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Daily App: BugDrug is a visual cheat sheet for prescribing antibiotics
BugDrug was created as a cheat sheet for medical students and residents who needed a handy resource on prescribing antibiotics. The app is designed to help physicians-in-training learn which antibiotics are effective against which pathogenic bacteria. BugDrug uses a pie chart to display common bacteria encountered in a clinical setting. Bacteria are grouped by type in the chart -- Gram Positive, Gram Negative, Anaerobes and Atypical -- and are listed individually on the right side of the app. You can tap on this right-side list to select individual or groups of bacteria by disease in the pie chart. The left side of the app has a tappable list of antibiotics. You can select an antibiotic and the app will show which bacteria it covers. Green means it is covered, yellow means it should be used with caution, and grey means the bacteria is resistant to that type of drug. If you had a patient with a urinary tract infection, for example, you could click on urinary tract infection on the right and Amoxicillin on the left to see if that antibiotic would be an effective treatment. BugDrug's pie chart is extremely useful for visualizing antibiotic coverage, but the app could use some polish. The pie chart graphic is a bit pixelated and could use a refresh. The app also could use a longer list of diseases and maybe a few more antibiotics. It also would be handy to be able to tap on a bacteria in the pie chart and see the antibiotics that are effective against it. Nonetheless, BugDrug is still a useful tool both for medical students and patients, who would appreciate the app's ease of use. BugDrug is available for 99-cents from the iOS App Store. It's compatible with the iPhone and iPad. It works better on the iPad, but it supports pinch-to-zoom and has a movable canvas to make it easier to visualize the pie chart on the smaller screen of the iPhone.
Researchers develop smartglasses that help surgeons see cancerous cells
If you think cancer removal surgery is but a one-time procedure, you'd be wrong. Doctors don't always cut out all affected tissues in one go, but a new pair of high-tech eyewear could help make that happen. The device, developed by a Washington University research team led by Samuel Achilefu, can make cancer cells perfectly visible to surgeons as they operate. It's loaded with custom software that makes cancerous cells glow blue (due to a molecular imaging agent that gives it color) to anyone wearing the headset -- surgeons can then clearly distinguish affected tissues from their healthy counterparts and excise them all. Achilefu and his colleagues are hoping the device eventually eliminates the need for follow-up surgeries. A Washington U doctor used the technology for the first time on an actual surgery yesterday, February 10th, but it still needs to be tested and developed further before we can count it as a surefire weapon against the disease. If and when the medical eyewear becomes available, though, it will make a great companion to that smart knife that sniffs out cancer as you cut that's already being used in the UK.
Daily App: digiDoc Pulse Oximeter tries to measure your heart rate and oxygen levels
digiDoc Pulse Oximeter is an iPhone app that uses your camera to measure your heart rate and your oxygen level. Apps that measure your heart rate are a dime a dozen, but this is one that combines heart rate with blood oxygen saturation. Like most heart rate apps, digiDoc Pulse Oximeter requires you to place your finger over your camera and lens and wait a few seconds while the app takes its measurements. With the digiDoc Pulse Oximeter, there is an extra calibration step in the beginning that turns on the LED flash and adjusts the app before you place your finger on your phone. The app walks you through the calibration and measurement using on-screen prompts, making it easy to use. In a minute or so, the app will report that it is finished and will show your heart rate and SpO2 measurement. A useful running log keeps track of all your measurements in the app. digiDoc Pulse Oximeter has a beautiful, easy-to-use design that fits in well with iOS 7, but its reliability in measuring SpO2 is questionable. I compared digiDoc Pulse Oximeter against a portable pulse oximeter, and the results varied widely. For evaluation purposes, I used the app on myself while sitting and while exercising at near maximum. I also tested a family member who was being treated for pneumonia. In my testing, I found the app to be accurate when SpO2 levels were high, but variable when SpO2 levels started to drop. The app never accurately measured my family member, whose SpO2 levels were in the low 90s. The app showed a decrease in his SpO2 levels by measuring it at 96 percent, but it never registered as low as 92 percent, which is what the hospital and home pulse oximeter were registering. When you're talking about pulse oximetry, there is a big difference between those two or three percentage points. I also noticed variability in readings when exercising, but for a different reason. The digiDoc Pulse Oximeter was widely inaccurate while exercising because it is hard to keep moving vigorously and keep your hand on the camera of your iPhone. It's difficult, if not impossible, to keep your finger and the phone steady while you run or bike. You can take measurements when you stop, but that defeats the purpose of using oxygen levels to measure your exercise intensity. Overall, digiDoc Pulse Oximeter is a useful app for measuring heart rate. Heart rate measurements were spot on with the portable pulse oximeter, even when exercising. The SpO2 measurements, however, were variable and not reliable enough for me to recommend using it for other than novelty. If you have a medical condition that requires SpO2 measurements, you are better off buying a $50 portable unit from a drug store or medical supply company. digiDoc Pulse Oximeter is available from the iOS App Store for US$3.99. It requires iOS 7.
