Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

New technologies developed after studying shark skin will soon be appearing at a hospital near you. Scientists at Sharklet Technologies, a Florida-based biotech company, have been studying shark skin for the interesting fact that bacteria just doesn’t seen to stick to it. Under the microscope, it appears that shark skin is composed of diamond-shaped bumps that give it this unique property. Hospital tests using plastic tubing (as used in intravenous lines and catheters) printed with this shark skin pattern showed that microorganisms which can cause potentially serious harm, such as E. coli and Staphylococcus Aureus, were unable to establish colonies large enough to infect humans. The technology is currently pending FDA approval for medical use, but in the interim look out for Sharklet to appear on high-touch surfaces like restroom door handles later this year. [via Popular Science]

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The current issue of the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery reports on a study of bone mineral density in men who used cell phones for extended periods of time. It was noted that men who carried their cell phones on their hips for an average of 15 hours a day had decreased bone mineral density in their hip bone on the side where they carried their phones. The study only included young males (average age 32) so the decrease in bone density wasn’t at the same level as someone with osteoporosis. But, it is an interesting finding which will no doubt continue the ongoing debate on the safety of cell phones. [via Medline Plus]

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New research by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute shows that the risks associated with texting while driving is much more dangerous than previously thought. In fact, texters have a 23-fold increase in crash rate, compared to those who do not text. This was the first study to video tape drivers inside their vehicles to document this dangerous driving distraction. “In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices — enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.” Americans send out hundreds of billions of text messages each year. The number of those sent out while driving is unknown. However, motor vehicle accidents due to texting is increasingly becoming a large public health concern. [ via New York Times ]

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A US-based study has found that computer-related injuries are rising rapidly among young children. These are not the typical injuries you’d expect from long term computer use like carpal tunnel, repetitive strain or back injuries. Rather, research is showing for the first time a surprising seven-fold increase over the last decade in sudden computer-related injuries such as tripping over equipment and cables, or monitors falling on people’s heads. Over the past 13 years these types of injuries have skyrocketed by 732 percent. The age group most affected are children under the age of five.

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One of the reasons why tuberculosis is such a difficult disease to eradicate is that the bacteria, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, can evade our immune systems so well that treatment for the infection often involves taking daily pills for six to nine months. Furthermore, the actual symptoms of infection tend to go away after just two months of therapy, so the incentive to carry on is negligible. This is where MIT medical engineer Jose Gomez-Marquez brilliantly devised a scheme to get people interested in taking their medications. The project is called “XoutTB” and it involves stamp-sized special paper patches that reveal a code when they come into contact with urine containing traces of antituberculosis medication. When patients urinate on these test strips everyday the code they reveal can be sent via text message to phone companies who will then credit the patient-customer with free talk time minutes. A trial involving 30 tuberculosis patients proved to be a success and a larger, second trial of XoutTB will be starting soon in Pakistan.

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BMW and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research are involved in a new project titled “SmartSenior – Intelligent services for senior citizens.” The goal of the project is the development of intelligent technology which recognizes and assists senior citizens in emergency road situations.  BMW is working on a safety system called Emergency Stop Assistant that will sense medical dangers, such as those associated with heart attacks, stroke and diabetes. Once an emergency is detect (through sensors that monitor vital signs disbursed throughout the car) the system will switch to an autonomous driving mode to safely stop the vehicle out of harm’s way.

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If you have gout you can attest to how painful gout flares can be. Even the diagnosis of gout can be painful because the only definitive way to diagnose the disease is to stick a needle into the inflamed joint, take a sample of the fluid, and look at it under the microscope to find the characteristic gout crystals. However, a new technique being developed at the Vancouver General Hospital may prove to be an accurate and noninvasive way to diagnose gout. By using a CT scanner with two x-ray tubes that can simultaneously produce different energies, researchers were able to detect the presence of gout crystals even in patients without symptoms. This is certainly a very promising and welcomed accomplishment. Gout currently affects over 2 million people in the US.

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General Electric and Intel will be jointly investing 250 million dollars in an effort to develop and market home health technologies to patients with chronic conditions. Their goal is to create products which will help patients and their physicians to manage their conditions from the comfort of their homes. The companies estimate that the market for such products will grow from the current 3 billion US dollars to 7.7 billion by 2021. Some of the issues they hope to tackle include diabetes, sleep apnea, cardiovascular diseases and fall prevention.

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A new global arms race is happening – one with the goal of keeping us safe from mosquitoes. Scientists are devising methods to thwart the malaria-carrying bug by employing laser technology. Incidentally, some of these scientists were the original brains behind the Star Wars program that was to shield the US from Soviet nuclear arms during the Cold War. The eventual application of this technology may be to draw laser barriers around houses or villages that could kill or blind the flying critters, thereby reducing malaria transmission. Malaria remains a global health threat that kills one million people each year.

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With the US government trying to stimulate wider adoption of electronic medical records (EMR), Wal-Mart is diving in head first by marketing its very own EMR product. By using its buying power, Wal-Mart is combining Dell computers with EMR software from eClinicalWorks and offering the bundle as an affordable way for small medical offices to afford an EMR system. The EMR will allow medical professionals to digitally record patient charts, organize billing statements, and handle patient registration. Wal-Mart believes this product will appeal to smaller medical groups and practices since they have already successfully implemented the technology in their store-based health clinics that can be found now in 8 states across the US.

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