Situational Awareness Helps Make Disaster Recovery Run Smoother in Haiti

Filed under: Public Health

10 News, an ABC affiliate in South California, had a short segment profiling the work undertaken at San Diego State University to map the disaster in Haiti using available aerial imagery. Since there are hundreds of different humanitarian organizations in the country, coordination is key to effectively get to everyone needing medical attention. To that effect, the US military has made public imagery taken from overflights by P3 Orion aircraft, and the SDSU visualization lab has been analyzing and annotating the data for practical use by teams on the ground.

Stanford Hospital's Pneumatic Tube Messaging System

Filed under: in the news...

In its recent press release, the media relations department at Stanford University Hospital is touting the clinic's pneumatic tube messaging system. The technology, which has faded away in most other industries with the advent of modern telecommunications, can still be highly efficient in large medical centers. The pneumatic highway is typically used to pass around clinical samples and orders between departments. While a lab may be within walking distance of patient rooms in small hospitals, it becomes increasingly distant as a facility grows in size. That's what happened at Stanford, and now they have one of the largest such installations in the country. The pneumatic system is completely computer controlled and includes features like soft landings to prevent damage to any samples within the capsule.

It hosts 124 stations (every nursing unit has its own); 141 transfer units, 99 inter-zone connectors and 29 blowers. To help alert employees to the arrival of containers, the system has more than three dozen different combinations of chiming tones.
Such pneumatic tube systems date back to the early 19th century, when they drove the workings of postal services, department stores and other commercial businesses whose physical size demanded something faster than standard human pace. But those versions were usually designed to move paper. As computers and then the Internet made it possible to deliver data electronically without paper, tube systems lost their value for many industries.

But the technology endures—and thrives—in hospitals, thanks in part to more recent improvements in the delivery system. Originally, the tubes would arrive with a thud, a hard landing that could damage sensitive lab samples. Then in the late 1980s engineers figured out a way to control airflow to slow down the containers for a soft landing at their destination station.

At Stanford Hospital, before 1993, a team of about 20 people had the job of transporting the multitudes of tissue, medications and documents. However, the increasing size of the hospital, and the addition of two adjacent buildings—the Blake Wilbur Outpatient Clinic, the Stanford Cancer Center and Packard Children’s Hospital—made the tube system option the most modern solution.

Depending on the diameter of a tube, cylinders can reach speeds of up to 25 feet per second, about 18 miles per hour, far faster than any human could ever manage.

It was also a question of best use of employee time, if, as often happened, a courier wasn’t available when a specimen needed to get to the lab. Having a nurse leave a patient’s bedside for a minutes-long run to the lab made no sense.

Reliable speed is crucial when the system carries blood products, some of which are temperature-sensitive and, by regulations, must be discarded if not properly maintained.

UniTam for Intraosseous Administration of Tamiasyn

Filed under: Emergency Medicine , Military Medicine

Here's an interesting new idea for an intraosseous Tamiasyn™ gun from designer Aimee Franco. VitalMedix, a Hudson, Wisconsin pharmaceutical startup has a drug candidate called Tamiasyn™, described as "biopharmaceutical that may potentially save thousands of lives annually by sustaining cellular function and protecting cells during and after hemorrhagic shock," which was initially developed at the University of Minnesota by researchers looking into biochemical pathways that animals use to survive stress (such as in deep-diving whales) and hibernation. Even though much of Tamiasyn technology is under wraps, we know the drug is probably based on biologically active ketones, such as β-hydroxybutyrate, thought to provide an organism with an energy boost at the time of hypoxemic or hypovolemic stress.

More at Yanko Design...

(Limited) Tamiasyn info from VitalMedix...

University of Minnesota: Discovery Could Save Thousands of Lives in Emergency Rooms and on Battlefield...

Duluth News Tribune: UMD scientists design blood-loss drug...