Sony gets into genetic analysis with aim of helping docs pick better treatments
We tend to forget that many companies celebrated for their shiny things also have significant interest in health care; everyone gets sick, after all. Sony is one of this gang, producing medical-grade equipment and the like under its own name, as well as buying up and investing in outfits that have other, specific expertise. Starting February 2014, Sony will also become part owner of P5, a new venture that'll provide human genome analysis in Japan, which just happens to be one of the world's largest pharmaceutical/biotechnology markets. With help from M3, which Sony's invested in, and DNA specialists Illumina, P5's quest is also to marry genetic data with other info, like medical histories, to make headway in the area of personalized medicine (where therapies are selected for the individual, not just the affliction). We doubt Kaz Hirai will be heavily involved, aside from his efforts to find the "Xbox fanboy gene" and any way to silence it, of course. Dan Cooper contributed his image manipulations skills to this report.
Are you sick? Get ready for your iPhone to take your temperature and diagnose your illness
My iPhone can tell me where I am in the world, remind me when I need to take my vitamins and bring me face-to-face with relatives all over in an instant, but it can't tell me why I have this nagging cough -- at least not yet. As Fast Company reports, a new iPhone app/accessory combo hopes to change that. It's called Kinsa, and it all starts with a thermometer. After plugging the thermometer into your iPhone via the headphone port, it will read your temperature in real time and display it on the screen, letting you spot a fever as soon as your temp passes a healthy mark. Once the thermometer accessory has done its job, the Kinsa app takes your hand and helps you make sense of whatever symptoms you may have. The app taps into account what the Kinsa team calls "health weather" -- a database that can reveal if a particular illness is making the rounds in your area. Kinsa is a powerful tool for adults, but it's designed to work better than a traditional thermometer when it comes to kids as well. Playful graphics and bright colors give the app a very relaxing vibe, which isn't exactly the norm when it comes to medical devices. Kinsa isn't quite ready for retail just yet, but you can sign up on the company's website to be notified as soon as you can get your hands on your own.
iPhone app helps blind users see the world around them
Blind iPhone users now have a new tool with which to see the world thanks to the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped and developer StarHub. It's called MySmartEye, and it's a fairly simple concept: Visually impaired users snap photos with the app which are then uploaded to a massive gallery that sighted volunteers can browse. These "microvolunteers," as the app calls them, describe each photo in detail. That description is then read back to the user who took the photo using the app's built-in text-to-speech feature. The app is brand-new, so at the moment there's not a whole lot of activity, but it could turn into something big if both visually handicapped users and a sizable number of volunteers meet. If you're interested in helping out -- or you or someone you know could benefit from the app -- it's available for free on the App Store. [via Springwise]
Majority of medical apps won't be FDA regulated
App catalogs are flush with titles that allow users to play doctor, but according to the FDA, most of them are harmless and don't warrant regulatory oversight. Instead, the agency has announced that it'll take a more reactive, risk-based approach and will only require approval for mobile apps that "present a greater risk to patients if they do not work as intended." Specifically, the FDA will scrutinize apps that perform the functions of regulated medical devices -- such as an ECG monitor -- along with those that are used as accessories to regulated medical equipment. As a telling statistic, only 100 mobile apps have received FDA clearance within the past decade, so imagine what would happen to the agency's workload if it tried to exercise control over the Apple App Store and Google Play Store combined.
This is the Modem World: The warm embrace of the machine
Each week Joshua Fruhlinger contributes This is the Modem World, a column dedicated to exploring the culture of consumer technology. My glasses are about 5 years old. I realized last week that it's probably high time to replace them. Besides, I needed a new contacts prescription and, for all I know, my eyes have completely changed in those short five years. It's also important to mention that my glasses look like they're about 5 years old, so yeah, it was time. I pulled up Yelp and sought out an optometrist in the area who accepted my form of vision insurance. I made my appointment online. I received an email confirmation shortly after. The day before the appointment, I received a robo-call reminding me of the time and location.
