More from Gizmodo..

We are anxiously looking forward to a 3D telerobotic bonsai pruning session.

Flashbacks: da Vinci Robot Surgery System ; Robots for Prostate Cancer

(hat tip: Pink Tentacle)

Link...

(hat tip: DVICE)

Contest rules:

Medical anomalies are both disturbing and highly fascinating to see. In this contest you are going to show proof via X-rays, cat scans [sic], sonagrams [sic] and whatever other medical diagnostic tools you can think of to show medical anomalies.

The rules of this game are thus: You will take any x-ray, sonagram [sic], model, skeleton or other medical diagnostic tool and use it to create a medical hoax.

Medical Anomalies Contest page ...

(hat tip: Street Anatomy)

From the Wall Street Journal Health Blog:

That’s why the folks in the Hartford Hospital ER, where the true crime drama unfolded, called in Kyle Richards, a cardiology fellow who is the first author of the case report. In an interview this afternoon, Richards told the Health Blog the patient was “remarkably unhappy” to be in the ER, and grew combative. Richards called in security as the man pulled off the electrodes that were monitoring his heart. That was when the officer Tasered the patient. The hospital staff quickly reattached the electrodes and saw that his heart was in a normal rhythm.

The whole thing took about two minutes, Richards said. “The time course is so close is that it makes the Taser shock more likely as a cause of his conversion” back to a normal rhythm, Richards said. But he added that the case isn’t clear proof that the Taser was the cause of the change, which might also have been the result of his treatment with a beta blocker or may simply have occurred spontaneously.

More details of the drama at WSJ Health Blog...

Preferably the sensors are of a type which do not require special attachment systems, gels or pastes to make proper electrical contact, for example they may be dry electrodes of a type recently developed, made from conductive rubber, which rely only on naturally-produced sweat to make a conductive bridge between the skin and the electrode. Preferably, the undergarment comprises underpants having electrodes arranged internally, at least in the waistband area. Preferably, electrodes are so arranged as to measure the passing of pulses of the central artery, and the left and right femoralis, as well as the ECG. The system may also be arranged to monitor the temperature, the posture and the level of activity of the subject.

Preferably, pulse detection is achieved using bio-impedance methodology, by injecting a small AC current using a first pair of electrodes, and detecting voltage changes caused by the injected current, with a second pair of electrodes so as to produce an impedance plethysmogram. The preferred arrangement of the electrodes is such that it is possible to measure the plethysmogram of the central aorta, as well as the left and right femoralis. At the same time, it is also possible to measure the ECG, using the dry electrodes in the waistband.

Patent application: WEARABLE BLOOD PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM

(hat tip: NewScientist via Engadget)

A proclamation by President Ronald Reagan designating the National Medical Transcriptionist Week in May 1985:

A century ago, physicians knew many of their patients from birth, knew all their ailments, and provided all their medical care. Today, with medical specialization and greater mobility among people, many skilled physicians may treat the average American during a lifetime. Using transcribed medical reports, each physician can easily and quickly review a patient's medical history even if the physician has never seen that patient before. Because of the work done by trained medical transcriptionists, patients can be assured that the history of their medical care is portrayed accurately and legibly. Medical transcriptionists have therefore become a vital link between the physician and the patient.

It is appropriate for our Nation to recognize the contributions of medical transcriptionists. We should encourage hospitals, allied health education programs, and community colleges to provide appropriate courses of instruction recognizing the high standards that must be met by medical transcriptionists and the vital function they perform.

More about the keyboard pictured at Boing Boing...

From the artist's site:

I am interested in making wearables that enable you to feel information your senses are not acutely aware of. The CO2 Corset monitors carbon dioxide levels in the environment and provides physical feedback by tightening the bodice in relation to air quality.

Traditionally the corset is a rigid garment comprised of vertical boning that is worn under clothing for aesthetic or medical purposes. The article supports the torso and slims the figure by cinching the waist imposing a shallowness of breathe on the user, making it contextually appropriate as the wearable interface to air quality.

CO2 Corset...

(hat tip: DVICE)

More on the craze at Cartoon Brew...

Product page: Musical SpongeBob™ Digital Thermometer ...

Part of his ribs and skin were hacked away by surgeons in 1998, hoping to remove part of his infected lungs.

But the 51-year-old, from Taining in China's Guangdong province, says he was unable to afford the rest of the treatment after stitches were taken out.

He said: "I had the operation in 1998. I was then laid up for almost five years but gradually got used to the wound, and since 2003 I have been back on my feet.

"But no-one would give me a job and people were scared of me with the big hole in my chest.

"Because of that, I haven't dared to go outside, in case people get frightened."

He says he keeps the plaster coverings sterile, and changes the cigarette boxes several times each day.

And we thought China offered universal healthcare.

More, and with a better image of the wound, at Metro UK...