UPDATE: Over at FlightWeb forums, user "VMX", who claims to represent VitalMedix, offers more details about the drug...

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Will Apple iPad be Adopted as The Next Clinical Tablet?

Filed under: in the news...

The Apple iPad has finally been introduced, and thoughts about its potential future in medicine are abound. The device is light and probably straightforward to use, making it perfect for EMR access and for viewing radiological images. From our point of view, the fact that the iPad is likely not designed to be splash-proof is a big problem for a clinical environment. There are also other downsides of the device, such as a lack of camera and microphone for communications, absence of standard USB ports or even a card reader, the fact that the pad may not work with some examination and surgical gloves, and the battery cannot be swapped in the device. Moreover, it's not clear if hospitals or clinician offices would want to adopt a platform based on the locked down iPhone operating system. However, iPAD's size, price, and an intuitive interface may in the end win over the downsides to bring the iPad to the medical world.

More thoughts from Bertalan Meskó: Apple iPad in Healthcare: Pros and Cons...

HCPlive: Apple's iPad an Impressive Product in Need of Tweaking for Healthcare Success...

Blaine Warkentine: 10 Commandments of Success for the iPad in Healthcare...

iMedicalApps: Five Lessons Apple must learn from current Healthcare Tablets...

Richard Stefanacci: iPad Touches Electronic Medical Records Adoption...

Sacramento Bee: iPad, anyone? Hospitals looking at the mobile device...

MacTalk: iPad use in the Medical Field...

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Gas Guide App for iPhone Provides Handy Access to Anesthesia Info

Filed under: Anesthesiology , Critical Care , Net News

A free new application is now available for the iPhone platform that provides clinically useful information for anesthesia residents and practicing anesthesiologists. Quick access is available to preoperative checklists, procedures, patient guidelines, and drug information. The Gas Guide app was developed by a group of clinicians but comes with a disclaimer to double check any information before putting it into practice.

Emergencies: Acute Stridor, Anaphylaxis, Cardiac Arrest, Cardiac Devices, Common Problems, Crisis Algorithm, Hemorrhage & Transfusion, Malignant Hyperthermia, Tension Pneumothorax.

Operative Safety: ASA Daily Check, ASA Pre-Anesthesia Check, FDA Apparatus Checkout, JCAHO Universal Protocol, Operating Room Fires, WHO Surgical Safety Check.

Pre-Operative Setup: Anesthesia Care Plan, Patient History, Physical Exam, Cardiac Clearance, Cardiac Devices, Neuro Information, Patient Positioning, Psychological Prep, Spanish Translation.

Airway Management: Evaluation, Mask Ventilation, Ventilator Settings, Supraglottic Airway, Endotracheal Intubation, Rapid Sequence Induction (RSI), Difficult Airway Algorithm, Transtracheal Jet Ventilation, Cricothyroidotomy.

Common Medications: Anesthesia Med Classes, Emergency Medications, Endotracheal & IV/IO, Induction Agents, Inhalation Agents, IV Concentrations, Local Infiltration, Muscle Relaxants, Pain, PONV, & PRN.

Nerve Blockade: General Principles, Ankle Block, Axillary Block, Fascia Iliaca Block, Femoral Block, Infraclavicular Block, Interscalene Block, Neuraxial Epidural Block, Neuraxial Spinal Block, Popliteal Block, Sciatic Block.

Patient Monitoring: Arterial Line, Bispectral Index, Capnography, Echocardiography, Electrocardiography, Fluids & Equations, HR, RR, BP, SpO2, Nerve Stimulator, PA Cath & CV Cath.

Vascular Access: Arterial Line, CVC Femoral, CVC Internal Jugular, CVC Subclavian, Intraosseous, Peripheral IV, Pulmonary Artery.

Additional: Anesthesia Aphorisms, Glossary of Pain Terms.

Product page: Gas Guide: A Quick Reference Guide For Anesthesia Professionals...

iTunes link...