Sony unveils 3D head-mounted display for surgeons to peer inside you
Sony's 3D head-mounted displays have been asking for a place in your film-watching and gaming routines since 2011, but now their latest HMD is volunteering to act as the viewing end of medical endoscopes. Hirai and Co. have just unveiled what amounts to a retooled HMZ-T2, dubbed the HMM-3000MT, which helps surgeons peek inside a patient's body in 2D or 3D -- the latter of which is said to improve precision. By eliminating the need to keep tabs on an external screen, the electronics giant thinks doctors won't have to restrict their posture and movement. Though the hardware carries the same 720p 0.7-inch OLED panels as its sibling, it's been tweaked for use in a standing position with beefed up support for balance and comfort. The hardware also packs a picture-in-picture feature to catch different views of operations, and even the ability to rotate and flip video feeds. While the headgear has been approved for use in Japan, it hasn't been confirmed for a launch in other territories. In other words, don't expect to see it if you go under the knife relatively soon.
FDA, ICS-CERT issue warnings for medical device, hospital network security
Reports that medical devices implanted in patients or used for their treatment may have dangerous vulnerabilities are not new, but a new "safety communication" is focusing more attention on the issue. Ars Technica points out that the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) group that works along with private industry to protect the nation's infrastructure issued its own alert alongside the FDA's, focusing on the many embedded devices that are protected only by hard-coded passwords. The ICS-CERT message recommends restricting physical access to sensitive hardware, improved designs that are more resistant to potential attacks and increased network security. The FDA lists various vulnerabilities it's become aware of like network connected devices being infected by malware, mobile devices being targeted to access patient data, the previously mentioned hard-coded passwords issue and more. Going forward, the FDA is collecting reports of "adverse events" to determine if security has been compromised, and will issue new guidelines on mobile health technology later this year. We've seen examples of potential security solutions for pacemakers in the past, and the more connected healthcare devices become we're sure patients expect any potential vulnerabilities to be addressed as well.
FDA cracks down on uChek app, working on stricter rules for medical apps
Bloomberg reports that the FDA on May 22 sent a letter to the makers of a biomedical iPhone application named uChek. The app, when accompanied with a separate test strip kit, helps users to perform a self-urinalysis and subsequently monitor a number of health indicators such as protein and glucose levels. These test results can help provide insight into the status of "carbohydrate metabolism, kidney and liver function, acid-base balance and bacteria." Back in February, we reported: The product works by leveraging the iPhone's highly sensitive camera to read tints from inexpensive urine dip stick tests. Developed by Mumbai-based Myshkin Ingawale, an MIT grad, the app shifts monitoring away from expensive clinics and into the home. The app was put on the market by Ingawale's startup, a company called Biosense, and works by using the iPhone's camera to analyze test strips normally designed for visual assessment. On iTunes, the company indicates that the app should only be used with the recommendation of a qualified healthcare professional. That apparently isn't enough for the FDA. Biosense Technologies Private Ltd.'s uChek system isn't cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and the agency said it wants to know why not, in a first-of-its-kind letter to a maker of a mobile-device application. ... The Food and Drug Administration has said it wants stricter rules for apps that directly diagnose or treat conditions, proposing in 2011 to apply similar quality standards as for heart stents, ultrasound machines and other medical devices. Under the FDA's current proposal, the agency would wield some regulatory and approval power over a select number of mobile apps that pose the most risk to consumers in the likelihood of an app not working as intended. Official guidance on the extent of the FDA's role in the approval of medical apps will be finalized later this year, according to FDA spokeswoman Synim Rivers. Biosense, meanwhile, has indicated that it is open to working with the FDA "to ensure that we continue to deliver accurate, affordable and convenient diagnostics across the world." In the meantime, the FDA will wait and see how Biosense responds to its inquiry. Following that, Rivers explained the agency may issue a "warning letter that sets out specific violations of the law must be addressed immediately." You can check out more information as to how the app works over here on uChek's website.
3D-printed tracheal splint supports baby's airways, saves life
They say necessity is the mother of invention, and nowhere was it more necessary than in the case of Kaiba Gionfriddo's life. The infant was born with a condition called tracheobronchomalacia that results in weakened support for the trachea, and his fate seemed all but decided until researchers at the University of Michigan proffered an unlikely solution: a 3D-printed tracheal splint. The splint was custom-made just for the child and designed to hold the trachea in place as the bronchus builds around it, giving it strength. In two to three years, the trachea will be able to stand on its own, and the polycaprolactone biomaterial used to create the splint will be absorbed into the body. After a successful operation, Kaiba was taken off ventilator support -- and he hasn't needed it since. From 3D-printed skull prosthetics to this recent innovation, it's clear 3D printing has a far more noble future than just making pizza.
