Monitoring IT for astronauts may benefit patients on Earth
HOUSTON - A new noninvasive technology is being developed to test blood and tissue chemistry of astronauts during time in space. This technology is being spearheaded by Babs Soller and her colleagues of the University of Massachusetts Medical School at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Venus system uses small sensors placed on directly on the skin to draw blood and measure metabolic rates. By reflecting near-infrared light off the blood in tiny blood vessels a monitor connected to the sensor analyzes the light to determine metabolic rate, along with tissue oxygen and pH levels.The Venus’ measurements are not impacted by skin color or body fat, and decreases the chances of infection.
Connected patient concept created by UK vendor
CAMBRIDGE, UK - A new ‘connected patient’ technology from Cambridge Consultants is designed to connect patient treatment devices with healthcare support and a number of online applications.
The technology is expected to allow healthcare specialists to monitor medication adherence, reduce care costs and improve patient access to care providers. Enabled by the company’s Vena wireless healthcare device platform, the system connects through a computer or smart phone to an online personal healthcare application.
The application will provide patients with treatment reminders as well the ability to send compliance information to specific healthcare portals. Both the patient and the healthcare specialist can access the secure information. To illustrate its concept, Cambridge Consultants demonstrated an inhaler concept for improving the compliance at the Respiratory Drug Delivery Europe 2009 conference, held in Lisbon on May 19-22.
Eclipsys launches toolkit to curb flu virus in hospitals
ATLANTA - The Eclipsys Corporation has launched a fully automated toolkit for hospitals designed to reduce the spread of the H1N1 flu virus in waiting areas. The toolkit supports triage personnel in fast identification, isolation and treatment of patients confirmed with H1N1. By combining specific document templates, orders, analytics and clinical alerts, the Eclipsys toolkit speeds up the diagnostic process from five to 72 hours. The H1N1 Toolkit prompts caregivers to assess patients who show signs of respiratory disease and other risk factors.
If the patient tests positive lab orders are prompted and a screening begins. The patient is then placed on a watch list with education and preventive treatment instructions. The toolkit can also export data to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This free toolkit is available to Eclipsys clients via Web download, and works with Sunrise Clinical Manager information system.
Ultrasound Imaging developed for smartphones
ST. LOUIS - William D. Richard, an associate professor of computer science, and David Zar, a research associate in computer science, both from Washington University in St. Louis, have developed a USB-base ultrasound probe compatible with Microsoft mobile-based smartphones.
To achieve its size, the probe’s technology had to be completely optimized in its energy consumption and data transfer to the image formation algorithms. As a result, USB ultrasound probes can be built for imaging the kidney, liver, bladder and endocavity probes for prostate and uterine screenings. Shrinking these electronics took over 25 years, said Zar.
Richard developed the low-power design, reducing its size from a small cabinet to a tiny circuit board. A typical portable ultrasound device costs as much as $30,000, in comparison to some of these USB probes priced at $2,000. For future developments, Richard and Zar have discussed potential collaborations with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with the idea of integrating the probe smartphone concept into a series of trials for medical applications.
VeriChip corporation Launches New Implantable RFID
DELRAY BEACH. FL - The VeriChip Corporation, a provider of radio frequency identification (RFID) systems for use in healthcare and patient-related needs, has completed development of a new, smaller human-implantable RFID microchip measuring approximately 8 millimeters by 1 millimeter. Following an agreement with Medical Components, Inc., this new microchip is to be implanted into Medcomp’s vascular access medical devices for patient identification.
Scott R. Silverman, chairman of VeriChip, said, “Less than two months after the announcement of our development agreement with Medcomp, we have successfully completed the first, important step. This will enable Medcomp to move forward and begin the design stage of the development of the combined device and its eventual submission to the FDA.”
IBM unveils “streaming computing” software
NEW YORK – IBM executives are touting the company’s new “stream computing” software as representing “a significant advancement in information technology.” IBM System S, which was released last month, has been in the works for more than 20 years. The software uses a new streaming architecture and mathematical algorithms that can analyze thousand of simultaneous data streams in real-time. Officials say organizations, like those in the healthcare industry, will benefit from the technology’s ability to help them improve decision-making. Traditional computing models retrospectively analyze stored data and don’t have the ability to continuously process massive amounts of incoming data streams, they say.