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2010 Cryptogram Challenge Announced

Filed under: Net News

Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News is again featuring a cryptogram challenge from Dr. Peter C. Johnson of Scintellix, Inc. This year's puzzler is based on RNAi. The contest site will be providing a new clue every Monday until someone discovers a solution.

From the announcement:

GEN and Scintellix are coupling the art of cryptography, which was first leveraged in the military, with life science applications. Just as cellular arrays depict biological processes and require skill to interpret, cryptograms when deciphered reveal a hidden message. GEN’s Cryptogram Challenges use the colors displayed in arrays to encrypt text.
This latest puzzle will not only engage your lab skills but also pique your interest. Peter C. Johnson, M.D., President and CEO of Scintellix, has encoded a message in an image that depicts siRNA’s control of gene expression. “I created Cryptogram Challenge: RNAi as a distinct departure from previous Cryptogram Challenges,” says Dr. Johnson. “It will require a different mindset to solve—mirroring some of the complexities in the application of RNAi technology itself."

Link: 2010 Cryptogram Challenge...

Press release: GEN Launches Another Tantalizing Cryptogram Challenge...

Flashbacks: Amateur Cryptobiologists Invited to Take On Cipher Challenge; MicroArray $1500 Challenge... Hurry Before Jethro Ciphers It First!

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Friday, January 29, 2010

Craig Venter on Genetics, Synthetic Life at TEDMED 2009

Filed under: Net News

At TEDMED 2009, Craig Venter spoke of the work his research group has been doing to catalog the DNA of animal life on our planet and the steps they're taking to bring synthetically derived life to reality.

Link: TEDMED Videos...

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Flexible Rubber Sheets May Power Future Implantable Devices

Filed under: in the news...

Princeton and Caltech researchers have developed special silicone rubber sheets with embedded nanorods that, when bent, generate electricity with impressive efficiency. The technology is projected to be used as a power source for implantable devices like pacemakers by harnessing energy from moving organs like the thoracic cage.

The Princeton team is the first to successfully combine silicone and nanoribbons of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), a ceramic material that is piezoelectric, meaning it generates an electrical voltage when pressure is applied to it. Of all piezoelectric materials, PZT is the most efficient, able to convert 80 percent of the mechanical energy applied to it into electrical energy.

Fabrication starts with the researchers producing PZT nanoribbons -- strips so narrow that 100 fit side-by-side in a space of a millimeter. In a separate process, they embedded these ribbons into clear sheets of silicone rubber, creating what they call "piezo-rubber chips." Silicone, which is used for cosmetic implants and medical devices, already is biocompatible. "The new electricity-harvesting devices could be implanted in the body to perpetually power medical devices, and the body wouldn't reject them," McAlpine said.

In addition to generating electricity when it is flexed, the opposite is true: The material flexes when electrical current is applied to it. This opens the door to other kinds of applications, such as use for microsurgical devices, McAlpine said.

Full story from Princeton: Energy-harvesting rubber sheets could power pacemakers, mobile phones...

Abstract in Nano Letters: Piezoelectric Ribbons Printed onto Rubber for Flexible Energy Conversion

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GeoSKeeper Personal Tracker Helps Keep Eye on Elderly, Children, and People That Wander Off

Filed under: Geriatrics

Aerotel Medical Systems of Holon, Israel has partnered with EcoTec of Tampere, Finland to bring the GeoSkeeper personal tracker and communication system to Finnish consumers. The watch-like device has GPS and mobile phone functionality to allow users to send their coordinates if they are calling for help. The device can be programmed remotely, allowing family members or caretakers to set phone numbers into memory and predefine a geographic area, the breach of which will trigger an alarm call. The technology in the device should work just about anywhere there is any kind of cell phone signal due to the quad band mobile chip inside. Additionally, the press release of the announcement mentions text messaging as a feature, but it's hard to see how six buttons and no screen can make that possible.