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Panasonic's hair-washing robot: rinse, kill, repeat
If Panasonic can build an exercise horse then surely a robot that washes your hair should come as no surprise. Imagine being lifted from your robotic bed by a plush care-assist robot and placed into a chair for an automatic shampoo and scalp massage. That is the future of care for the elderly and sick in Japan, or the rich and lazy everywhere else. Panasonic's hair-washing robot scans each human head three-dimensionally to apply just the right amount of pressure during the shampoo, massage, and rinse phases. It recognizes repeat customers and then applies that person's preferred massage course using its human-like sixteen "fingers." Each arm contains a trio of motors to power swing, press, and massage motions... or to snap your spinal column should you decide to sass.
Dragon Search now available for medical professionals
Here's something that will be welcomed by the health community. Nuance Communications has released a free, medical version of Dragon Search called Dragon Medical that lets mobile physicians and other health workers search a variety of medical publications on their iPhone or iPad by just speaking search phrases. Information on drug interactions, latest medical news and diagnoses are available from the app, as well as a search though Google. The original Dragon Search allows general information lookup using several search engines. Nuance is now moving toward more specialized apps for professionals. The app is free for a limited time, and Nuance intends to bring out more apps for health workers, including a version of Dragon Dictation so patient notes and other information can be turned into text and saved. You can watch a video of the app in action here.
Yurina health care robot promises to help lift, terrify patients
We already got a look at a robot wheelchair that was on display at the recent Next-Generation Robot Manufacturing Exhibition in Japan, but it wasn't the only robotic health care device on display at the show -- this so-called Yurina robot from Japan Logic Machine was also busy impressing attendees with its patient-lifting abilities. This one offers more than just brute strength, however, as it can also convert itself to a wheelchair that's nimble enough to navigate narrow hallways and be controlled using either by voice directions, a touchscreen, or a Wii nunchuck-type controller. Head on past the break to check it out in action -- and make sure your speakers are turned up.
Hospitals eye the iPad for low-cost paperless records
Unless you have absolutely no imagination, you've probably noticed the resemblance of the iPad to one of those cheap little clipboards that your friendly neighborhood doctor carries around on rounds. Apple is rumored to be making its own rounds of hospitals marketing the new über-iPod touch, having visited a hospital in LA in the recent weeks. What's so great about tablets for health care? When connected to a Wi-Fi network, they're perfect for looking up medical information or working patient charts while on the move. The iPad in particular would be perfect, having no keyboard to disinfect or lid hinges to break. In addition, the most expensive Wi-Fi iPad is priced at just US$699, while many traditional Windows Tablet PCs used in health care start in the neighborhood of $2,000. Of course, it all depends on the software. We recently received a question from a reader who just happens to be a doctor, asking if he could use an iPad with his existing Windows-based medical record keeping system. The answer was simple; yes, since there are already many VNC and RDP apps available for the iPad that can be used to control a remote PC (examples are Jaadu VNC [iTunes Link] and iTap RDP Client [iTunes Link]. While neither of these vendors has 'fessed up to working on an iPad-specific version of their app, it's only a matter of time. For medical practices using the Mac OS X-based MacPractice system, the company has announced MacPractice Interface for iPad, MacPractice Kiosk for iPad, Dental Chart for iPad, and an iPad-based EMR/EHR app. With a little luck and a big marketing push from Apple, the iPad may make it into hospitals and medical offices around the world. [via MacNN] Update: The author apologizes to all who were offended by the previous image that accompanied this post. Also, please note that the image above is an artists conception and does not indicate that an iPad or any other unsterilized electronic instrument would be used in a hospital environment.
Vioguard's self-sanitizing keyboard means maybe we don't all have to die this year
If there's one thing scarier than going to the hospital for some potentially harmful harmfulness, it's getting sicker due to some minor slip-up in the carefully-observed hygiene practices of your own personal Zach Braff M.D. That's where Vioguard's newly shipping UVKB50 self-sanitizing keyboard comes in, with a proximity detector to let a set of freshly sanitized keys slide out for use by a health care professional, which slide back once they're not in use to get re-sterilized with anti-bacterial ultraviolet light. The $899 pricetag isn't too bad given the application, but it probably won't be making our own cubicles safer any time soon. Video of the keyboard in action is after the break.
Baby incubators made from Toyota 4Runner, Aunty Entity would be proud
Developing nations are often the recipients of used, donated baby incubators, as new ones cost about $40,000 each. Often lacking either the technicians or the parts to fix them, however, most of the incubators don't actually work. Enter Jonathan Rosen of Boston University's School of Management, who's ingeniously devised an incubator out of the very abundant Toyota 4Runner. The device is cobbled together using headlights as the heating source, the filters for air purification and the door alarm for emergency notification. The resulting incubator costs about $1,000 to make and can be repaired by auto mechanics, which is obviously good news for hospitals in need. The bad news? Dr. McDreamy's in the garage, "fixing" your car.
Dr. Touch: exactly like what you think, except not at all
The age of the house call is long gone, and until we manage to replace all our bodily organs with cybernetic proxies, medical gadgets are our only hope to minimize those pesky office visits. The Health PHS5000 (aka Dr. Touch) from LG and Intel isn't the first of its kind, but it is the latest such device, and it's been recently introduced exclusively in Japan to begin medical trials. The little white box with a friendly UI (smileys mean you're not dead yet, we presume) can track things like blood pressure and sugar levels, and will even send reports to your doctor's office -- meaning your terminal laziness can reach astronomical new heights... er, lows. It's perfect for the disabled or merely reclusive, and with any luck will be hacked soon to allow Wii Fit integration.
