendon tears, initial studies show that stem cells appear to help the tissue regenerate without forming scar tissue.
Read on at MIT Technology Review...
Image: Ultrasound images show the tendon in a horse's front leg. An area of damage (circle in yellow, top) has healed (bottom) after the injection of stem cells derived from the animal's fat. Credit: Vet-Stem
Links: Vet-Stem equine applications, VetCell Bioscience...
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Avalanche Safety System to Help Extend Survival Time
Filed under: Sports Medicine
One of the entries submitted to the Dyson Design Awards for consideration is the AvaJacket, a safety vest to help skiers survive a meeting with an avalanche. 
It features airbags that open up to restrain the head from being twisted into dangerous positions, and a breathing system that aims to separate exhaled air from the much needed oxygen rich variety.
From the submission to the award contest:
The device works by extracting the mouthpiece from its pocket: in just a few seconds, the airbag located in the collar is inflated around the neck of the victim, protecting a vital part of the body and decreasing the burial depth. Once submerged by the snow, the airbag slowly deflates; with its volume, around which the snow has become thick and solid, it has gained space around the victim's neck and kept the airways clear, besides having given more chances to the victim's motion and wiggle. Meanwhile, it is possible to breathe through the mouthpiece which separates the inhaled air from the exhaled air.
Video submission explaining the AvaJacket:
Award entry page: AvaJacket...
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eyecon Device, an Easier Eye Dropper That Never Misses Target
Filed under: OTC
The Japanese society seems to be obsessed with ear and eye care, as people discover when they peruse the personal care aisles of Japanese stores. The variety of eye drops and ear swabs is truly bewildering, obviously suggesting the great attention these issue gain in the average Japanese bathroom. To help properly administer eye drops to the eyeball without missing the target or accidentally touching the cornea, some Japanese designers created the eyecon device to make the dropping process easy and flawless.
From the entry to the Dyson Design Award:
We often make an error using eyedrops. Because we can't fix correct position and distance. Also, a tip of the eyedrops may touch an eyeball or eyelashes. Then bacteria and dust come into the eye. This is very unsanitary. Therefore we put a special frame to the eyedrops. The frame has uneven surface like a gear. It engages each other. Then users can control their own distance between the tip and eyeball, and they can use the eyedrops well.
Somewhat silly video showing off the eyecon:
Project details: eyecon...
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NEMOSLAB Detects Target Molecules in Blood
Filed under: in the news...
Nemoslab Project is an EU-funded initiative to create a new lab-on-a-chip device that can detect the presence of certain chemicals, and may serve as a diagnostic modality for all sorts of disease markers. Currently the NEMOSLAB device is being tested to detect fertility hormones, as well the BRCA1 gene that has a role in breast and ovarian cancers.
NEMOSLAB uses an optical technique to recognise the presence of selected biological molecules. Light passes down a silicon nitride waveguide – a flat rectangular pipe about 8 micrometres wide and 0.15 micrometres thick – to a detector which turns it into an electrical signal.The waveguide is coated with a probe molecule that can recognise target molecules by binding to them. This could be an antibody, which will bind with a specific protein, or a strand of DNA that will bind with a complementary strand in the sample fluid.
“We chose the probes to be very selective for the molecules we want to detect,” says Dr Sotiris Kakabakos who is working with Misiakos. “They have been tested right on the chip but also with conventional methods which select those probes to be very specific for the analyte to be determined.”
A microfluidics system within the chip passes the sample – normally blood serum – over the waveguide. When a target molecule in the sample binds to the surface of the waveguide the optical properties are changed and the amount of light arriving at the detector also changes. The step in the signal is distinctive.
Each NEMOSLAB chip contains nine waveguides which are exposed to the sample at the same time and can be primed to detect different molecules. The entire chip is fabricated as a single unit.
An electronics package collects the signals from the waveguides and produces the results within a few minutes of the sample being introduced.
More from ICT Results...
Project page: NEMOSLAB...
Top image: Three dimensional representation of the optocoupler device. The recognition biomolecules are immobilized on the exposed waveguide surface. Shown are (1) the emmiting avalance junction, (2) the waveguide, (3) the photodetector p/n junction, (4) the silicon dioxide spaceres, (5) the cladding layer.
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Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Baby Goose Gets a Chance at Life Thanks to Metal Leg Brace
Filed under: in the news...
We rarely report on veterinary stories on these pages, but enough cuteness combined with interesting medicine and compassion can lead to a fun post. Above is a photo of a baby goose that had a custom brace installed at Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire, UK after it was found with a broken leg. According to the Telegraph, this is the first "bionic" goose in the world. Of course calling a leg with a brace bionic might be overemphasizing the achievement, regardless of how adorable the whole story is.
More at the Telegraph...
(hat tip: Engadget)
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For Tender Feet, Shoes Simulate Barefoot Running Safely
Filed under: in the news...
Modern running shoes have been a subject of intense engineering attention to help people run faster, safer, and more comfortably. All this has led to the heel being higher and shock absorbers embedded into the sole. Although immensely popular among athletes the world over, some people question the purpose of running shoes altogether. The core of the argument seems to be that modern shoes force the foot to land on its heal rather than naturally on the outside edge. Now a new product has been designed for those that would prefer to run barefoot, but fear injury from things like broken glass on the ground. The FiveFingers from Vibram (Concord, MA) is a stripped down version of a shoe, incorporating a narrow sole featuring individual toe pockets, and minimal top fabric to hold the foot in place.
Here's a Wired review of the Vibram FiveFingers:
More from Wired...
Product page: Vibram FiveFingers...
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