MedRef for Glass uses facial recognition to identify patients, keeps health records
We've seen a few interesting apps built specifically for Google's new headset but, to our knowledge MedRef for Glass is the first that recognize people's faces. The basic functions aren't anything terribly ground breaking: you can create and search patient files, and even add voice or photo notes. What makes Lance Nanek's creation unique is its support for facial recognition. A user can snap a picture of a subject and upload it to the cloud, where it will search patient records for a match using the Betaface API. All of this can be done, relatively hands-free leaving a doctors well-trained mitts available to perform other necessary medical duties. There's still a lot of work to do, and Nanek hopes that with more powerful hardware the facial recognition feature could be left running constantly, removing the need to snap and upload photos. In the meantime, if you're one of the lucky few to have an Explorer edition of Google Glass you can install the package at the source link. Otherwise, you'll have to make do with the demo video after the break.
Columbia University's low-cost robotic arm is controlled by facial muscles, we go face-on (video)
We've seen Emotiv's Epoc headset control cars and trapeze acts, but now a small posse of students at Columbia University is teaching it how to control a robotic arm. The appendage, aptly named ARM for Assistive Robotic Manipulator, was envisioned as a wheelchair attachment to help the disabled. According to the team, the goal was to keep costs in the neighborhood of $5,000 since insurance outfits Medicare and Medicaid won't foot a bill for assistive tech that's much more than $10,000. To keep costs low, the crew built the limb from laser cut wood, and managed to keep the final price tag at $3,200. Since picking up EEG signals and interpreting them accurately can be tricky, the group says it settled on monitoring EMG waves, which are triggered by muscle movements, for additional reliability. Lifting your eyebrows makes the device open its grip, clenching your teeth shuts it and moving your lips to the left and right twists the claw, while other motions are currently handled by using a PlayStation 2 controller. In the lab, the contraption has seven degrees of freedom, but it was reduced to five when we took it for a spin. It was hit or miss when this editor put the headgear on, between making sure facial gestures were spot on and the equipment's attempts to pick up clear signals.%Gallery-187534%
Eyes-on: University of Pennsylvania's TitanArm exoskeleton (video)
TitanArm already took home silver in a competition for senior projects at the University of Pennsylvania, and now the team behind it is visiting Orlando to compete in the Intel-sponsored Cornell Cup for embedded design. We stopped by the showroom and snagged a few minutes with the crew to take a look at their creation: an 18-pound, untethered, self-powered exoskeleton arm constructed for less than $2,000. To wield the contraption, users attach the cable-driven mechanical appendage to themselves with straps from a military-grade hiking backpack, and guide it with a thumbstick on a nunchuck-like controller. If a load needs to be held in place, the wearer can jab a button on the hand-held control to apply a brake. A Beagle Bone drives the logic for the setup, and it can stream data such as range of motion wirelessly to a computer. As for battery-life, they group says the upper-body suit has previously squeezed out over 24 hours of use without having to recharge.%Gallery-187514%
UPenn's TitanArm exoskeleton prototype makes light work of heavy lifting (video)
It's no wonder people are interested in exoskeletons. Not only do they tap into our lust for the technology of science fiction movies, but among other applications, can make a significant impact on the lives of those living with disabilities. While many offer leg support, a team from University of Pennsylvania recently took silver in an engineering competition for its TitanArm prototype, a powered upper-body exoskeleton that, as the picture above shows, allows you to out-rep anyone at the gym. Designed to be lightweight and cheap to produce, the robotic bicep upgrade uses a (mostly) aluminum frame, battery-powered DC motor, cable drive system, racket braking and thumbstick controller for movement, with a BeagleBone board supervising the electronics that pull it all together. The group at UPenn imagines TitanArm could be employed as a lifting aid, but more importantly, in healthcare applications like increasing mobility or physical therapy -- sensors and other data from the exoskeleton could even allow docs to monitor patients remotely. More info on the project can be found at the source link, while a video below shows TitanArm in use and outlines the hardware that makes those heavy hammer curls a cinch.
