You could soon be taking a robot pill that delivers drugs with sugar needles
Mic Wright, thenextweb.comSwiss pharmaceutical company Novartis has announced a collaboration with US-based biotech startup Rani Therapeutics to create a “robotic pill” that can deliver complex drugs which would usually be given with injections.
The capsule is taken like…
Worldwide,Telemedicine Becoming More Mainstream
Nearly 1,000 hospitals in the U.S. and abroad have installed InTouch telemedicine devices, including about 50 RP-VITA robots launched in May, according to company officials.
The company rents out the RP-VITA for $5,000 per month. When a doctor is needed at a remote hospital location, he can log into the RP-VITA on-site by using a computer, laptop or iPad.
The robot has an auto-drive function that allows it to navigate its way to the patient’s room, using sensors to avoid bumping into things or people. Once inside the hospital room, the doctor can see, hear and speak to the patient, and have access to clinical data and medical images.
The physician can’t touch the patient, but there is always a nurse or medical assistant on-site to assist.
(via Robots Let Doctors ‘Beam’ Into Remote Hospitals - Business Insider)
(via emergentfutures)
Source: Business Insider
IBM's Watson is better at diagnosing cancer than human doctors (Wired UK)
IBM’s Watson — the language-fluent computer that beat the best human champions at a game of the US TV show Jeopardy! — is being turned into a tool for medical diagnosis. Its ability to absorb and analyse vast quantities of data is, IBM claims, better than that of human doctors, and its deployment through the cloud could also reduce healthcare costs.
Government Shutdown Creates Potential Flu Data Shortage
Since the flu tracking programs are government-funded, the government shutdown is creating enormous gaps in the CDC’s ability to track diseases. with potentially disastrous consequences. Not that this will matter much to the Tea Party and the Republicans given their preference for 18th-century science.
The Government’s Shut Down, the Flu Virus Isn’t
Two weeks into the government shutdown, flu season is about to ramp up. And without full-scale infectious-disease surveillance by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, experts said, health consequences for the nation could range from unsettling to disastrous. Read more
Docs …expressed concern that current EHR technology interferes with face-to-face discussions with patients, requires physicians to spend too much time performing clerical work and degrades the accuracy of medical records by encouraging template-generated notes.
Using QT Platform for Wound Care
Great and interesting progress on the wound care front.
Although a promo vid for the companies mentioned – Eykona (a startup device maker) and QT (hybrid open-source/commercial development platform) – the story gives us great insight into how wound treatment is advancing via mobile and open source technologies.
How 3D Printing Is Impacting Healthcare
Texas news does a piece on how 3D Printing is helping to prepare surgeons for surgery by providing them with 3D models on demand. They also touch upon bio-printing (very early days here).
3D printers have been around since the early 80s but the personal 3D printer is really making this twenty year technology available to the masses.
Owen Conflenti: 3D Printing Body Parts (by Jason Notoras)
(via emergentfutures)
Source: youtube.com