Medical Director Michael Lasser MD discusses robotic surgery: Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery entails the use of a surgical robot to facilitate the performance of complex operations without the need for a large incision. By combining robotics and state-of-the-art computer technology, surgeons can operate with greater dexterity and control than is possible with traditional surgical approaches. Video Rating: 0 / 5
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Why do I need this? We all find it difficult to find time to achieve our personal health and fitness goals in the hectic 24/7 personal environment we find ourselves in, especially the ability to record our own health and fitness indicators with so many different individual software solutions that don’t talk to each other. No Longer, HealthVault is here Using the free of charge web based HealthVault it is now a simple solution to record all your health and fitness measurements such as Activity, Weight, Blood Pressure and Blood Glucose readings all in one place with the reassurance of full security of Microsoft. Being Web based you can view your results, trends and store personal information using your PC or on the go with your mobile device. Whether it is reaching for your own personal health goals or having the reassurance of being able to share your records remotely with your parents, children or carers in the continuity of care, HealthVault is there to help you. Start now; you are only 3 steps away from opening your own HealthVault account by visiting www.healthvault.co.uk. A&D can also assist you with a range of NFC devices to help record your activity, weight and blood pressure. These can simply upload their measurements using a single touch to an Android NFC enabled smartphone such as the Samsung GalaxyS3. Download the A&D Android Application from www.googleplay.co.uk
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Medical test kit assembly – www.fanucrobotics.com This industrial robot application — courtesy of Integrated Design Solutions — features three FANUC LR Mate 200iC Robots as they assemble medical test kits. The FANUC LR Mate 200iC, along with FANUC’s built-in iRVision system, are an ideal fit for assembly applications thanks to their compact size and reliability. First, at the station of the second LR Mate 200iC robot, good kit materials are cut into strips, four at a time. The cut strips are then separated and inspected for correct width using FANUC iRVision inspection. All out of specification material is automatically rejected by the system. While moving strips to the assembly dial, a bowlfeeder arranges and feeds medical devices to a shuttle, where the first LR Mate 200iC robot picks them up. As the second LR Mate places strips into devices, the first LR Mate prepares devices on the next station. The hinges are then broken on the devices containing strips, and the strips are closed. Using FANUC iRVision, the second LR Mate 200iC is able to locate and reject bad material, and communicates to the cell so that only devices containing a strip of material are closed. A third LR Mate rejects any devices that are not closed. It also takes good strips to the conveyor. A humidity-removing packet called a desiccant is dropped just milliseconds after the device. Finally, pouches are printed, sealed and inspected. To learn more about Integrated Design Solutions, please visit … Video Rating: 5 / 5
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We’ve seen all kinds of medical implants over the years, but none that had a musical preference — until now. Researchers at Purdue University have created a pressure sensitive microelectromechanical system (MEMS) that uses sound waves as an energy source. The proof-of-concept has a vibrating cantilever that’s receptive to sound — or music — in the 200 – 500Hz frequency range, which is towards the bottom end of the audible range. The subcutaneous implant converts the low-frequency vibrations into energy, and then stores it in a capacitor. Once the cantilever stops vibrating, it sends an electrical charge to a sensor and takes a pressure reading, the result is then transmitted out via radio waves for monitoring purposes. The immediate real world applications include diagnosing and treating incontinence, but we’re already wondering if that self-powering mp3 player implant could finally become a reality?
Purdue University creates ‘bass’ powered medical implant, knows where it hertz originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 05:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Freescale has its little silicon hands in all sorts of things: e-readers, smartphones, tablets, even refrigerators. Now the manufacturer is looking to make a dent in the healthcare industry with a connected platform called Home Health Hub (HHH). The i.MX28-based HHH isn’t an actual product, but a reference platform for others to build on. The ARM9 processor is connected to a host of networking interfaces, including WiFi, Bluetooth (as well as its low-power implementation), Zigbee, sub-1GHz and Ethernet. The Hub is supposed to be just that, a central point for connecting various medical devices like blood pressure monitors or glucometers that then feeds data to a tablet. Developers and other interested parties can get their hands on the reference platform from Digi International as the iDigi Telehealth Application Kit for $ 499. Check out the full PR after the break.
Continue reading Freescale Home Health Hub wants to usher in the era of connected medical devices
Freescale Home Health Hub wants to usher in the era of connected medical devices originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Using the iPhone (or any mobile smartphone or tablet device, really) for medical purposes isn’t a new thing, but it’s nice to see the applications people cook up. Just recently at Disrupt we saw Smartheart, and apps like Skin Scan are decentralizing some simple self-monitoring tasks like melanoma detection.
We’ve also seen lots of physical additions to the iPhone camera. You can get wide-angle lenses, telephotos, and even a 12x microscope lens. But a team of researchers at UC Davis has one-upped the competition by making the iPhone into a 350x microscope for very low cost. Now you’ll be able to send people Instagrams of your blood cells.
It should be said right off the bat that this isn’t something that only the iPhone can do. But it’s the go-to device for proof of concept stuff like this for obvious reasons.