SharePractice wants your doctor to have the best advice on the iPhone
Among the startups competing for attention (and funding) at Monday's opening round of the TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield, one unusual social app for iPhone stood out. SharePractice, from physician Andrew Brandeis and his team, aims to connect physicians to each other and give them access to the best professional advice regarding conditions, treatments and symptoms. Although he's a full-time practitioner at San Francisco's Care Practice community clinic, this isn't Dr. Brandeis's first go-round with mobile technology; he worked with iHealth on the rollout of the company's iOS-powered blood pressure cuff in 2011. In his career, he's formed the opinion that the difference between a good doctor and a great one isn't access to medical information; it's access to experience, the implicit knowledge of thousands of patients and hours of work that helps inform better treatment decisions. Given that most doctors don't have quick, "send a text" or "catch up in the hallway" access to the top experts in every therapeutic area, the question is how to get the power of that experience out to a larger community of physicians? The SharePractice app is one approach to solving that problem. It allows Yelp-style commenting and voting, but instead of restaurants and retail establishments, the topic of conversation is drug dosage, standards of care and best practices when dealing with a specific symptom or disease. There's certainly no shortage of medical research and information out there, but SharePractice's premise is that much of that textbook-style data is out of date or poorly aligned with the actual standard of care in the field. With SharePractice, doctors who participate will be able to pose questions, vote up answers, comment and converse around the suggested approaches and more. The SharePractice app is in invite-only beta right now, and interested parties can sign up at the company's website. You can see Brandeis's presentation at TechCrunch Disrupt below.
3D4Medical's Essential Anatomy now available for OS X
Essential Anatomy has become the most popular medical reference app on the iPad since its launch earlier this year. Now, developer 3D4Medical has brought its newest anatomy software to the Mac. Essential Anatomy for OS X brings all of the features of the iPad version to your MacBook Air, Pro and iMac. Using 3D4Medical's proprietary graphics engine, users can explore seven systems with the most detailed digital anatomy tool ever created for the desktop. Currently the sytems include Skeletal, Connective Tissue, Muscle, Veins, Arteries, Nerves and Respiratory. The app also includes the brain and the heart. In addition, 3D4Medical tells me that a free update will be coming to Essential Anatomy for OS X in the next few weeks that will add other systems, including digestive and urinary. I've written about Essential Anatomy for iPad in the past, and in my tests of Essential Anatomy for OS X, I've found that the Mac version lives up to the quality and experience you'd expect from 3D4Medical. Just as with its iPad app cousin, anyone in the medical or health community should get this app for their Mac. Essential Anatomy for OS X is US$24.99 and available in the Mac App Store. %Gallery-186446%
FDA approves software for iPhone-based vision test
The FDA recently gave clearance to Vital Art and Science Inc. (VAS) to market software which enables people with degenerative eye conditions such as macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy to monitor their vision at home with their iPhone. The software, which is called myVisionTrack, isn't a replacement for regular visits to the doctor, but rather allows patients to keep tabs on their vision in between visits with eye care professionals. Using a proprietary patented shape-discrimination hyperacuity (SDH) test, myVisionTrack enables patients to regularly assess their vision function. The device stores test results, tracks disease progression and automatically alerts a healthcare provider if it suspects significant deterioration of visual function in the patient. In the video below, VAS President Mike Bartlett -- who previously worked for many years at Texas Instruments -- demonstrates how the software works and why it's so important. VAS notes that retinal diseases affect approximately 40 million individuals worldwide and 13 million in the United States. While treatments have been developed to deal with degenerative eye conditions, early diagnosis is of paramount importance. Notably, the FDA clearance is only applicable when the software is run on an iPhone 4S. Consequently, the software won't be available as a general download and will only be pre-loaded onto iPhone 4S devices by the company. That said, VAS hopes that a downloadable version of the software will become available sometime in the future. In the meantime, Bartlett is hoping that his company's software will be utilized in conjunction with clinical drug trials. Speaking to mobihealthnews, Bartlett explained: Right now we're looking for collaboration opportunities like clinical drug trials. In all of the clinical drug trials [for degenerative eye diseases], all of the data is being collected in the clinic. We want to enable them to collect data as often as hourly or daily instead of every month or so. Because of the nature of vision problems, we expect the first big deployments will be done by the drug companies. iOS devices being used to assist the vision impaired is of course nothing new. The iPad's ability to zoom in extremely close on pictures has proven to be very beneficial for individuals diagnosed with macular degeneration. Furthermore, a study presented at the the American Academy of Opthalmology this past November noted that tablets with backlit screens like the iPad help individuals with degenerative eye conditions read faster and more comfortably.
Research team restores monkey's hand function with artificial neural connection
Scientists working together from Japanese and American universities may have made a pretty large leap in restoring neural function for those with non-paralyzing spinal cord injuries. The researchers applied a "novel artificial neuron connection" over lesions in the spinal cord of a partially paralyzed monkey, partially restoring its arm / brain circuit and allowing greater hand control purely by brainpower. The team also created a reverse circuit where muscle activity from the arm stimulated the spinal cord, reinforcing the signals and "boosting ongoing activity in the muscle." There's no word on whether it would help those with full paralysis, though for lesser "paretic" damage, "this might even have a better chance of becoming a real prosthetic treatment rather than the sort of robotic devices that have been developed recently," according to the team. See the source and More Coverage links for more.
