Category Archives: Health Care

Indonesian Polio Epidemic

Indonesian polio epidemic poses ‘real risk’ to Asia on New Scientist:

Nevertheless, if “very, very aggressive” action is taken in Indonesia, polio could still be quelled and eradicated by the end of 2005 as planned, he says. However, endemic polio in Nigeria may mean the goal of consigning polio to the history books by year end may be unfeasible.

Given the very interdependant nature of human life on Earth it has never been more critical for that interdependance to be reflected in policy.

If polio does spread to nearby countries such as China, Laos, Malaysia and the Philippines, it would be “way, way harder to control” than its recent onslaught through Africa and into the Middle East, says Bruce Aylward, co-ordinator of the World Health Organization’s Global Eradication Initiative.

Polio Eradication Casecount

Using Design to Reduce Medical Error

Wrist tags may stop drug errors

A wristband designed by a London-based design graduate could see hospital patients being tagged to ensure they are given the right medication.

While that like a decent idea I think an even better one is the redesign of the pill bottle. It seems like it would reduce errors but also seems fairly complex.

Target Unveils New Look for Prescription Pill Bottles: audio from NPR – includes a good photo of the improved bottle design.

New Pill Bottle Could Save Lives, MSNBC

The new bottle has a different color-coded band for every member of the family. All grandma’s bottles, for instance, could be coded green. The drug’s name and instructions for use are big and written on flat surfaces, instead of wrapped around a tiny bottle. Additional information about the drug is printed on a card that stays tucked in a space on the bottle, instead of a piece of paper often thrown away.

Target is using the new bottles starting this month and health safety experts hope other companies will adapt similar designs.

Stanford Students Win $10,000 for Aneurysm Treatment

Stanford students win $10,000 for aneurysm treatment (sigh they removed the page – poor usability):

The students won the first Biomedical Engineering Innovation Design Award conducted by the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, an alliance of approximately 200 colleges and universities in the United States established in 1995 to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education.
…
The Stanford team designed a porous balloon mechanism, which they named Embolune. To use the new invention, a surgeon navigates the balloon to the site of the aneurysm, where it is detached. A hardening polymer substance is then released into the aneurysm space to create a permanent clot and stifle further growth.

Six-legged Intestinal Robot

Robot combined with swallowable camera could give docs a better look inside the small intestine by Byron Spice, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Metin Sitti, director of the NanoRobotics Lab, is developing a set of legs that could be incorporated into the swallowable camera-in-a-pill that has become available in the past four years for diagnosing gastrointestinal disorders in the small intestine.
…
The work is supported by the Intelligent Microsystems Center in Seoul, Korea, and sponsored by the Korean Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy.
…
Another CMU roboticist, Cameron Riviere, is developing his own robotic inchworm that would use suction pads to adhere to the exterior of a beating heart. The two-footed device, called HeartLander, might be used to inject cells or drugs, implant electrodes or perform coronary artery bypass procedures.

Metin Sitti is an engineer with Carnegie Mellon University.