The project is actually quite a simple little hack. They use a 1mm ball lens and attach it to the outside of the iPhone lens array with a rubber sheet and some tape. The little lens technically only offers 5x magnification, but the way it focuses creates a tiny in-focus area that can resolve details down to about 1.5 microns. The field of view is very small and there’s distortion to deal with, but by combining the in-focus areas of several pictures you can get a clear enough image to identify cell types, make counts, or even take spectroscopic readings.
Take a look at these images: the ones on the top were taken with a full-on commercial medical microscope, the ones on the bottom are from the iPhone setup:
There’s obviously a major difference in quality, but the difference in price is even greater, and high-quality microscopes aren’t very mobile.
Essentially it’s one more step towards a tricorder. With a general-purpose CPU, modular inputs, and a versatile imaging unit, the smartphone is useful for far more than calling friends and playing Angry Birds. It may not be a mobile clinic, but in areas where money and electricity are hard to come by, an iPhone could be a valuable diagnostic tool. Extending the “senses” of our devices via cheap components and elbow grease could seriously empower decentralized medical care.
You can read the whole paper here. The study was funded by the NSF.
Seen here on the back of a temporary tattoo that looks suspiciously like my high school mascot (the Iroquois Spider Pirates), a new barely-there medical patient monitor awaits being wetted and firmly pressed to the breast for 30-seconds. But can you make them with pencil lead on notebook paper? And, perhaps even more importantly, does anybody here know how to write letters backwards?
With the tattoo, all the electronic parts are built out of wavy, snake-like components, which mean they can cope with being stretched and squeezed.
There are also tiny solar cells which can generate power or get energy from electromagnetic radiation.
A mass of cables, wires, gel-coated sticky pads and monitors are currently needed to keep track of a patient’s vital signs.
Scientists say this can be “distressing”, such as when a patient with heart problems has to wear a bulky monitor for a month “in order to capture abnormal but rare cardiac events”.
Hey — there’s nothing worse than a bulky monitor. *eying old 17″ CRT computer monitor* “You lookin’ at me?” YES I’M LOOKING AT YOU — I STARE AT YOUR ASS 14-HOURS A DAY! Such a sessy ass it is too. I love the wires coming out.
Electronic tattoo ‘could revolutionise patient monitoring’ [bbcnews]
Thanks to Amanda and JoeLicASac, who wear their medical monitors like they wear their war scars: covered up under an ankle sock.
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Flexible circuit pioneer John Rogers and his team are at it again. This time he’s developing a wearable, ultra-thin circuit that attaches to your skin just like a temporary tattoo. The Epidermal Electronic System (EES) consists of circuits which could contain electrodes capable of measuring brain, heart and muscle activity in the same way an EEG does now, transmitting this data wirelessly to your doctor. Because it’s flexible and bonds to the skin, it can be worn for extended periods, unlike traditional diagnostic pads used in hospitals today. In the lab, the devices were solar-powered with embedded photovoltaic cells — heavier duty circuits would require inductive charging to be practical. Rogers’ team also looked into the tech acting as a game controller (they wired it up to someone’s throat and played Sokoban with voice commands, still managing to yield a 90 percent accuracy rate), but it’s some way off from replacing your SIXAXIS. One of the problems encountered concerned RF communication — perhaps they should get on the horn to their friends in Oregon and build those fashionable diagnostic pants we’re eagerly waiting for.
EES packs circuits into temporary tattoos, makes medical diagnostics fashionable originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Aug 2011 23:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Japan-based chemical and tech company Asahi Kasei has developed a small healthcare product that should make life for paramedics, emergency doctors (and patients) easier: the portable device (pictured) makes it possible to instantly access all medical data on a specific person with a PC or smartphone, via RFID.
Asahi Kasei uses the FeliCa smart card tech (instead of a self-developed solution), as this system has been widely adopted by all of Japan’s mobile carriers, several major PC makers (i.e. Sony for their Vaio computers), and other electronics companies. In Japan, FeliCa as a brand has actually been around since 1994.
In an emergency situation, doctors or paramedics can tap Felica-equipped equipment against the device to view medical data of its owner, for example the blood type, date of birth etc. on the screen in seconds. Asahi Kasei says that the entire medical history of patients can be stored. If doctors need to view very large files, for example X-ray images, the device can make access possible by letting users click on links that lead to that data (but stored on external servers).
The device is just sized at 3x3cm. According to Japanese business daily The Nikkei, Asahi Kasei is planning to market it within a year (and priced at $ 25 a unit).
Hansen Medical Announces First Ever Public Exhibit of Its Vascular Robotic System at Key European Meeting of Vascular … Company Expanding the Use of Flexible Robotics Into the Vascular Market Read more on Marketwire
Students showcase robotic creations Over 400 students gathered at the Martin Middle School in East Providence on Saturday to showcase their robotic creations, and to compete against other area students. Read more on WPRI Providence
Scientists at work West Valley Christian Academy students put their scientific talents on display at a science fair. Read more on Tracy Press
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